Page 120 of A Sweet Destruction

It was Esme who had the more verbose response. “I can imagine they are rushing to figure out a way to prove they weren’t involved. That would put quite a wrench in peace negotiations. It’s clear there are some protesters. Maybe it was just that.”

I squeezed Esme’s knee, only realizing in that moment that I was even touching her. Her skin felt like an extension of my own. “That protester in the temple was one thing. That woman was trained.”

Esme wrinkled her nose up, considering.

“Why don’t we walk through it from your perspective. Now that your heads are, um, clearer,” Bellamy said, a rare slip up in her words. Esme squeezed my hand under the table.

I sat up a little straighter on instinct, as if my body was prepared to defend itself and its mate if a threat magically materialized in the room as we recounted the story.

Holding onto Esme’s hand under the table to offer silent strength, she took the lead. “We were on a ride with Sky and Shadow. Went into the tree line just to the left of the waterfall.”

“Oh, that’s a good path!” Freya interjected.

“It was,” Esme said to her with a smile before continuing, “Then out of fucking nowhere, an arrow lands right in between us and scares the wits out of us. We jumped off our saddles and hid behind some tree trunks.”

“Someone was up in the tree,” I supplied. “High vantage point, good shot. Not to mention the skill it would take to climb up that high.”

Esme hummed in agreement, then said, “Ford was able to get a good shot in. I don’t think it hit her, just knocked her off the branch. I caught a glimpse of her right as she was falling. From her point of view and where I was hiding, she had a clear shot at me.”

“You didn’t tell me that.” My words were spoken with inhuman force. To be expected, seeing as the Bond was thrashing around in my head like a rabid animal.

“I didn’t really have a chance to,” Esme said, voice lowering to a tone that was just for us. Albeit true, having promptly mauled each other the second we were alone, the Bond still didn’t appreciate it, going off on a rampage in my head about its desire to draw prompt and copious amounts of blood from the person who’d almost harmed Esme.

I couldn’t say I entirely disagreed.

“She didn’t take the shot, maybe because she didn’t have time to reload her bow or because she didn’t want to, I don’t know,” Esme continued louder. “I’m just shocked she was able to get up after that fall. Must have been fifteen, twenty feet.”

“She might have had companions,” I offered. Someone was definitely following us, firing arrows as they went.

Esme considered, tilting her head to the side in a way that made me want to kiss her. “If she was well-trained, she was probably able to catch her fall.”

I could tell that the rest of the table was waiting for us to continue, so I pushed on, even though I could feel my stomach churning with nausea. “We ran back towards the tree line. Sky and Shadow had taken off, but we knew they’d meet us there.” From pure instinct and a healthy dose of hope. “Someone was firing shots at us as we ran. It was windy, but it sounded like they were on foot. Too soft to be a horse.”

I realized a beat late that I’d turned to look at Esme in confirmation. Not an unfamiliar occurrence, in fact, a rather familiar one. It seemed so ridiculous, then, that I’d thought the Bond had passed us over.

Behind that thought came a softer, more startling one. There had been a bond between us, made of understated, quiet little threads built from years of partnership. Maybe even reluctant friendship.

Esme noticed my slight change in demeanor, evidence in itself that she knew me better than she probably cared to admit, but didn’t press. “Yeah, on foot,” she said with a dip of her chin. Then, back to the group, “Once we got to Sky and Shadow, we took off. They kept shooting, definitely with a full bow and arrow. A massive one at that, they were covering some serious distance. They probably got, what, four shots in?”

It was Esme’s turn to look to me for confirmation. “Yes.” Two I heard fall behind us, one that landed too close to Shadow for my comfort, and the other…

Esme and I looked down at my hand at the same time, covered in small scars and callouses, but noticeably missing a large gash from catching an arrow midair.

Then, my hand was wrapped in both of Esme’s, lifted towards her mouth. She cupped her face with my palm, planting a single, solid kiss right over where the arrow had cut into my skin.

WOOOOO, the Bond yelled, louder than my frazzled mind could tolerate.

“Excuse me?” Freya prodded softly, though the tone of her voice was more so her natural volume rather than a gentle interruption.

Esme, however, reacted as if Freya had just said that she was going to kill me in front of her. She brought my hand to her chest, curling it protectively between her hands and let out a growled, Watch it, towards her oldest friend.

Even though Freya hadn’t experienced the Bond, she handled the situation like it was an old friend of hers, saying with that same softness, “You were communicating silently. We don’t know what happened, which was why I’d said excuse me. He’s safe.”

The second those last few words left Freya, Esme’s near-painful grip on my hand loosened. After a few rapid blinks, I could see the Bond clear from her eyes. Esme slowly lowered my hand to her lap, but kept it well-secured between her hands.

She opened her mouth to supply Freya with an answer, but nothing came out. I saw Soren’s eyebrow rise, clearly prepared to make a snide comment about Esme’s gaping.

I wasn’t sure whether it was the hard look I gave him or his own memories of what a fresh Bond felt like, but he restrained whatever quip was building on his tongue.