“Frid... it’s ten more miles,” Alina muttered in her sleep.
My lip twitched.
I had to tell her that I was leaving for a couple of days, but when I entered the room that night, she was already asleep. She did not even stir when the servants brought my dinner.
The sky was changing colors when a quiet knock echoed at the door. I approached it and found Victor and Sol standing in the doorway.
“Ready?” Victor asked.
“Give me a minute.”
“We’ll wait in the dining hall,” Sol said.
I nodded and closed the door.
“Alina.” Carefully, I shook her shoulder.
“Hm.”
“I’m leaving this morning for a day or two,” I whispered, admiring the changing expressions on her face.
“What?” She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
“We are going back to the sacred temple.”
“Why? Wait. I’m going with you.”
“No. Stay with Frid and keep training,”
“I want to go with you.” Her hand traced my cheek.
Almost against my will, I leaned into her touch. I never realized before how desperately I longed for her. Gently, I cupped her hand and pressed a kiss to the center of her palm.
"I'll be back in two days," I said, still unable to pull myself away from her.
“Ty?” she breathed, and her body pressed against mine.
My stomach tightened. I was so incredibly hard, I was certain that if she touched me, I would lose what was left of my control.
Another knock at the door shattered the moment, and I walked back to answer it. Victor had returned.
“What is it?” my voice sounded harsher than I intended.
“What are we going to tell Frid?”
“Tell her... never mind. I’ll talk to her.” I sighed.
“No. I want to.”
He probably wanted to see her before the journey. If anyone could understand that, it was me. While it was not any more dangerous than the missions we had grown accustomed to as Shadows, the risk was always there.
“Fine. Tell her the truth.”
Once he was gone, I made my way back to the bed, finding Alina sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest.
“Is it because of the undead dragons? Are you planning to bring sacred water?” she suddenly asked.
“We have to. They’re almost impossible to kill otherwise. It may not work, but we have to try.”
