I shook my head to clear it of the melancholy reflections and turned away from the training. Most of the volunteers were in class, learning more about the demons. I already knew far more about the demons than they did. Besides, I had my own learning and training to do.
I didn’t glance back at Bale and Verin as they followed me toward the tents. They must hate being stuck on guard duty, but this close to leaving, Kobal had no choice but to hand some of my care over to the others. No matter how much I told him I didn’t require a guard dog, he wouldn’t listen.
I’d resigned myself to being under constant watch until all of this was over. I refused to think about the possibility it might never end; I’d go nuts if I did.
Slipping into the tent, I let the flap fall behind me before hurrying to the room I shared with Kobal. Peace stole through me when I entered and inhaled the lingering aroma of him within it. Taking some time to steady myself, I allowed his scent to fill me and fuel my emotions as I moved about the space.
When I felt more centered, I knelt to rest my hand on the ground. My fingers slipped through the loose dirt to feel the pulse of life in the earth beneath my fingers. I shut off all thoughts of anything else and focused on picturing Kobal. I felt the searing heat of his body moving over mine, possessing me.
My breathing sped up, but not from my blooming passion; instead, it was from the increase of the pulse beneath my fingertips. Warmth slid up my fingertips, into my arm, and across my chest until it was pulsing through my body with every beat of my heart.
Lifting my other hand, I held it before me as the sparks flickered to life and increased. It felt as if the cells of my body were spreading out, flowing down into the dirt to gather more power and drawing it into me like the roots of a tree feeding from the earth. Like those roots, the cells sought to stabilize and strengthen me against the hazards the world would throw at me.
The warmth faded away to be replaced with the fiery heat of life. The sparks at the ends of my fingers increased until they were a glowing energy swelling before me. The energy spun, rising up until it became a ball of golden-white light hovering above my palm. The power of those crackling sparks danced across my cheeks and caused my hair to wave about my face.
Awe slid through me. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to this feeling. There was something so freeing yet so connecting about this. It made me feel like I was a part of every living thing on this earth and beyond it.
Small sparks shot off the sides of the ball, but for the most part, I kept the flow of life confined within my grasp. Kobal had seen me get to this part. What I hadn’t let him see was the ball spinning before me when I moved my fingers of the palm it hovered above. He’d yet to see me pull my other hand away from the earth and still manage to keep the ball formed before me.
Lifting my hands, the ball rose up then fell back down when I lowered them again. Digging my fingers into the earth once more, I pulled the ball of energy back into myself, flooding it down into the fingers of my other hand and back into the earth before dragging it forth once more to form another ball.
Rising, I held the ball before me, bouncing it as a child would bounce a ball within their grasp. Lifting it higher, I switched my grasp on it and drove it straight into the ground, returning it to its rightful place in the earth. Joy and disbelief went through me when I spotted the charred spot it had left on the ground; I’d never donethatbefore.
A dangerous weapon indeed. I stared at the charred spot before kicking dirt over it to cover it before Kobal returned. He’d definitely be astonished when I showed him what I could do with it now. It would be better if I could get outside and really see what it could do. I had a feeling leaving charred marks in the earth was only the tip of the iceberg. I’d have to tell Kobal soon if I was going to get any real practice in with it before we left the protection of the wall.
The rustle of the buttons on the outer tent pulling apart drew my attention away from the freshly kicked dirt. My heart sped up as I listened to the flap settle into place again. Walking forward, I stepped into the main part of the tent. The light of the lanterns danced over Kobal’s face, illuminating his chiseled features and bringing to life the shades of mahogany brown and black in his hair. Had I really not considered him gorgeous at one time? Now I found him the most stunning man on the planet.
His eyes raked over me as I tugged my shirt over my head. It had been hours since I’d last seen him, far too much time as far as I was concerned. We could talk later; right now, all I wanted was to be in his arms.
I stripped off my shorts as I walked toward him. Over the past week, I’d realized if I wanted to continue to have clothes to wear, it would be wiser if I took them off before he could get his hands on me as he had a habit of tearing them from me. I was already wet for him by the time I reached him.
His eyes were the color of golden amber when he swept me into his arms and lifted me off the ground. Sparks shot to life at the tips of my fingers when he set me on the table and pulled my ass toward the end of it.
His large hands were tender when they pushed my thighs apart. His hungry gaze latched onto me. I became wetter at the ravenous gleam in his eyes as he stared at my sex. He hastily tore at the button of his pants, jerking them open and shoving them over his hips. Longing spread through my body when his erection sprang free.
“Mine,” I whispered as I brushed my fingers over the pulsing head and smoothed the bead of liquid forming there. I licked my lips with the urge to taste him.
“Always, Mah Kush-la,” he breathed hoarsely in my ear before driving himself into me with a low groan.
My legs wrapped around his waist, and I lost all reason when his body took possession of mine.
CHAPTER 40
River
“Well, aren’t you an interesting little tidbit.”
I frowned at the voice whispering at me from the darkness. Turning, I tried to find the source of that voice, but the cavern I stood in held only shadows and secrets. I sniffed the air as the scent of rocks and something more, fire perhaps, drifted to me. Where was I?
Certainly not in camp anymore. Was this another dream? It had to be, but it was unlike any I’d ever experienced before. I sensed it was a dream built on a connection, but those had always involved someone I knew or at least a place I knew. I had no idea who had spoken and I’d certainly never been here before.
Despite the shadows, heat pressed against me. Sweat trickled down my temples and cleaved my shirt to my body. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was still hotter than anything I’d ever encountered before.
Hotter than Hades. And then it hit me. I tried to show no reaction to my realization, but my fingers twitched involuntarily. I knew whose voice it had been, who was standing in the darkness. I could feel his eyes on me, burning into my flesh.
“I can’t say the same about you, since I can’t see you,” I said with far more bravado than I felt for someone standing within the Devil’s dream.
A chuckle emanated from my right. Turning, I watched as the shadows coalesced around the being stepping from them. The gloom hugged him within its grasp before reluctantly releasing him. I couldn’t stop my eyes from widening on the man who emerged.
