The fierce power of the horse beneath her, and the man who held her, reverberated through her entire body. They were a united force to be reckoned with and it was obvious that the two of them had been together long enough that they were practically one beast. Which made sense. In battle, their lives depended on each other.
Total trust.
This was probably the only living creature Valteri had ever had that bond with. Everyone else had let him down. She didn’t know where that thought came from, but she held no doubt it was true.
He’d been betrayed at every turn.
Starting with his own mother.
So have you.
That inner voice gave her pause. The memories that had come back to her contradicted it. Yet the feeling she had inside verified what she thought.
She’d known betrayal.
But who?
When?
It was so frustrating.
Even more so was the fact that she couldn’t stop shivering. She was so cold that it made her teeth chatter.
Valteri looked down at her. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “’Tis the cold.”
He tightened his arms around her, drawing her closer to his hard body. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the scent of sandalwood and rain. Yet as she did so, she saw a peculiar image of him on a battlefield. His armor was stained by blood, his shield scarred from being pounded by men trying their best to kill him.
But what held her attention was the fury and torment that burned deep in his bicolored eyes. There was a madness to his actions as he tore through the other soldiers. One borne by a man who’d been kicked too many times by his life and by others seeking to lay him low.
She could feel his weariness. His disgust.
His need to give as good as he got. To pay them all back for everything that had ever been done to him.
This wasn’t about battle or war.
It was pure vengeance.
That was what made others fear him so. His ardent desire to lash out at the world and make it feel his wrath over what had been done to him. To make it pay for the injustice of his birth.
It was raw and biting. Tangible. Never had she seen or felt anything like this.
There’s no room in your heart for anything else. You are hatred and blood. That is your curse.
You will never know love or comfort.
Cradle to grave. Like your father. You will be hated.
Gasping, she sat up and almost slipped from his grip. He tightened his hold.
For a mere instant, she saw a clear image of the shadow man who’d been haunting her.
Unlike Valteri, he had dark hair.
But that look of anguished torment and self-hatred…
Identical.
