I bumped him, once again attempting to lighten the mood, and said teasingly, “No, but you’re kind of implying that by acting like I don’t have the sense to understand where I am or the danger I’m potentially facing.” I waved toward the trees and rugged terrain. “It’s not only uncouth fae that roam these parts but predators too. I knew up here that it would be difficult to rest, let alone sleep. I knew that I’d have to keep my wits about me at all hours of the day and night. Iknew that, which is why I always sleep with a ward around me at night and have blades under my clothing”—I lifted the hem of my pants and pulled the knife stored in my boot out—“and it’s why I have so many supplies with me. I’m on my own out here. Trust me. I get it. You don’t need to worry about me.”
A heartbeat of silence passed, and then he said quietly, “I can’t help it.”
I bit back a smile and slipped my knife back into its sheath. “Make no mistake, my aunt shares in your sentiment, but I’ll tell you the same thing that I told her—Ihadto do this. I couldn’t not hunt the Stone with my uncle dying at home, when absolutely nothing was saving him. I had to at least try, even if it was a dangerous journey.” I nudged him again, and some of the fear in his aura calmed. “I could give you a demonstration if you want, to show you just how capable I am. Wouldyou like to be rendered defenseless so you can rest easy that I’d be fine?”
He side-eyed me, then chuffed lightly. “You could take me down?”
“In a blink.” I batted my eyelashes flirtatiously.
His eyes narrowed, but his lips curved, and at last, a sense of lightness began to overtake his aura.
That strange sensation stirred in my chest again, stretching and yearning toward the warrior, and it felt strangely gratifying to know I could turn the tides of his emotions.
“No need,” he finally said gruffly. “I believe you.”
“Good.” I smiled sweetly up at Kole, and his attention dipped to my mouth. My heart began to thrum. Energy stirred inside me anew, thatthingwanting me to go to the warrior again. To lean into him, to tilt my lips up to meet his, and to kiss him again with complete abandon as I’d done in Whiteolf.
Kole’s eyes grew hooded, and he fixated on my lips. His gaze grewhungry, but out of nowhere, magic cracked around his wrist, and a painful shock emitted from it, strong enough that I slightly felt it too.
The warrior hissed and snapped his energy forward, then said in a tight voice, “We should stop soon and eat something.”
I nodded, not responding, and the thick sexual tension that had begun to form between us felt as if ice water had just doused it. “Right. I’ll start pulling some food out.”
I shifted to the back of the carpet, putting space betweenus, and once again felt the need to remind myself of why I was on this journey.
Find the Stone, Prim. That’s where your focus needs to be. It certainly shouldn’t be on flirting with an Imperial Warrior and fantasizing about what it would be like to lie with him. You’re only here to save Timith.
With that reminder firmly in place, I cracked open a box of supplies.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
With Kole’s tense emotions finally subdued, we relaxed into comfortable silence for the rest of the afternoon. A part of me wished we could return to the easy conversation we had before encountering the six males—especially because Kole had been about to reveal where he’d been born—but while Kole’s terror had abated, he’d also closed off, as though retreating somewhere inward to a place of retrospection and quiet.
Sighing, I decided to use the opportunity to mentally check in with my aunt and let her know I was okay. Our conversation was quick, since she was in the middle of trying to get Timith to drink, and once I disconnected from Gwen, I sought my best friend. Who knew when I’d next have such a fortuitous opportunity to speak with her.
My connection to Ree formed immediately, as if she’d been waiting to hear from me.
Prim, how are you? Is everything okay?
Internally, I laughed humorlessly.Okay? Well, I suppose that’s one way to put it. It’s been an interesting day, that’s for sure.I quickly summarized what had happened that morning with my stolen carpet, the Faewood group who had offered me a ride, and then Kole’s insistence that I travel with him instead. And when I got to the part about running into six shifter males who meant to rob us, maim us, rape me, or who knew what else, Ree’s breath sucked in. And even more so when I told her that Kole proceeded to kill all of them.
Are you serious? He murdered them?
Well, I don’t know if it counts as murder when he’s an Imperial Warrior who was attacked first. You could argue that he was defending himself and me.
But killing them was a rather extreme reaction, don’t you think? Wouldn’t the kingsfae have arrested those males instead and brought them to the courts to meet their justice?
I nibbled on my lip, then nodded.Yes, that’s likely what the kingsfae would have done, but I’m quickly learning that Imperial Warriors are governed by their own set of rules. Even though Kole apprehended those two males back in Mistvale and had Abel arrested in Whiteolf, the shifter males we encountered up here were...I paused, shuddering.They were out to kill, Ree, not just take our rulibs. I’m sure of it.
Stars Above.I could practically feel her shiver.In that case, never mind. If you think Kole killing them was the best way to deal with them, I trust your judgment.
I toyed with the hem of my shirt, Kole none the wiser that Iwas communicating with my best friend back in Mistvale.There’s more, Ree. He said something really odd to those males.I stopped myself from shaking my head, in case Kole started to suspect that I was either talking to myself or carrying on with some other delusion.He warned them not to touch me. He called me his, or rather, what he actually said wasmineto the shifters, and that if they touched me, they’d die.
A moment of silence came from her.Mine? Like theminemales use when they’ve claimed a female?
We sailed around a steep bend in the road, and a blast of cold wind shot into me.Yeah, that kind ofmine.
She paused, then said,That’s definitely weird.Another moment of silence came from her.Do you think he said it because you’re in Stonewild? You know, the land of shifters and whatnot? Even though all mated fae males speak like that, shifters are notorious for that kind of language.
