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Even as I speak the words, I pray they are true. Otherwise, I’m leading Ember on a wild chase for something extinct. And if there is no Rebellion—no true king—I cannot even begin to think of what will happen to the woman in front of me. Not if she chooses to return home.
Part of me, a twisted, damned part to be sure, almost yearns for there to be nothing left. Because if there’s no one to deliver her to, then there’s only me. And I will deliver her everything I have.
Ember stands, and leaves crunch as she makes her way over to sit beside me. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met,” she says. “I just wanted to tell you that.”
“I feel the same about you, Ember of Austin.”
Ember’s answering smile is half-hearted at best, but it stills the burning battle within me.
For now.
* * *
“Raffe!”Ember whispers directly into my ear. I roll over, not at all surprised to see that the fire has died. Some moonlight sneaks past interlaced branches above, our only light in the otherwise complete darkness.
Eyes wide, she’s inches from me.
There’s no need to speak because I hear them. Placing a finger to my lips, I slowly get up, pulling her with me. We creep to the trunk of the tree we’re sitting beside, hiding, the stream to our backs.
“We’d better find her, or Taranus will have our cocks,” one man groans.
“Keep speaking so loud, and you’ll alert her a mile out!” the other retorts.
“Little bitch. I’m so tired of being out here. When we find her—”
“You’ll do what?”
“I don’t know. Apparently, she has the power to make a king in that pussy of hers. Maybe I’ll find out if that’s true.”
Ember audibly gasps.
I glance down, and she covers her mouth with a hand, shutting her eyes tightly.
My hand clenches into a fist around the hilt of a blade I do not remember withdrawing.
One word,the darkness within me whispers.One word and we end it all. We can make them drive their own blades into their dark hearts.
I shake my head. Doing that would put Ember in even more danger because it would be unleashing something far worse upon her: me.
“You hear that?” the man says.
“I did. Come out, Your Majesty,” the other calls out, his tone tainted with humor.
“You cannot hide from us!” the first man says.
Ember’s entire body goes rigid, and I wrap my arm around her, trying to duck further into the trees. While I only hear two, that doesn’t mean there aren’t more nearby. The last thing I want is for Ember to be recaptured. Without the wedding vows looming over them—Taranus won’t hesitate to take what he thinks is rightfully his.
We move, steadily picking up pace.
Until someone drops directly into our path. “Well, well, well, look who it is.” Joaquin’s ear-to-ear grin is perfectly visible beneath a solid beam of moonlight.
“Walk away, Joaquin.”
“Or what?”
“I will do what I’ve wanted to do since you traded your soul for a seat in the castle.”
His humor is apparent in the way his grin spreads. The arrogant bastard doesn’t even bother to draw his sword. “You hear that, men? Rafferty believes he is strong enough to take us all on!”
