AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Their unexpected journey had taken days longer than planned. The rain had caused flooding and mudslides but natural disasters weren’t the only problem.
Twice, Sorin had seen human teams out crawling the forest and the mountain trails, clearly seeking somebody.
His gut told him they were looking for the men who’d tried to harm Gia so he’d spoken with his witchling, away from the prying ears of the human female and advised they take a longer route, evading the search teams and heading straight for the small town where Amy lived with her son.
Gia planned on trying to protect the woman as much as possible, even knowing the death that had been planned for her.
Her soft heart could endanger her. Well, no, because he wouldn’t allow it. But while she’d saved both Wyn and Amy, Amy was the sort who’d stab her savior in the back the moment she had a chance if she thought it would get her a few steps ahead.
Stupid, because Amy’s boy would need powerful friends soon. That sleeping magic in him would waken before she knew it and he’d need those who knew how to train such gifts, and were willing to protect him.
“Is that where we’re staying?” Amy asked, her voice querulous and strained. She was breathing hard, heart hammering with the hard pace they’d been pushing on her for the past hour.
“Yes,” Sorin said in a short tone. “Unless you’d prefer to rough it on the grass and rocks outside. Or maybe you saw something more appealing when you went out to scout for a shelter?”
She said nothing, not even deigning to look at him.
Gia gave him a chiding glance and he shrugged. What did the human expect? The cabin had four walls, a fairly solid roof and a chimney so they could build a fire. He’d slept in far, far worse conditions during his life—and she’d slept in worse that first night up on the mountain top.
“There’s no way we can make it home?” Amy pleaded, shifting her attention to Gia.
“Unless you can run a lot faster than you’re letting on, no.” Gia shrugged.
The town that was their destination was another half day by foot, giving the slower pace they’d been forced to take because of Wyn and his mother—and Amy was the main reason for the slow pace. Even Wyn moved faster and with fewer complaints.
The trip down the mountain had been arduous and slow and Sorin longed for the softness of his bed, the warmth of a fire he liked to build in the massive fireplace on chilly nights.
But that would have to wait.
Another storm was coming in and it was going to be a brutal one.
Gia told him she tasted ice and rain in the air. Sorin had lived through too many centuries not to recognize the signs of a potentially dangerous storm, even if he wasn’t quite so skilled at reading the elements as the woman with him.
There was a second, smaller shelter, large enough for a vehicle, although judging by the overgrown road, Sorin doubted anybody had been to this particular spot in years, perhaps even decades. Gia had leaped over the stone wall that served as a barrier for most of the property, then took Wyn under the arms and helped him down from the precarious structure before turning to do the same with Amy.
Amy had been stiff with fear, barely able to move after Sorin plunked her down on top of the high, crumbling stone wall, her skin so pasty white after the dragon touched her, one might think he’d tortured her, rather than assisted her over a barrier.
The small house was going to be a miserable shelter, the four of them in such a tight space and one woman bleeding fear over all of them.
Gia’s belly chose that moment to grumble. Loudly.
Sorin traced a finger down her arm. “If I were to bring a deer, could you prepare and cook it?”
“Smaller animals would be better. Rabbits, if you can lower yourself to find a couple.” She crooked a grin at him. “If it was just me, I’d say absolutely yes, because I’m hungry enough to eat something raw. But deer meat, any larger game animal will have a large amount of blood in the body and while it wouldn’t bother me, I don’t think Amy can tolerate it.”
“Rabbits.” Sorin made a noise low in his chest, then laughed, tipping his head back to the sky. “My lady witchling would have me bring her rabbits.”
“If it’s too insulting for the dragon to hunt rabbits...”
He skimmed a hand back over her hair, a tender, intimate caress that made her heart stutter. While the rest of her comment froze on her tongue, Sorin leaned in and murmured, “I’d hunt squirrels and mice for you, my witchling. I’ll be quick. I don’t want you to wither away from hunger.”
My witchling...
His heat, the way her body seemed to tense in readiness at her nearness, stunned her for several moments. It took her brain another couple of seconds to process what he’d just said. Even as indignation kicked in over the possessive way he referred to her as his witchling, something else deep, deep inside her slowly unfurled, wary, watchful.
By the time she turned to snap at him over his arrogance, he was already gone, lost to the darkness and not even her sharp eyesight could penetrate the shadowy depths to find any sign of the direction he’d taken.
Huffing out an irritated breath, she started after Wyn and Amy. No doubt she’d have to chase out some rodents and other critters to ready the small space, then see what she could do about making it a bit more habitable for a small child.
