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“West to the two towers.” I repeat his words like a good little parrot. “Stay in the trees.”
“Yes. Once you’re at the two towers, wait for us. We’ll come for you.”
I nod because even though I would rather die than leave them, they won’t be safe if I’m there. And they won’t concentrate on their fight because they will be worried about me. It would put them in more danger.
He pulls me close for a quick hug and places a peck against the top of my head, then pushes me forward. “Go.”
“I… be careful,” I say to them, because all three of my shadow beasts are staring at me.
They nod at me, and my heart aches. I want to say more, but I can’t seem to form the words.
Dusk hands me a piece of wood from the fire. It’s burning on the top, but not on the bottom, like a torch. He helps lower me down into the tunnel, gives me one last intense look, then rolls the boulder back over the opening, sealing me inside.
I’ve only walked for a minute or two when I hear the fighting. It’s loud, and the stomps of the men above the tunnel force more dirt to rain down on me, but I keep going. My entire body shakes as I try not to think about the danger my men are facing.
For some reason, I find myself crying. Phantom, Dusk, and Onyx had kidnapped me. They had been bossy and over protective at times. And… and I think I’ve fallen in love with them.
Love.
The notion makes me stop. I brush more tears away. But the deep sense that I love them remains. I don’t know when it happened. Visions of their grumpy faces and harsh words come to me, but they seem fuzzy, not at all clear like the memory of their smiles, their laughs, and their soft touches.
They’re mine. I don’t just love them; I like them too.
I almost turn around, then force myself to stop. They would struggle to concentrate on keeping themselves safe if I went back to the battle. I’d already seen that they’d give their lives for me. It would be selfish to go back and make things harder for them just because I want to keep them safe.
But, I swear, when we’re back together, I’ll no longer fight the mate bond. I’ll do whatever needs to be done to show them that I love them. That I care for them. And that I will remain by their sides through this war, whatever it takes.
When the thoughts come to me, it’s like a tension I didn’t know I was carrying fades away. This feels right. Being with them is not about replacing Rayne. No one would ever replace him. But just because I lost one mate doesn’t mean I need to be alone for the rest of my life.
“I love them,” I say to myself, followed by a small laugh.
And then, I rush faster through the tunnel as if moving faster will make this battle end more quickly and get my men back to me sooner. The numbers might not be in their favor, but I’d never seen warriors like them before. They would succeed, and the Shadow King’s army could go fuck themselves.
My torch is burning low by the time I know I’ve hit the main cave. The crystals blossom on the walls, lighting the darkness more than my torch ever could. I stop and realize where I am. If I take the right path, it’ll bring me to the unconscious man. Aldrik.
Suddenly, my strange dream comes back to me, and I leave the tunnel I’m in. In the back of my mind, I know I’m disobeying Dusk. But for some reason, I have to see the man. I have to know… I don’t know what.
I reach it faster than I thought possible. The crystals on the walls give enough light that I set my torch down and inch closer to the sleeping warrior. Gazing down at him, I see that his chest is still rising and falling evenly. Even if I couldn’t heal his mind, it seemed I’d healed his body.
“This was foolish,” I tell myself. “I need to go back. To stay to the north, like Dusk said. I don’t even know why I’m here.”
And the warrior’s eyes pop open, the same shade of blue as Rayne’s. My breath catches in my throat, and I feel like I’m in a dream, or a nightmare, I’m not sure which.
“I thought you were dying,” I whisper. Because this isn’t Rayne. Because this is someone else, no matter how much the dream shook me.
“New life has been breathed into me.”
The ground above us shakes, and my head jerks up. The army. It’s here too.
“We need to go or we’ll end up dead. Can you stand?”
His brows draw together, and he tries, but stumbles several times before he manages to remain standing. I wrap an arm around him and lead him back the way we came, snagging the torch as I do so. Every time I glance at him though, he simply looks determined. Not scared. Not confused.
Just determined.
Whoever this warrior is, he’s bouncing back into the fray of things faster than I would have. I only hope he can be trusted. If he ends up like that bastard Wraith, I don’t care if I saved his life or not, I’ll end it.
We run through the tunnel, him leaning on me less and less, and don’t stop running until we’re at the river, following the bank. Trying desperately to ignore the grey clouds overhead and the spikes of lighting in the sky, followed by roars of thunder that sound like a battle in itself. Only there do I feel some small sense that we might be okay. We’re doing what Dusk told us too, and I trust him. With my life.
