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I chew my lip, letting my mind wander. Asmo must’ve taught me something that can help. Trying to see where the moons are in the sky is impossible through the canopy of the trees. And I highly doubt Loric will let me wander around the woods until I can see through the leaves. Yet, I’m too stubborn to ask him the question again.
And if I can figure this out, then maybe that will help me believe that things are truly going to be alright, that I can survive out here.
Pushing up to my feet, my hands plant into soft velvet. It’s a cloak, made from a deep, green fabric, and the hood is rimmed with dark fur. I glance at the Loric. He’s watching me with such a burning curiosity, it’s unnerving. It makes my skin prickle and I quickly shake off the feeling. The last thing I want is for him to know his very presence seems to electrify the air.
I’m not sure what he is, exactly. Everyone in this realm issomethingor has gifts—some call them blessings from the gods we all descend from—but whatever he is, magic irradiates the air around him. It’spowerful.
I pick up the cloak off the ground, shaking off the leaf bits and dirt. “I think this is yours.”
He eyes me, squinting for just a moment like he’s trying to read me. “What are you planning?”
“To figure out where we are.” My jaw becomes steel as I glare back at him.
“Sit.” One word. That’s all he gives me.
“Then tell me where we are.”
“It’s not important. I tell you, you might try to run back to get Asmodeus, and I made a promise. Even if it grates my every last fucking nerve, i’ll keep it. Now, sit.”
“I’m not going to go back there. Just tell me.” My nostrils flare as he stares me down. It’s like he’s assessing me for weaknesses, but I refuse to give him any.
“Sure. I’ll just believe the captive.” He fakes a smile, but it falls an instant later, leaving nothing behind but a stone-cold, chiseled face. The face of a killer if I’ve ever seen one. “Sit.”
“Fine, but at least take your cape.”
Loric rolls his eyes as he takes it from my outstretched hand, and the moment it leaves my grasp, I book it toward the trees.
If I can reach one before he can stop me, I can figure out which side of the bark has accumulated moisture. It’ll tell me where the river is, but I’ve got to make it there…
Sprinting over the leaf-covered ground, I remember just how clumsy I am in boots. I’ve hardly ever worn them. I think I’ve only tried them on once or twice. Most of the time, I wear flats or go barefoot. It’s not like I had many places to go.
Feet pound behind me, far quicker than I expected them to be, and they’re growing closer, but I’m almost to the nearest trunk.
Just… another second…and…
My fingers scrape the bark as I skid to a stop. It’s wet…I did it. The river is—
Loric collides with me from behind, sending us both toppling over at an angle. A limb flies over my eyes—a forearm by the feel of it—and we slam into the ground. Anoofescapes my lips as the air is knocked from my lungs and if it weren’t for his arm trying to smother my face, there’d be an impression of it in the dirt. I flail beneath him, trying to push him off me, but I can’t lift us an inch.
“Get off of me, you… youhobgoblin!”
His chest rattles with a silent chuckle as he slowly lifts, allowing me the chance to breathe and nothing more. Squirming between the ground and the wall of muscle pinning me to it, I twist until I’m staring at the roguishly handsome face of my new overlord. I can’t move as I register just how close he is to me. With a simple lift of my chin, I could boop his nose with mine.
I’d never do that, but it’s the fact I could that scares me.
Narrowing my eyes to lethal slits, I glare long and hard. My hands push against his chest, but he doesn’t move an inch. It’s like he’s made of iron. Instead, he settles his hips closer, making my legs spread wider on either side of him. It traps my elbows to my ribs, leaving my hands awkwardly cupping his pecs. His very full,veryfirm, pecs.
Kill me now.
Loric stares down at me, his sterling eyes searching my face.
“Youtackled me,” I seethe.
“You ran.” His glare is far more deadly than anything I could dream of conjuring up.
It’s all I can do to pretend I don’t wish for the ground to swallow me whole as he wraps a large hand around my wrist. He pins it effortlessly near my head, and despite my efforts to fight, he quickly does the same with my other.
“Listen close,princess. I have a debt to pay, and I won’t be free of it if you run off into the woods and get yourself killed.”
