Kaelric grasped my upper arm gently and led me away from the scene. As we passed the wolfkin, I noticed his chest was still rising and falling. He was alive. Kaelric walked me back into the training room, where Valkaryn was lying in the corner, and Cassian was nowhere to be seen. He must have left right after me and gone in another direction.
My wolf guardian led me right over to the sword and peered at me sternly. “Let this be your lesson learned.Neverleave her anywhere again. She is your ultimate protector, even over me.”
The seriousness of his tone hit me hard. I’d made a mistake, a big one, and it could have cost me my life.I’d scared off my protector and then left my sword behind when going to look for him.
I bent down and picked it up, sheathing it at my side and keeping my still shaky hand on the hilt. I wasn’t even sure I could wield it,orher, properly when the time came, but a weapon was better than no weapon at all.
“I wanted to find you and tell you that…” I paused, my voice scratchy from being choked only moments ago. “I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you over the traitor mark thing. I should have known not to trust the Elite.”
He didn’t seem fazed by my apology, just shrugged casually.
“It’s fine. I’m used to it.” When he moved to walk away, I grasped his arm, stopping him. My hand connected with a rock-hard bicept, and I swallowed.
I held his gaze. “It’snotfine. I judged you before knowing the whole story, and I shouldn’t have. I’m really sorry. That’s not who I am. If we’re going to go through this trial, we have to trust each other.”
His gaze softened, and I removed my hand. “Technically, I don’t need to trust you. You just have to trust me.” He winked.
I rolled my eyes. “Are you always this cocky?”
“Yes,” he answered cooly as he tipped his head in the direction of the exit door, beckoning me to follow.
“Okay, you’re right,” I called to his back. “I have to trust you, so give me a reason to trust you with my life. With my family’s future.”
He spun, turning, and again I was taken with how handsome he was.
Kaelric wasn’t just handsome, he was otherworldly, wild and untamed, like something pulled straight from the heart of the forest. There was something primal in the way he moved. His shoulders were broad, his body lean and coiled with muscle. Every inch of him looked etched from stone.
And his face… Creator, his face. It was brutal and beautiful, with a strong nose and a mouth that looked like it could hurt or heal, depending on how you asked. He looked like he was forged in war and belonged to the wilderness. But the way he peered at me now, it was like I was the only thing tethering him to this world.
His gaze went from my lips to the sword at my waist.
“You can trust me, because there is nothing I want more than for you to win this, for your entire family to get magic, and formeto earn that sword.” He pointed to Valkaryn.
I believed that.
“Is that why you competed five years ago? For Blood Veil?”
He stiffened. “Yes. It’s why we allcompete. We want the power from the weapon as much as you want the magic from winning.”
That made sense. “But you could have chosen a stronger sponsor to bond. Why me?”
He thought about my question, seeming to roll it over in his mind.
“No other weapon is powerful enough for what I need it for.”
Except the King Killer.
“What do you need it for?” I pressed him.
Somehow during this conversation, we’d slowly been gliding closer to each other, and now he was so close I could smell him.
Earth and storm. That’s what he smelled like —like rain hitting dry ground, like something ancient and restless. His bare chest rose and fell inches from mine, all sculpted lines and small scars.
“To answer that, I’d have to trust you,” he said, and I couldn’t look away. Not from the way his lips curved around his words or the way his jaw clenched like he was holding back a hundred truths. His hair, half-tied and wild, framed his face as he peered back at me with such intensity I felt breathless.
I wanted to tell him he could trust me, too, but I had no reason to give him for that. I was the weaker link. I wasn’t Elite. I didn’t have magic. If we won this,it would be a miracle, and he had kept us alive. I knew that and so did he.
I brought nothing to the table.
