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My chest ached at the memory of those bright green eyes going dim as I held him close while blood pooled beneath my fingers. Pain. So much pain. My breath grew shallow, and my fingers cramped as I squeezed the oars, trying to ground myself.
No. No thinking about Gleyma.
I forced myself to breathe with the oars, to hear the ocean lapping against the side of our boat.
In. Out. In. Out.
"You alright, Princess?"
"What?" I dragged my gaze to meet his. "Yes, of course."
He narrowed his eyes, obviously not believing me. "No offense, Princess, but you look stressed and tired." He looked away, continuing to row. "And we never talked about that nightmare."
My heart raced. Damnit! I'd thought he'd let it go.
"We didn't," I said, voice soft. "Thank you for your — help. What — uh, did I say anything?"
Jaiel shrugged, but his gaze was warm and curious. "Not much. You cried a bit and mumbled, but I couldn't understand most of it. Was it about Karemi?"
My chest ached.
I did not want to talk to him about this.
"Of course not." I smiled, trying to seem nonchalant, as if that damn dream hadn't been haunting me the past six months. "It was just some nonsense. You know how dreams are."
Jaiel nodded slowly. "Well, I hope it gives you some peace soon."
I looked away, trying to calm my racing heart.
"Excellent." He grinned. "Now, if you want, you can take off your ring. If your power is anything like mine, it wants to be free. Besides, I'm not sure how the Guardian would react if you were wearing it."
Hells. He was right! We were out of the Empire's sight, but not close enough to the Isle to draw out any wraiths.
A perfectly safe time to let my powers free for a bit.
Stowing my oars, I reached for my ring.
"You — uh mind if I do the same?" he asked, voice almost hesitant.
Surprised, I stared at him. I'd only seen his powers once.
Back in Gleyma he'd used them on those nasty ghoul-type wraiths. From what little I saw, that shadow beast of his was more frightening than the wraiths it killed.
"Sorry." He cleared his throat and shrugged. "Never mind. I Didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
"Hold on." I leaned forward and placed a hand on his arm. "It wasn't that at all. Just some pesky memories popping up … you know how it is."
"Ah." He nodded, gaze stuck on my hand resting against him. His muscles twitched beneath my fingertips. "It's okay. I'll do it later."
I pulled back my hand. Where was that fake confidence of his when I needed it?
"Look. I'm going to take off my ring." I slipped it from my finger. "If you'd like to drop your shielding, I'm fine with it. If not, I'm fine with that, too. It's up to you."
Frowning, he flexed his fingers around the oars. Then nodded.
I inhaled sharply as little bits of darkness spread from those long fingers, twisting and turning down the wooden rod like dancing black ribbons.
The inky shadows were beautiful. Hardly like the creature in my memories.
