Aiden couldn’t tellhow many days he’d been sleeping, or if he’d died and been brought back to life. Every bone in his body ached like he’d been forged anew, and in his ribcage, his heart was pumping like any beat could be its last. With a groan, he rolled to the side, joints protesting as he scrambled into a sitting position, taking in the fire-lit space.
Rough stone in all directions, including the ground, only a small gap behind the fire—a cave. He was inside a fucking cave.
Holding his growling stomach with one hand, Aiden scrambled to his feet, swaying towardthe wall and bracing his other hand there as he swept his gaze across the abandoned fire.
Blankets and used dishes lay in a half-circle around the stone dying embers, informing him that he hadn’t imagined the voices before he’d passed out. Whether he’d imagined the lilac-eyed, antlered beast remained yet to be determined.
With half a thought, he reached for his magic, nearly sighing with relief as a thin layer of frost coated his fingertips.
Whatever this place was, the people who’d found him hadn’t killed him, and they hadn’t tied him up, both good signs that they weren’t intending to harm him. Unless they hadn’t expected him to wake up while they were gone.
Aiden took a careful step closer to the fireplace, looking for something that could be used as a weapon. His magic hadn’t fully recovered, as if it would slip the way his physical strength threatened to slip.
There, in the folds of a rumpled blanket, an abandoned fork sat, waiting for him.
With two slow strides, Aiden was there, picking it up and sliding it into the empty scabbard at his belt. Then he limped toward the cave mouth, determined to orient himself by the positions of the stars high up in the night sky.
He was about halfway there when a deep, compelling voice rumbled through the cave.“Not go he must,”it demanded.
Aiden froze, his magic icing over his palms as he slowly turned around to assess the threat?—
And nearly fell on his ass at the sight of a creature so tall it nearly hit its head in the cave, high enough to fit four men stacked upon each other. Its very lion-like andantleredhead.
The breath left Aiden’s lungs. “What the fuck?—”
“Not speak in such unworthy manners he must.”The creature stomped its paw, lowering its head like a bull ready to charge.
“What in the Guardians’ names are you?”
Oh, Aiden knew what he was seeing; he just didn’t want to believe that the monsters from myths and legends were real—and that one of them was standing right in front of him, measuring him like it was still wondering whether it should tear him apart or merely run him through with the sharp ends of its antlers.
“Not ask such stupid questions he shall,”the creature grumbled, its voice not coming from its maw, but somehow projecting straight into Aiden’s head.“Open his eyes he shall.”
“My eyes are open,” Aiden objected, wondering if he looked as stupid as he felt as he gawked at the creature—the leonthor.
“Smart boy he is.”Funny enough, the leonthor’s mock praise drew a smile upon Aiden’s face.“What doing all on his own in the mountains is he?”
Aiden swallowed. He’d been prepared to fight rebels or to die from infection, but this?—
“I got injured during a fight.” It was perhaps the vaguest answer he could possibly give, because the mountains were full of dangers. Let the creature make of it what it would.
The leonthor crinkled its nose.“Weak he is.”
“Hey, that’s no reason to be rude.” Even if he might not survive it, Aiden insisted, “Instead of interrogating me, why don’t you help me? I mean, you seem to own this place, so it has to be in your power to help me.”
Maybe the beast would let him live if he appealed to its vanity.
With a heavy thud, the leonthor stomped its paw again.“Not afraid he is. Acknowledge we must that.”Tilting its massive head, it took a step forward, sniffing at Aiden.“Of our Flame he smells. The injuries our Flame has given him?”
Glancing down along his body, Aiden noticed his blood-caked shirt and a cut in his pant leg. He couldn’t give away what he knew about Lory. Perhaps the creature’s request wasn’t about a Flame, as in a fire magic wielder, but about actual fire. “What flame do you mean?” It was an effort to keep his voice casual, especially when vertigo was assaulting him with every moment he kept on his feet.
“OurFlame,”the leonthor repeated, as if that would clarify everything.
“I don’t know what that means.” Aiden leaned against the wall and sank to the ground, where he blew out a slow breath, head lowered to gather his thoughts.
When he looked up again, the leonthor was towering over him, its pair of massive paws right in front of his boots and its head so high up he had to crane his neck.
Leaning his head against the cave wall, Aiden closed his eyes. “Are you about to kill me? Then do it. Everyone already believes I’m dead anyway.”
