I lowered her onto the cloak and knelt beside her to examine her. My fingers landed on her indented skull and the missing piece of flesh from her neck. Her bleeding had stopped, but blood matted her hair.
Her breath rattled in and out, and when I pressed my hands tenderly against her ribs, she winced but didn’t wake. My fingers felt over her rib cage until I discovered the broken bone, most likely digging into her lungs and causing her breath to rattle.
Despite her injuries, my Chosen put up a hell of a fight tonight. Pride swelled in me as I gazed at her beautiful, blood-streaked face. I traced my fingers across the high arch of her cheekbones before running them over her full bottom lip. I clearly recalled her taste of fire, but there had also been something sweet-tasting in her kiss, and I craved more.
“Watch over her,” I said to Zorn, who snorted in response.
I left my chamber and made my way back into the tunnels of the cavern. My fellow horsemen hadn’t returned yet. I didn’t know if they perished in the forest or were simply delayed, but if they returned, they couldn’t learn she was here.
They would try to destroy her, and then I would have to destroy them. As much as I loathed them all, I’d prefer not to kill them, but I would protect her. Then I realized it was a favor she wouldn’t return.
Why was I protecting the woman when she would gladly let me die? I couldn’t figure out the answer to that. It was more than her being my Chosen and the fact my life was now entwined with hers.
I didn’t love the woman. Ididwant to fuck her more than any other woman I’d ever encountered, but that still wasn’t enough to justify protecting her. I did have some respect for her; she was strong and a warrior. I admired that about her, even if she was idiotic enough to try rescuing humans and to follow the varcolac.
She was also self-righteous, which was another annoying trait, but somehow, she’d worked her way under my skin enough that I decided to go back and make sure she got free of the forest. And now, I’d brought the enemy into our lair.
It was a move more foolish than her returning for the humans. However, I had to bring her somewhere safe so she could heal. I hadn’t planned to keep her with me, but once I had my hands on her again, I couldn’t let her go.
I stopped along the way to lift a wooden bowl from the hands of a statue. I didn’t know who placed the bowl there, but it fit perfectly in the woman’s hands. The woman knelt on the ground, her head was bent, and her long hair fell over her shoulders. Her beautiful features were clearly carved, and her eyes were closed.
Suddenly, the image of tears rolling down the woman’s cheeks formed in my mind. There was a haunting quality about the woman I couldn’t quite put my finger on….
Bale needs you.
I ran my gaze over the woman before shaking my head and striding toward the entrance. I didn’t know what it was about her, and I didn’t have time to figure it out. My Chosen needed me. When I reached the water, I filled the bowl before returning to Bale.
She remained where I left her, nestled in my cloak. I went to my pile of clothes, removed a shirt, and returned to her. Gently, I rolled her to the side and used the shirt to clean the blood from her head and hair.
When I finished, the bowl was red with her blood. I took the bowl, returned to the water, and refilled it. I also took the time to wash the blood from me before returning to her. I carefully cleaned the rest of the blood from her.
I dumped the red water outside my cavern before removing her boots, socks, and vest. I left the rest of her clothes on before taking off my sword, shirt, and boots. I settled onto the cloak beside her. I wasn’t concerned about the other horsemen coming in here if they returned; we didn’t enter each other’s chambers.
Tenderly, I pulled her into my arms and cradled her against my chest. I inhaled the fire and fresh air scent of her and smiled.
* * *
Bale
The darkness wasall around me. Pulling at me. Tugging at me. Slithering over my skin and crawling through my hair as it enveloped me in a chill that wracked my bones and turned my flesh to ice.
Never before had it been this alive, this greedy and grasping. I tried to fight it off, but it was impossible to fight the shadows creeping over my body. They pushed and pulled at me as they tugged at my hair and dragged me toward the edge.
No. No. No!
I thrashed against it, but the shadows persisted. A scream rose in my throat, but before I could release it, the shadows shoved me over the edge.
Wind whipped around me; the darkness continued to pull and tug at me as my arms flailed. I opened my mouth to scream and the darkness poured into me. I felt it moving throughout me, digging deeper as it tore through my muscles and veins.
I spiraled helplessly away, falling farther and farther into the oblivion. Then a hand enveloped my wrist, and I jerked to a halt. My eyes met Wrath’s black ones.
A scream was still trapped in my throat when I startled awake. Panic briefly engulfed me when I opened my eyes to discover nothing but darkness around me. My heart raced faster than it had in the forest.
I tried to scramble to my feet, but the solid arms locked around me didn’t give me a chance to flee. The darkness wasn’t swallowing me, but someone else engulfed me, and if the rightness of the arms around me were any indication, that someone else was Wrath.
I shouldn’t do it, but after the misery of my dream, I relaxed against him and relished in the warmth he emitted. I needed a few seconds to relax and figure out where I was and what to do. If that dream was any indication, the darkness was getting closer; it was coming for me, and I had to prepare for it.
I just had no idea how to prepare for something when I didn’t know what it was.
