“You didn’t tip your hand. I’m afraid I did that when I was fighting with Cahil.”
“Defending my honor again?” he asked, although he’d already suspected.
“Yes.”
His heart warmed. “I know you love me, so you can stop proving it. I really don’t care what the Wannabe King thinks of me.”
“Valek, I’m sorry for believing you killed Goel.”
He waved away her apology. “You would have been right. I went back to take care of him for you, but he had beaten me to it.” Valek sobered. “The Wannabe King remains a problem.”
Her gaze hardened and she nodded. “One thatI’lldeal with.”
“Now who’s cocky?”
She opened her mouth to retort, but he couldn’t resist a kiss. He pulled back with a sigh. They needed—the sound of drumming hooves shattered the quiet.
Had the Wannabe King found them after all?
CHAPTER17
Valek hid in the long grass as a horse seemed to materialize from the air. Not Cahil, thank fate. The stocky man who had gone with Yelena to fight Ferde sat on top. His green eyes were wide with fear.
“She’s never done that before,” he said.
“I call that Kiki’s gust-of-wind gait.” Yelena’s tone was sharp with anger.
Valek crouched, preparing to strike.
“Is Rusalka a Sandseed horse?” Yelena asked.
Stocky nodded, and Valek launched from the grass. He tackled Stocky, knocking them both from the horse’s back and onto the ground. Valek pulled the man’s machete and held it to his throat.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
“Come. To find. Yelena,” Stocky said between gasps.
“Why?”
“It’s all right, Valek. He’s my brother,” Yelena said.
Brother? Valek moved the blade away but remained on top of him. They did have the same eye shape and color. However Stocky had a square face, while Yelena’s was oval and perfect. Their skin color was similar as well.
Stocky stared at him in horror. “Valek? You have no smell. No aura.”
That made no sense. “Is he a simpleton?” Valek asked Yelena.
She grinned. “No.” She pulled Valek off her brother. “His magic can sense a person’s soul. Your immunity must be blocking his power.” Yelena bent over Stocky and examined him, presumably searching for injuries. “Are you all right?”
He sat up and glanced nervously at Valek. “That depends.”
“Don’t worry about him, he’s overprotective.”
Valek harrumphed. “If you could keep out of trouble for one day, protecting you wouldn’t be so instinctive.” He rubbed his leg. It ached from where he’d hit the ground. “Or so painful.”
Stocky recovered from his shock and stood.
“Why are you here?” Yelena asked her brother.
