My legs instantly tightened around Bastian, and he nipped my lip in response.
Moments later, Bastian halted, and I unwrapped my legs as he set me down. Both of us were breathing a little hard. Maybe he was just that good of an actor. I definitely wasn’t. I’d let myself get way too caught up in that moment.
He had an odd look on his face I couldn’t quite place.
I straightened my tunic that had risen up during our makeout session. “On to phase two then.”
Bastian didn’t say anything, so I just gave an awkward wave before walking away.
You’re still mad at him, I reminded myself. He’d been an ass to Ryker and was the reason he’d ended up hurt by wraiths. I still didn’t know the specifics of what had happened, but I knew it had something to do with me sleeping in Bastian’s bed. And all the dancing and kissing had been pretend.
With my head mostly back in the game, I mentally mapped out a path to the building I needed to get to. It was on the opposite side of the stronghold and there were still some guards patrolling.
I made it ten steps around the corner before a hand caught my wrist, and then I was back in Bastian’s arms. His lips crashed against mine, hungry and devouring. This was different from the way he’d kissed me while dancing. Those had been playful but controlled.
There was nothing controlled about this.
I greedily kissed him back, my hands winding through his hair the way I’d wanted to do all night as I had held myself back.
Slowly, he broke the kiss and stepped back. There was a tenderness in the way he looked at me, but I could see sadness there too.
“Why?” I breathed.
“What we did around that bonfire?” He tucked a hair behind my ear. “That was for them. It was pretend. This was for me.” Before I could ask what the fuck he’d meant by that, Bastian spun me around and gently pushed me forward. “Warrick and I will catch up with you later. Don’t get caught, Princess.”
I stumbled a few steps before glancing over my shoulder, but Bastian was already gone.
“You are . . . the absolute worst, Bas.” I glared at the spot he’d been before getting a move on. If this was how he always acted, I was beginning to sympathize with Warrick. I would be a cranky asshole too if I’d been dealing with Bastian’s confusing bullshit for decades.
Carefully, I made my way across the stronghold. There were a few moments it felt like the mating bond was coming back and I got a strange feeling in my chest before it went quiet again. I hoped that meant Ryker was almost done healing. He was going to be pissed when he woke up and found I was gone, but Cade could handle him.
Probably.
Or Ryker would find us on our way back to the Alpha stronghold. I’m sure that would go over well.
Finally, the stone building in the corner behind a garden came into view. I was on the edge of a small orchard, half hidden behind a tree. There was no coverage between me and the building, but I could make it there if I timed it correctly.
I had no doubt that if any of the guards spotted someone near this building, they would report it immediately to Alexis. So I waited and watched the guards making their patrols on top of the perimeter wall. Another minute and I’d be golden.
Voices came from a path to the left of the orchard, and I swore internally as I recognized several of Alexis’ friends who often traveled with him.
“She wouldn’t be over here,” one of them complained.
“Alexis said to look everywhere,” a man with dark red hair replied. “Do you want to tell him we half-assed it because you were in a hurry to get back to drink more and find someone to warm your bed?”
“I’d love to see that,” the third one said. “He’s been on a tear lately, and you know how he is about anything concerning Rynn. It’ll be entertaining to watch you get your teeth kicked in.”
“Thanks, asshole,” the one who’d originally spoken shoved his friend. “Don’t act like you’re not anxious to get back.”
“Let’s just check around the building, then we can take a different path back to cover our bases,” the redhead said.
Shit. Alexis hadn’t entirely bought the show Bastian and I had put on. I couldn’t let these assholes spot me, but there was nowhere for me to go. The tree I was behind wasn’t wide enough to fully block me, nor were the shadows that deep. If I moved, they would absolutely see me.
They got closer. Thirty feet. Twenty feet. As fast as ideas flashed through my head, I shot them down. Seconds. I had seconds before they saw me and dragged me to Alexis.
The shadows around me darkened, more creeping along the ground before slowly rising. Dappled darkness appeared between the trees as the shadows swept over me, hiding me from view. My heart skipped a beat because these weren’t the shadows of wraiths, but ones belonging to a Furie.
And I knew of only one Furie who could be in Fervis territory right now.
