The remark wasn’t scolding, wasn’t exasperated. In fact, it soundeduncharacteristically sincere, and Elyria was momentarily taken aback. Did he actually...care?
“Indeed,” said Raefe, interrupting her thoughts, and whatever warmth she might have detected in Dentarius’ typically impassive demeanor was lost to the blood suddenly pumping in Elyria’s ears. “The victors’ safety is of the utmost importance to everyone involved here.”
There was no holding back Elyria’s scoff. “Safety. I’m sure. You’d know a lot about that, would you?”
Raefe pressed his lips into a hard line.
“Ellie,” Kit said softly.
“You know, I’ve been trying to figure out what it is that’s different about you since we saw each other last,” Elyria continued, ignoring Kit. “Something’s missing.I just can’t seem to put my finger on it.” She made a show of looking him up and down. “Ah well, I’ll keep my ear to the ground. I’m sure I’ll think of it.”
Sephone shifted forward, like she was getting ready to jump between Elyria and Raefe. “My lady?—”
“I didn’t know,” Raefe burst out, hands raised in supplication. “Didn’t realize who you were to him. If I had?—”
“Who I was tohim? That’s your defense? That I was a person at all should have been enough,Raefe.” Elyria spun on her heel before she did something regrettable. Shadows misted along her skin, tucking her into a comforting embrace. She couldn’t do this. How was she supposed to travel withhim?
She had barely gone three paces when she felt the pang in her chest, the tether pulling taut. Then came the muffled yelp, the crunch of bone, the curses renting the air.
What the f?—
Elyria whirled just in time to see Cedric’s fist fly into Raefe’s bloodied face, sending him sprawling to the cobblestone. The knight’s chest swelled with heavy breaths as he stood over the fae’s crumpled form, his hand shaking like he was holding back from delivering yet another blow.
“Stars above,” Dentarius muttered into his hands, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Hooves clip-clopped on stone as Tristan trotted over, not bothering to hide his grin. “Well. That’s one way to start a journey.”
PART III
SEARCH
30
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
CEDRIC
Admittedly,he’d hit him harder than he intended.
Not that Cedric regretted it. If anything, he regretted not doing worse.
Even now, days later, his hand still ached where it had connected with Raefe’s face. The bastard had given them both wide berths since then, thank the stars, mainly keeping to Sephone’s company at the head of their little caravan as they made their way toward Dawnspire.
It wasn’t wide enough.
Especially given that every time the group broke to make camp, Raefe found some excuse to hover near Elyria with apologies spilling from his mouth like rancid wine.
As if she needed his fucking apology.
Cedric Thorne was not a violent man. Not one proneto letting his emotions rule, never inclined to join brawls—let alone start them. But the moment he’d seen the look on Elyria’s face, when he’d sensed her body go taut, the tether between them tightening to the point of pain, when he heard her spit Raefe’s name?
Cedric had barely felt like a man at all.
It was as though a caged beast was ripping through the bars of its enclosure. He didn’t remember making the decision to move. There’d been no pause, no hesitation. No rational thought. Only the broken sound of her voice in a moonlit corridor, only the sight of the scars mapped on the tops of both her thighs.
Heat flared across the back of Cedric’s neck, the spot on his shoulder where Elyria bit him pulsing dully. The mark she’d left on him had faded over the past few days, but there was still the lingering reminder of it. A crescent-shaped outline, just barely visible to the naked eye.
She hadn’t broken skin, so Cedric did think it a little bit strange that it was taking so long to heal. Surely, it should have been nothing more than a bit of redness, the lightest bruise by now. But it clung to him. Just like the memory of her skin under his hands, the feel of her clenching around his fingers, the sounds she’d made.
