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“Oops,” I whispered to myself.
I didn’t understand how she was able to see through her own light, but I knew she could. Within a moment of a step, I felt the vibrations of Nikan coming through the dome as I approached. I crouched down just as he came up and swiped at his feet with my dagger, now back in my hand, my bow still in the other.
He lifted on a mound of rock, and threw me to the side. I landed hard on my back, immediately rolling as Malina’s daggerpierced the dirt where I had just been. Jumping to my feet, I nocked another arrow. I could feel Nikan now standing on his rock dome, and I released my bow string, the arrow screaming through the air at him. Malina charged at me from the side and I met her blade for blade, pulling one of my daggers from my back and dropping the bow.
Malina and I went at each other, strike after strike, equally matched. Nikan joined in moments later, and I alternated between blocking and attacking each of them. They were working together to wear me down. And after a long while of fighting the two of them, their plan was beginning to work.
Just as I was about to yield, I felt something in the distance.
“Cease,” I shouted firmly. Nikan and Malina instantly stopped mid-attack, an understanding between all of us that we needed to stop at the safe-word.
I quickly removed my blindfold and turned to the other side of the clearing, Nikan and Malina doing the same, following my line of sight. I grabbed my bow and strung an arrow through it, aiming at the tree line. Nikan used his terbis to hold an area of the ground, the equivalent of arming himself. Malina flipped her daggers so that the blades were resting between her fingers, ready to throw them.
On the other side of the clearing, a stocky male strolled out of the treeline down the path, whistling a tune and leading a bull-drawn cart filled with goods. The trader, likely coming from Morah, halted in his tracks when he saw us. His eyes widened.
“Roav…” he whispered with a gasp. He placed a hand over his mouth and mumbled a prayer to the Gods, backing up into his cart. We lowered our weapons, but not quickly enough. It appeared that we had frightened the male, because he yanked on the bull’s lead to steer him away down the treeline around us. Odarum was now standing directly behind me.
“Oh I can’t wait to see what rumors will come of this encounter. Roav, caught without their masks and fighting each other,” Malina said after the male was out of earshot. Her head turned to the side and caught the sight of Odarum. “With a Spirit pony too.”
I snorted a laugh when Nikan rolled his eyes.
“Feel better?” He turned to look at me with a smirk.
Now it was time to roll my eyes. “Yes.” My face softened, and I looked at both of them. “Thanks.”
They gave me what I had needed, let me vent my anger. It wasn’t the first time, though it usually wasn’t even me who needed the outlet. We all had our own internal turmoil, and sometimes we just couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Any time.” Nikan slapped my shoulder and walked to his horse, pushing the rock dome back down into the ground like it was never there.
“Feeling a little frustrated are we?” Malina teased.
I sighed. “I need to figure out my magic, develop the bond with Odarum to manifest my shifting and his magic, complete Kleio’s task and stop the Glaev.” I didn’t mention that I also had to worry about a mating bond with a hot, shadow wielding Lord with silver eyes that made my thighs clench. “So yes, forgive me if I’m a little cranky for it.”
“Want to talk about it?” Malina asked cautiously.
I opened my mouth to respond, but the words caught in my throat before they left my lips. I felt it again, off in the distance.
My mate.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ryker
Back in Narh, I couldn’t stop it. The bond was impatient. I needed her. I had to control myself. Tried desperately not to reach for her through that glistening tether inside of me, the one representative of our bond—like a precious gem shimmering in the light of the moons.
But after I noticed that low-life stalking her and heard what he was planning to do…my instincts kicked in. And once they activated, I couldn’t reverse it. The drive to defend what was mine overpowered any semblance of restraint I possessed.
I hid in the shadows beside a building until he passed by then pulled him in, pinning him to the wall. I put my hand over his nose and open mouth as he began to scream, muffling the sound, and poured fire down his throat until his lungs were nothing but ash. Releasing my hold, his lifeless body dropped to the cobbles.
With the act, the bond within thrummed with the compulsion to claim her and mark her as mine, no matter how much I fought it. I followed her, keeping my distance for as long as I could.
That evening, I summoned her, pleading for her to come to me. I just needed to talk to her. It took everything in me, all ofmy willpower, to stop myself from claiming her and sealing the bond. When she came into the alley, I parted my shadows for her, concealing us both within a cocoon of darkness, a world of our own.
Then I saw her.
Her brown hair was twisted into a braid, pulling the hair away from her delicate face. My gaze locked onto those perfect eyes. They made me catch my breath, their vibrancy shining straight through my chest. I had never seen such color and expression before. Her irises were a kaleidoscope of green, shifting from one shade to another like the wind tearing through the grass in a meadow.
“It’s you…” I strained out.
