CHAPTER 14
The grating sound of clanging metal had me bolting awake with a thundering heart and a sharp gasp.Mounir. I blinked away my fragment of a nightmare and reoriented myself back to reality. No, not Mounir.I’m in a carriage in the middle of the desert.
I threw open the carriage door, only to find myself blinking some more.
This morning, my view consisted of half a dozen shirtless male warriors fighting each other. Weapons clashed and clinked.
My eyes effortlessly found Aegir, his golden-brown skin contrasting in comparison to his snow-pale males. He knelt into a crouch, feet planted, and slid backwards across the gritty terrain—both axes hammering into the ground to slow his skid into a halt—then leapt forward onto Joel and Darius. Both males were armed with a shield and sword, yet they struggled to bring Aegir down. The Ice Prince grinned at them, easily countering their moves. The frustration building on Joel’s face told me that Aegir had managed to get under his skin. Darius, on the other hand, seemed like he was enjoying the playful-but-deadly game.
Torvin and Theodor were throwing spears, very, very far away—the farthest one would win. Georgious and his brother, Alarik—the only one still wearing his shirt—were lost in a dagger duel. I thought Alarik had been beaten the moment his weapon was sent flying from his grasp, but then white mist erupted from his arm like trailing wisps of white shadows and returned hisdagger to his palm. He also used his shadow friends to distract his brother, causing the game to end with Alarik holding a dagger to Georgious’s throat.
Whoa. The boys surely loved their weapons.
Although, they hadn’t used their weapons on those human thieves two nights ago. It was as if they were training and preparing for something else, something bigger. Their strength and agility seemed out of this world. Aegir’s, though—he was on a whole other level.Utterly formidable—terrifyingly beautiful.
I forced my gaze not to linger for too long, yet I swore that my brain had already managed to memorise every inch of his sculpted body. Mostly, the prominent V-lines that extended from his sides and trailed down.
Stop staring, and stop drooling!
I pushed myself off the carriage and sauntered towards the tents—or rather towards the colourful pile of fruit. I took my time choosing the perfect green apple. The moment I twisted myself around, I slammed face-first into Georgious’s chest. He toppled over me and I ended up beneath him, his dagger plunged in the grainy floor mere inches from my head. The apple flew out of my hand in synchrony with my yelp, and I remained stunned, staring wide-eyed at his sky blue irises.
“Shit. Sorry, I—” Georgious was yanked off me from the back of his neck, and I seated myself. Aegir let go of his neck with a jerk, forcing him to turn his way.
“That was too fucking close! I told you to be careful!” Aegir growled, white mist trailing from his mouth and reaching Georgious’s face.
“I was…I mean—well, it’s not my fault she doesn’t have a—”
I don’t have a what? A bell tied around my neck?
“Do notdisobey my orders!” Aegir commanded.
I had the feeling Georgious was about to do just that, but Alarik put himself in between Aegir and his brother and lifted awall of white mist. I swore the sudden burst of it meant, “Stop!” Alarik pointed somewhere behind Georgious. White shadows extended from his palm, forming a misty trail that quickly dissipated. That meant, “Let’s take a walk.” And so they did.
“Are you all right?” Aegir asked, offering me his palm. I pushed myself up.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I replied, brushing off the grains of sand that got stuck to my dress.
“You sure?” Aegir untied his shirt from his waist and put it on, only to take it back off with a scowl directed at its torn sleeve.
Erm. That was…stop staring!
“I believe this is yours, lady,” Darius said, handing me an apple.
“What? Yes—yes. Thank you.” I dusted sand off the apple before taking a small bite and looking elsewhere.
I sat in the corner of the rocking carriage as we continued our journey east. I crumpled Aegir’s shirt into a ball and lifted it towards my face. I took the deepest inhale, like the creep I felt I was.Salty.
Creep.
As soon as I passed the needle through the fabric, I made the connection as to why all of his clothes were torn when he first arrived at the Sand Castle. This was what he didn’t want to explain to me.We’re huge, muscled males that turn into children when given sharp weapons, and we tear at each other’s clothes.
We reached Dunehaven early Sunday morning.
The famous city was basically a long strip of buildings, houses, and shops, with a vast market at its very end. We movedalong the strip, and from the little window, I could see many people walking up and down the lively street.
Then we slowed to a halt. “There—there’s the Sunrise Inn,” Torvin said.
“Let’s go settle in. We can go to the market on foot,” Aegir told his men as he opened the carriage door.
