AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know. But I couldn’t let anything happen to you. Oryn needs you. Your people need you. I need you. Safe and far away from here.”My vision started to come back with my slow deep breaths.
Malina gave me the water and I drank nearly the entire thing.
“This isn’t one of your Roav jobs. This male is after you. He’s dangerous.”His voice was desperate.
“And I won’t endanger you!”My voice was raised.“I will not risk your life, not if I can help it.”
“I’m coming.”It wasn’t a question, but a promise.
“You won’t make it. It’s a two-day flight.”
“Fuck! Theron won’t answer me.”I could feel his adrenaline surging.
“He’s protecting his Worthy,”I said apologetically.
I took Malina’s offered hand and stood. I tried to block out the sound of his voice in my mind. I concentrated on the sound of the ocean waves, the sound of the wind skating across the shifting sand beneath my boots, the eerie silence of the Rip directly behind me.
“You good?” Malina asked.
I gave a shallow nod. “Ryker’s awake. He’s pissed.”
“Do you blame him?”
“No.”
She pursed her lips. “Well, tell him to be quiet. You’re already weak and the last thing we need is for him to distract you.”
I nodded in agreement and was about to speak to him when he beat me to it.
“You took Malina…but not me.”
He must have found Hakoa. And quickly. It was the only reason he’d have known Malina was with me.
“I did. It wasn’t entirely my choice and I will explain everything later,”I said quietly to him.“But please trust me.”
“I do trust you, but it’s not about trust. He is trying to take you from me!“The bond rumbled with fear and anger.
“No one will take me from you,”I stated firmly.“Ryker, I love you beyond the bond. But please shut up. I need to focus.”
He was silent for a moment before he responded.“I’m coming for you.”
And I expected nothing less from my shadow.
“Kya,” Malina whispered.
I looked at her. Her eyes were trained on the water ahead as she slowly pulled up her mask before unsheathing her daggers.
My head snapped in the direction of her stare, and my eyes widened in disbelief. There was a sandy path around a bend that was visible due to the low tide on the other end of the beach, right where it met up with the edge of the Rip. But what nearly made my heart stop was the island at the other end. One that hadn’t been there before.
A Drift Island.
Following Malina’s lead and mostly out of habit, I pulled up my mask and drew my bow. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was one of the islands that our family had been stranded on. I hoped it wasn’t, seeing as it was dead, rotted with the Glaev.
The boulders obscured the entire sandbar and island from us. Malina gave me a knowing look and a nod. We both ran, keeping low to the ground, toward one of the large rocks and crouched behind it.
“Can you feel anything?” Malina whispered. The roar of the waves drowning out her quiet voice so much that Istruggled to hear.
“No. Not through the sand or the Glaev.” Another reason I hated the dark magic.
