Page 47 of Tell Them That I’m Coming

Once. Twice. Three times. Then, plopping down on his rump, he looks at us both expectantly, his brilliant white eyes glowing brightly as he makes sure I get the message.

I laugh, a little shaky as my hands come up, bracing me against Thane’s chest. My palms are flat against his muscled upper half, his warmth doing even more to heat me up from the inside out.

He raises his eyebrows at me.

“It’s just… he thinks you might’ve done it wrong.”

Thane huffs a breath that might be a laugh. “Traitor.”

Binx bats at the laces on my boot.

“Oh. Sorry. I misunderstood. He says we should do that again. Just to make sure we got it right.” Binx chirps, and I dare a look up at Thane. “He’s very insistent.”

A muscle in his jaw flexes, torn between want and something I can’t quite name. Then, as if he’s unable to stop himself, he drops his mouth down to mine again.

This kiss is deeper. Slower. A promise neither of us is ready to make, but it’s a start.

It’s a start, and I’ll take it.

CHAPTER 14

LET ME GO

Ican’t stop thinking about that kiss.

Once we start traveling again, we kind of come to a quiet agreement not to mention it. Basically, that means that I pretend it didn’t happen, and once he catches on, Thane is careful not to bring it up.

Hours pass. It’s still daylight, and we’ve already stopped to fill our canteens twice. Before I woke up this morning, Thane instructed Binx to watch over me, then walked along the main road until he found a traveling baker willing to sell him a loaf since relieving the other male of his wares… yeah. Not a good idea when the queen’s guards were patrolling this part of Noctavara, searching for a shadow demoness traveling with a fae bandit. The bread was delicious, though it left me thirsty, and I drank more than I should’ve.

Which, of course, meant that I needed to pee. Badly.

In Sombra, we have facilities inside of our homes. They work by magic, where you eliminate your waste into a shadowy hole that disappears it before you wash your hands in the water tube. In Noctavara, you find a quiet corner of the woods and pray none of the fae critters are watching as you lift your skirts.

The first time I had to go was so awkward, I held it until it was damn near bursting. So many moons into our journey, all I have to do is signal to Thane that I need a little privacy, and he just reminds me to take Binx with me.

As though my soul-pet would listen to me if I tried to tell him to stay with Thane.

I do pass him my sword for safe-keeping. The last thing I want to do is pee all over the metal, and gods forbid I cut my cunts as I squat. I don’t even know if that’s possible, but if it is, you can be sure that Alana of Sombra will figure it out.

So I move further from where he’s waiting for me, putting enough distance between us that he won’t have to listen to me piss out in the open. I’m used to Binx being right there, even if my ungez knows better than to get in the way.

Once I’m sure that Thane can’t see me, I lift up what’s left of my skirts, squat low, and do my business. The whole time, I’m telling myself that everything will be fine. It’s midday. We haven’t seen a single soul since the close encounter with the queen’s guards. The woods are eerily quiet⁠—

A hand clamps around my arm.

My scream catches in my throat as I’m yanked backward, slammed hard into a tree as my skirts flutter down to cover my cunt. The rough bark of the golden trees bites into my upper arms. Something sharp presses into the side of my neck.

Godsdamn it! It’s another sword!

“Quiet,” a voice hisses.

It’s not Thane. I’d be furious if he caught me off-guard like that to engage in more sword practice, though I’d get over it. But it’s not Thane, and it isn’t just the harsh edge of that voice that tells me so.

The male who grabbed me is definitely fae, but something about him is different. Unlike every other fae I’ve met so far, he has no hair. His eyes are a deep bronze shade, his too-slender body wearing a pale brown tunic.

“Alastor,” he calls, raising his voice and giving me a touch of hope that Thane could hear him. “I’ve got an outsider.”

From behind, another fae male appears. This one has dark curls like Thane, and he’s wearing a tunic similar to the fae with the sword at my throat. So does the third male that appears who has to be slaver. They’re probably all slavers.