Page 39 of Destiny of a King

She shook her head.

His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. Dravic wanted his blood spilled across the snow for daring to take what belonged to him.

Adira stepped closer and rested her hand against his chest. The rage in him did not disappear, neither did the fear he had felt for her. It was there, strong, and she could not help but turn a soft smile on him.

Dravic stared at her, his feelings conflicted. Anger. Relief. Worry. And a feeling he could not define but seemed stronger than all the others.

She shivered and he immediately removed his fur-lined cloak and wrapped it around her, pulling it closed beneath her chin before taking her hand firmly in his.

“Stay with me.”

Adira could not hear the command. She did not need to. Her fingers curled tightly around his.

Dravic turned to his warriors as Fiora fluttered down to land on a nearby branch.

“Three captured,” one of his men reported. “One dead. We search for the others.”

“Find them,” Dravic commanded, snow starting to fall around them.

The warriors rushed off.

Dravic looked at Adira.

She stood wrapped in his cloak, her cheek bruised, her hair tangled, and her face scratched from branches. Yet she looked at him with such complete trust that something tightened painfully in his chest.

He had found her. The thought should have brought relief. Instead, he found himself thinking of how easily he might not have.

Dravic tightened his hold on her hand.

He would never allow anyone to take her from him again.

Chapter Ten

Lost in the Snow

Shelter in the Storm

By the time the last of the prisoners had been found and bound, the snow began falling in earnest.

Dravic glanced toward the sky. The gray that had lingered there throughout the day had deepened, the clouds hanging low over the forest.

“We need to return to Caerith,” he ordered, knowing how a fast-falling snowfall could trap them.

The prisoners were placed on horses and secured while Dravic’s warriors gathered around them. Adira remained beside him, still wrapped in his cloak, and when one of the men brought the horse forward, he motioned for her to approach.

She looked at the horse, then at him.

Dravic pointed to the saddle.

Adira understood and reached for it, but the king caught her around the waist and lifted her onto the horse before mounting behind her.

The snow fell heavier as they started through the forest.

The flakes caught in Adira’s hair and melted against her cheeks. She tipped her face upward, watching them fall, and Dravic found his attention lingering on her longer than it should.

Her face was flushed, her green eyes a bit brighter in color instead of their usual softness, and her breathing was finally calming. She had been frightened and even though she had no voice to call out for help nor could she hear if anyone pursued her, she still had had courage enough to attempt an escape.

Forest debris stuck to strands of her long red hair that had broken loose from her braid, and he quickly snatched a few out and tossed them aside.