He nodded in silent understanding. “If he mated with someone else, would you let him go?”
“Of course,” I replied without hesitation. “I would never deny him the opportunity to be happy.” That was one of the many reasons that I hadn’t pressed the situation further than we had, but I wouldn’t admit that out loud. I was growing restless and fidgeted, but Orion remained statuesque.
“Do you think he would offer you the same courtesy?” It was a loaded question; I knew it was.
I took a deep breath before answering. “I would hope he would. If he truly cares for me like he says he does, and there was a bond I wanted to accept, I would hope that he would let me go.”
The moment the words left my lips, Damien and Luka came strolling in with the bounty of their hunt. It was obvious they’d been joking around, but they both stopped at the serious tone of the room. “What’s wrong?” The words came tumbling out of both of their mouths before I could say anything.
I plastered a smile on my face and stood up from the table. “Oh, nothing. You know how your father is, telling old stories of wars from long ago.” I waved my hand in dismissal. “I just got caught up in the story.”
Damien strode to my side and pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek, and he and Luka both went to deposit the meat in the kitchen. I went to follow them, but Orion’s words made my blood run cold as he said, “He wouldneverlet you go,” as he marched past me.
* * *
The airin Angoria was much colder than I remembered. The kingdom bordered the mountains that ran through the continent. Maybe it was just because we were here, or maybe it was because my memory didn’t allow me to recall the unrelenting cold in the air, but I wanted to be anywhere else but here.
We had left the cabin early in the morning. Orion and I were in the lead. He was the most experienced tracker we had in our entire army. What I lacked in experience, I made up for with my power. Somehow, someway, it made us equals. I even felt a little smug being second in command over Luka or Damien. Looking back, it made our argument about me staying behind obsolete.
Four hours had gone by since we began our search, but none of us had anything to show for it. I thought we were wasting our time. It had been days since the initial attack, but there was a feeling in the pit of my stomach that knew we would findsomething. I just worried that it wouldn’t be something that we would want to find.
Regardless of the time of day, the forest was constantly shrouded in darkness because of the dense treetop canopies above our heads. The sounds of the creatures that called this shadowy fortress their home echoed in my ears, and I was aware of every movement we made so as not to unknowingly disturb them. I wouldn’t consider any of us overly cautious, but on this mission, we needed to be.
Not only were we in unfamiliar territory, but we were also hunting Fae. Fae we didn’t have any information on. The reports said they believed the man in charge was a high-ranking official, which would mean there was a good chance he had superior abilities of some nature. Whether that was magic or just experience, time would only tell. That’s what made this situation so dangerous, and why I had to keep my power in check in case I had to fight magic with magic.
Power took a toll on your body, and I knew that all too well. It was easy to do minor tricks here and there to take the edge off, but it was entirely different to be met with a magical resistance of another kind. The standoff could end up being lethal, depending on what you were fighting against. I held onto a small sliver of hope that whoever we were tracking didn’t have any powers at all, because surely, they would have used them against us by now.
A low whistle pierced the eerie silence. I dragged my attention to Damien, who jerked his head to the left. It was only then that I heard Luka’s scream to get down, dragging me from my thoughts, as flames formed a perfect circle surrounding us and I lost consciousness.
15
EVA
An earsplitting howl roused me from the dark oblivion I had been shoved into. What had happened? I couldn’t quite concentrate as I tried to go over what I remembered. We were in the forest. We had been hunting, and then Luka screamed.
I jerked my head up too fast and was hit by a wave of nausea. I barely had time to lean over before I emptied my stomach of the little content that it held. The dim lighting above wasn’t helping my eyes adjust to their surroundings, except that there was light around us – fire. Surrounding us was a ring of flames. I reached out with my powers, willing them to calm down, but they fought me. I hadn’t realized how weak I was until now. Whatever had caused us to lose consciousness must have also affected my elements. I flicked my eyes to a dark lump next to me.
Damien. It was Damien.
“Oh gods, no,” I cried. I crawled over to his side and pulled him onto his back to study his face. My face lowered, I felt his hot breath on my cheek and let out a sigh of relief.
My fingers trembled as I caressed his face. “Damien! Damien, wake up,” I begged.
What the fuck happened?
I looked around and saw Luka and Orion, who had slowly woken up. I cried out for them to help me. “He’s breathing, but barely. He won’t wake up.” I couldn’t stop the tears that flowed freely from my eyes. Damien was the healer. None of us could do anything more than bandage a wound. I couldn’t heal what I couldn’t see. There was nothing I could do that would help him.
Orion and Luka dragged themselves to me as fast as they could. Whatever knocked us out had a lasting effect. I grabbed his head and pushed it up slightly, propping it in my lap. Luka checked his airway to make sure that it wasn’t swollen or blocked, and Damien let out a small cough. All I could do was hug his neck as the tears continued to flow. I thought I was losing him.
His eyes fluttered open and immediately darted around to find mine. “Eva…” How he said my name gave me life and soothed my fears. That didn’t stop the tears from coming harder than before. Maybe it was from relief or maybe it was because I had finally let myself care for him in some larger capacity, but the tears continued to fall as I leaned into his chest. He weakly wrapped an arm around my body.
My head peaked up at a slight chuckle. “You’ve made it rain.” I examined the surroundings and felt how the earth was damp. Rain was falling softly. I quickly wiped away my tears and noted how fast the rain dissipated as my emotions calmed down.
My blood ran cold as I heard a slow round of applause come from behind us. I forced myself to turn around. The rain had tamed the flames back. At this moment, I wished I had the energy to recall them for protection. I reached for any dregs of power left, but I was empty and weak.
“How touching,” the voice drawled. There was something familiar about it, but I was too focused on Damien to understand why. A tall body leaned casually against a tree, but the figure was masked in a darkness that seemed to mold itself to their body. Damien was laying down, but still incredibly weak compared to the rest of us that had been awake for a while. None of us were in any condition to fight, though. At least, not if we wanted to win.
The figure pushed off the tree and sauntered toward us out of the darkness. It clung to his body as he walked, encasing his body as if they were one. The small amount of light that was able to seep through the dense canopies seemed to act as a spotlight, shining down on him for his revelation.
