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Both of us ignored the glaring males beside us.
When I was satisfied that I was as clean as I was going to get without a true bath, I slipped onto Bright’s back again, and we took off.
The rest of the day was littered with stops for food. Kierden got angrier with every one of them—and I started to enjoy the power that Bright gave me just by existing even more.
I supposefreedomwould be a better description thanpower, but freedom felt a lot like power after the life I’d lived.
When Bright stopped and let Death know that I needed to sleep, Kierden slipped off the back of his esu, muttering curses under his breath.
I pretended not to hear him cursing, settling on a fallen log with yet another piece of fruit in my hands.
With a moment of focus, he created another box-shaped shelter that had an opening on one side. If not for his magic tangled with mine, I’d have frozen to death in the structure. Thanks to his power, I didn’t seem to feel the cold at all.
“Do you have any questions now?” the man growled at me as I ate.
“Not any you seem willing to answer.” Maybe I had a bit of a stubborn streak. Or a lot of one.
He crouched in front of me and grabbed the mass of my hair, which hung to my hips in wild tangles. Before I could push him away, he’d lifted the strands away from my face and was studying my ears.
His expression twisted with some emotion I couldn’t read. Probably distaste.
“I told you, I’m human.” I pulled my hair out of his grip—or at least tried to. His hands tightened so I let go, shooting him a glare. “Don’t touch me.”
His eyes flashed with something I couldn’t read, and he dug his fingers into my hair so he had complete control over my head’s position. With a surprisingly gentle motion, he tilted my face back and exposed my neck.
I was too surprised and confused to bother fighting his hold.
Veil, maybe I was even a little turned on by it.
Bright gave a low, warning growl.
Death started growling with her, too, but neither of the esu made a move to attack either me or Kierden.
“Your magic is draining me dry,” he said. “Cut it off, now.”
“Give me a reason to.”
He glared at me.
I waited.
Finally, he said through gritted teeth, “I started the mate bond because there was no way around it. I was told that I had to ignite the connection between us, or let myself be hunted by the Beast of the Endless Wilds.”
It took a moment for the title to set in.
The Beast of the Endless Wilds…
“One of the elves’ assassins is looking for you?” I asked, growing alarmed.
Everyone had heard stories about the three monsters the elves had created for protection. According to the legends I’d heard, the creatures had grown too strong and then slaughtered a lot of the elves. Supposedly, they now prowled all of Evare, glutting themselves on the blood and power of any living creatures they could find.
“Huntingme.” He tilted his head toward a mark I hadn’t noticed on the back of his hand—the glowing one that wasn’t buried in my hair. “The assassins can only kill those they’ve been paid to hunt.”
My face paled. “And he’s coming for you?”
“He was, until I bonded us as mates. Now your magic will conceal mine from him until he manages to track me another way.”
Veil.
