Unable to tell someone like him how inadequate she sometimes felt, she pulled away and deflected. “What do you mean, ‘I’ll draw attention we cannot afford?’ Is it from Skaldr and those two who cornered us at the abbey?”
He watched her for a beat longer, sweeping back loosened strands of his wet hair from his face. “If the usurper king’s enforcers see me, they’ll kill me on sight.”
His words were like a punch in the ribs, making her forget her own pain. “What—bloody—why?”
He was quiet for a beat, then, “My only priority is getting you back to Earth. That means staying beneath the radar.”
Okay, but why areyouin danger?Ash tried to read him, but there was nothing—no flicker, no tell—in that maddening calm of his. Her curiosity about him only deepened. “Why do those three shifters want you back, then?”
“Because they thinkIcan make a difference.” His gaze held hers. “What triggered that downpour?”
Ash hesitated, then blew out a rough breath. “Childhood memories. Not the good kind. They follow you into adulthood, it seems. People who look like me don’t exactly fit in with the elite. We…” She swallowed hard, her eyes burning. “We belong in the background.”
Well, my ex’s mother thought so.
He stepped closer, brushed back her hair, and caressed her damp cheek with his warm fingers. Her breath caught. A gentle wave of heat flowed through her, and her clothes dried.
“It’s on them if they can’t seeyou.” He gently cupped one side of her face, his hand warm and calloused. His gaze traced her features. “Your face. Those eyes… You are stunning, little vixen.”
The space between them vanished. His lips settled on hers, a whisper of heat and need as they glided against hers, soft, searching, unbearably tender.
Chapter
Eight
Ash’s heartstuttered as Race kissed her.She could barely move even if the trees collapsed around them. It was warm, tender…and over far too soon.
He lifted his head, something flashing in those burgundy depths, gone too fast. His thumb stroked her jaw. “Okay?”
She nodded. That single brush of his mouth loosened something inside her for a moment—as if she mattered—and she had to force herself not to touch her tingling lips.
But she couldn’t afford to let the protective barrier around her heart fall.
He stepped back, his expression sliding into its usual mask of nonchalance. Just like that. Inhaling deeply, Ash forced herself to refocus. A faint, somewhat familiar sweetness wafted through the cool air, teasing her senses.
Frowning, she pivoted, searching for the fragrance. Her gaze settled on tiny purple flowers clinging to the scraggly underbrush. “What’s that?”
Race glanced to where she pointed and shrugged. “Purple flowers.”
“No, I don’t mean the color…” She hurried across, snapping one small floral pod from its stem. Her stomach lurched. “Thisis what Skaldr used to knock me out when he abducted me. He called itdream bane.”
Race’s expression darkened, his crimson eyes flaring. “Another reason to kill him.” His hand closed around hers. “Come. We’re done here.”
Ash shoved the pod into her coat pocket, then the world warped around them, colors bleeding together like wet paint. She bit back a groan as he dematerialized them.
A heartbeat later, they reappeared in a narrow, gloomy alley. Her legs shaky, Ash caught herself against a cold stone wall, but Race held her arm, his grip warm and steadying.
“All’s quiet, so we’re good.”
“AndIwill be, the second I find my head,” she grumbled, glancing around and finding they were hemmed in by blackened stone walls slick with dampness. Mist hovered, obscuring the tops of the surrounding buildings.
A ghost of a smile tugged at his mouth as he let her go, and she remembered the too-brief kiss while she stood there like a post.
With a sigh, she shut out thoughts of his kissable mouth, sucked in a breath, and grimaced as the chilly air, thick with soot and coal smoke, scoured her throat. “Where are we?”
“Nyxholt. Let’s go.” He was already striding toward the alley’s exit, and she had to run to keep up.
Near the junction, voices drifted to her as the village came alive.
