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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. With every step, we’re 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 then do I feel some small sense that we might be okay. We’re doing what Dusk told us to, and I trust him. With my life.
With my heart.
We’ve slowed now and I can’t shake the feeling of familiarity every time I look at the man beside me, the sense that I know him, though we’ve only just met. Officially anyway. He’s been unconscious the rest of the time, and the feeling is unsettling.
“Should…should you be back fighting with the others?”
“The others?”
I frown. “The other shadow beasts. Or are you still too weak?”
Or is this guy some asshole working for the Shadow King, and the only reason he seems familiar to me is that he’s in on all of this too? Maybe even leading me into danger?My stomach turns.
He stares at me for a moment, then laughs and the sound is so similar to Rayne’s that tears sting my eyes. “I’m not a shadow beast.”
What the hell does that mean? What does any of this mean?
My steps slow and my heart races. “Then, what are you?”
He stops and holds my gaze. “Do you really not recognize me?”
“What? You’re the injured shadow beast...”
But his only answer is another laugh. One that there’s no denying.
He has Rayne’s laugh. And Rayne’s eyes. “Rayne?”
