I didn’t care who I had to kill or what I had to do, I’d keep her safe… no matter the cost.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Ryker
The factthat the following days were peaceful didn’t ease any of my tension when it came to my father. Peaceful from that man was never a good thing. It meant he was plotting.
And when he had time to plot, he came up with more destructive ideas.
Ivan wasn’t the one who came up with the plan to capture all the women in Tempest and haul them to the palace. I was sure the ex-king had helped in the plotting, but I was confident my father was the one who’d configured most of it.
He’d probably allowed Ivan to think it was mostly his idea. That was the best way to appease a child.
What broke my father’s plan was that he’d only expected one lightning bearer, Ellery, to be against him. He certainly hadn’t anticipated my betrayal and for me to kill Ivan.
He had planned for Ellery possibly breaking free to unleash hell on them, which was why he had shields, archers, and cannons ready to roll onto the field. Maybe, if it had just been one lightning bearer, he could have succeeded in his goal, buttwo, who were determined to save each other, was more than he’d planned for.
That was the only reason Ellery and I escaped. It was also why so many others were able to flee.
My father wouldn’t underestimate us again. The next time he attacked, it would be methodical and designed to capture rather than destroy.
He wanted both of us alive. Me, to make me pay for humiliating and betraying him. Ellery, for the same, but also to try to control her. He’d never succeed, but what he’d do to her would be far worse than anything he’d ever done to me.
I suspected he’d also gone quiet because his rage had cooled a little after the robbery. Not only that, but I was certain word had gotten back to him about the true depth of Ellery’s powers.
What he’d do with that information was what concerned me. Had her ability to control all five weathers made him want her more? Or was he determined to kill her?
She was a bigger threat than he’d realized and an even bigger anomaly than he’d anticipated. He was as scared of her as he was enthralled; I did not doubt that.
A rustle in the woods caused me to stiffen as my hands stilled on the shirt I’d been scrubbing against a rock in the river. My hand went to the blade at my side.
Ellery lowered the pants she was working on to study the woods before pointing to a fallen log on the other side. “It’s a karadu. You can see its tusks.”
When it moved again, the tips of its white tusks rose above the log before vanishing. A snort came from behind the log as the brush swayed with its movements.
“They can be vicious bastards, but it’s occupied with something else, and I doubt it will cross the river to get at us,” Ellery said as she returned to her washing. “With the way they smell, I doubt they ever wash.”
The karadu crept out from behind the log to sniff at the ground. It was a mixture of a small bear and pig with a long snout, bristly and patchy brown hair, sharp claws, and tusks that stuck out from its lower jaw.
When its beady red eyes latched on to us, it snorted and crept closer to the water before stopping. Like Ellery had anticipated, it didn’t come any closer.
Eventually, it wandered into the forest. We finished washing the clothes, wrung them out, and hung them to dry on one of the dozens of ropes stretched between the trees.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Ryker
When we finishedwith the laundry, I clasped Ellery’s freezing hands and slid them under my shirt to warm them. “Ryker,” she protested as she did every time.
I smiled at her. “When will you learn to stop arguing with me?”
She smiled back as I rubbed her hands to warm them. “When you learn to stop being so stubborn. Your hands are freezing too.”
“Mine don’t matter as much as yours.”
“Of course they do, and don’t say things like that.”
“It’s true. Plus, I far prefer to haveyourhands on my cock than mine, so we have to keep them protected.”
