Two decapitated males.
Six siltenites had died at Kole’s hand in less time than it took me to dress in the morning.
Calmly, the warrior walked to a tree and wiped the majority of the blood from his sword onto a leaf, then he cleansed himself and his weapon with his magic.
Once all traces of gore were gone, he sheathed his sword, then jumped back onto the carpet to sit beside me.
“Are you all right?” A violent storm churned in his irises, the energy from the battle still apparent in his aura.
I nodded ayes, too stunned to speak.
He whispered a command, and the carpet took off, and hedid it so easily. So thoughtlessly. As if flying right over the males’ body parts and torn flesh was nothing.
“You’re going to leave them on the road?” I finally managed. “Like that?”
Kole didn’t even glance behind us. “Let the evidence remain of what happens when one crosses an Imperial Warrior. The wildlings who witnessed it will spread the word.”
Kole’s eyes were as hard as diamonds as he stared straight ahead, his demeanor stoic.
He never looked back.
Neither of usspoke again as we traveled onward. But the entire time, Kole steadily surveyed the Wood, as though waiting for another attack. Anticipating it.
Despite his silence, energy pounded through the warrior’s aura, growing and swelling with every mile that passed beneath us. He had his Shield locked down tight, but I could still sense him.Feelhim.
Rage filled the warrior, and it was so palpable that I could practically taste it.
Since I never used my forbidden magic, I didn’t enter his mind to read his thoughts, as tempting as that was. But I guessed he was likely stewing over the skirmish, or perhaps feeling indignant that those males had dared to defy his orders,or perhaps now that the battle was over, he even felt regret that he’d murdered six fae.
Whatever the case, I didn’t ask as I let him work through whatever inner war he was fighting.
I didn’t shift away from him, though, because while Kole’s violence might have scared some, I didn’t feel fear. Deep down I knew the warrior would die to protect me. Whether that be because of an oath he’d sworn to the Imperial Council or because he felt the need to protect all innocent fae, I didn’t know, but the fact remained that IknewKole would protect me with his life.
I was sure of it.
Mine.
Once again, that word he uttered collided with my thoughts. I nibbled on my lip, frowning. Kole had said that to those males so easily, soconvincingly. But I reminded myself it was only because we were in Stonewild, in the land of shifters whose song was threaded with possession and claim.
Several times, I glanced subtly at Kole, but the fury strumming through him didn’t abate, so I kept my mouth shut and respected his need to work through whatever was raging within him as the miles passed beneath us.
Midday came and went.The sun had passed its peak, breaking through the thick cloud cover to show its slow descentinto the western sky. Hours had passed since the attack on the road. Hours of silence. Hours of contemplation. And hours in which Kole and I hadn’t mentioned the six dead males he’d left behind.
Kole finally broke the quiet in the afternoon, startling me since his voice sounded so guttural. “What would you have done if you’d been alone and that had happened?”
My focus snapped to him. “What?”
He continued staring straight ahead. The Wildland Mountains loomed around us. Rocky terrain had grown, and the thick swamp of trees had finally begun to thin. We were moving steadily upward, snaking through the trees toward the stony peaks above.
Yet even though this terrain was new to me and wildly beautiful, all of my attention focused on the warrior. On his tone. On his pounding energy.
A thunderous expression brewed upon Kole’s face. Once again, the warrior’s emotions were leaking through, his carefully constructed mask cracking on every surface. And I didn’t need to read his mind to know that the past hours of silence hadn’t abated his fury in the least.
“What would you have done if I hadn’t been with you?” he repeated. “Those males would have raped you, even if I hadn’t killed their friend.”
I angled my head, confusion strumming through me. “I know.”
“Yet you insisted on traveling here despite the dangers.”
