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“I don’t know. I just knew it was there and I used it.” Her big blue eyes blink as if she doesn’t believe it herself. And that's at least one small measure of relief. Ann wasn't hiding this great power from us. She wasn't holding back. It came as unexpectedly to her as it did to us.
But my relief is short-lived when Rayne stands up, his jerky finished, and sits down beside Ann, his hand running along her back. "It was incredible. What you did tonight…just incredible."
She gives him a little smile, but there's something in her eyes I can't read. "Thanks."
He returns her smile, and the look of contentment is gone from Dusk's face, replaced by concern. And Onyx isn't fooling anyone, chewing his jerky like he wishes he was tearing Rayne's head off instead.
Normally, this is the time when I’d step in. When I’d cool things down. When I’d remind my brothers about the logical aspect of this. Rayne being back doesn't mean we'll lose Ann. It doesn't mean she'll choose him.
But she could.And that small chance makes something inside of me unravel.
I can’t be here in this space right now. My head is too muddled with the things I know and those I don’t. And her presence blocks any sense I might be able to make of it. All I want to focus on is her and our relationship, on how Rayne complicates it, but there's so much more outside of that. I should be the leader of my people, even though I don't feel like one. I should be thinking about our next step. Our next plan.
And I can't do that around her.
She sighs. Not in sadness, maybe not even in frustration. But the sound shoots through me.
“I’m going out to get supplies.” Not because we need anything pressing, but because I need to clear my head. I don’t wait for an answer but walk out. Past the shelves where we keep our supplies, away from the bedrolls near the always burning fire where she helps Dusk recline, away from her, from Rayne.
From a problem I can't seem to find the answer to.
The sunrise burns on the horizon. It’s normally a time I would bask in the dim light, but I hurry through the woods, almost running, like I'm trying to escape things that aren't even chasing me. But my mind moves in circles, entrapping me, refusing to let me pretend, even for a moment, that things are like they were before Ann.
I should be plotting a way to take down my father and end him in a way that leaves no doubt the next shadow king is me. But instead, I’m thinking of Rayne. And Ann. Always Ann. But Rayne is a new twist in our story. A bad twist I never saw coming.
I stomp toward a clearing. There are healing herbs here I can gather, even though I don’t care about them. I can’t see past my own anger. Rayne is back. After all the work we’ve done, now that Ann is so close to accepting us as her mates, he's back to take her from us. This fucker has come home in Adrik’s body, no less. It’s true he and I weren’t close, but I knew him, and he was a good man.
Rayne is her true mate. She’s said it before. And the way she pulled that light, she must have drawn it from his energy. That kind of power can’t be hers singularly.Can it?
I think of all the things I know about Rayne. Conversations we’ve had about him. Things she said. Ever since Adrik was drawn to the shadow world and his soul consumed by a smoke dragon, his body had been dying. I suppose this fixes that, but Adrik isn’t Adrik now. He’s Rayne. Her mate.
No matter what I do, I can’t forget that. He is hertruemate, at least in her eyes.
But aren't we too? The mate bond can't be ignored, can't be falsified. What my brothers and I feel is just as real as what he feels for her, what she feels for him, but does she feel that way for us too?I think she does, but I'm not sure any more.
I sigh and walk on. The herbs grow wild at the edge where the forest overtakes the grass. When I bend to pick a stalk of hilder root, I hear the footsteps behind me. Nudging my dagger from its sheath, I'm prepared for someone stupid to be behind me. It isn’t often anyone tries to sneak up on me. Never does anyone succeed.
I twist and hold my blade to his throat. Adrick. Rayne.Shit. Of course it had to be him.
“You’re following me.” It’s obvious by his presence, but I needed an opening that doesn’t make me want to kill him.
He touches the point of my blade, with a brow raised. “Sharp.” And there's mockery in his voice, almost like it's beyond the possible that I would actually kill him, which speaks of an arrogant man.
You've already died once, you fool.
"Phantom?" The fact that I haven't lowered the blade makes the mockery fade from his voice.
I don’t have to tell him I’m going to kill him. He’s the kind of warrior who knows it. “You’re here for her?” Also likely obvious.
He stares at me, and I lower the dagger. I might kill him, but it won’t be today. No, because I'm not that kind of man, and I wouldn't deserve Ann if I was.
“I saw you take care of her, be kind to her. I saw everything you did for her.” His face... there's sincerity in it. Sincerity I don't want to see right now. “And I appreciate it."
But...
I wait for it, knowing there will be more. If he’s followed me to tell me he can take it from here, I’ll hurt him. I won't want to, but the primal need that drives me to put my mate above all else will make any other reaction impossible. If he speaks those terrible words, he'll taste my fist.
"And?" I cock a brow because I’ve seen Onyx do it, and it never fails to get his point across without words.
