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Misty rain tapped at my leather coat, the clop of horse hooves drumming against the creak of my saddle while nature’s noises sang a chorus in the background. The same song I had been hearing for over a week now. My body ached, exhaustion and boredom fatiguing my mind. At the same time, we could never let our guard down, keeping us all anxious and agitated.
Which didn’t help the already tense situation.
Every day was filled with new scenery and beauty. I didn’t realize how much greenery and water the middle of China had. Canals, lakes, rivers, and streams were surrounded by crags, mountains, and deep fissures everywhere. Yet, I grew restless just the same. I longed to feel the salty sea on my face, the freedom and vastness of the ocean. The creak of wood, not a saddle.
The dreary, humid day was darkening the trail quicker than usual, the hidden sun lowering behind the horizon, turning the late afternoon to night.
I glanced behind me, a shiver of alarm wiggling up the back of my neck, scratching my skin. For days now, it seemed we were being followed. Watched. But when I tuned in, listening for any sound, waiting for something to show itself or attack, nothing but silence responded.
“I’m soooo bored,” a voice bellowed, yanking my head back to the tiny monkey dramatically lying between my horse’s ears. “It’s dinnertime, right?” Sprig whined. “My stomach is eating itself.”
My horse neighed, flicking his head.
“Right? Tootsie agrees!” Sprig patted her head.
“You had a granola bar five minutes ago.” I rolled back my shoulders as they cracked and popped.
“Exactly! Five zillion trillion minutes ago! Do you know how long that is in sprite time?”
“Five minutes?” Cooper snorted in front of me. He and I switched off watching the back, though, since Nanxun, I had volunteered to stay in the last spot. Croygen and I were trying to give each other a wide berth, staying on opposite sides if we could.
Though with four of us, two being a couple, it didn’t always work well.
My eyes lifted to where he was, his strong, muscular back and tight ass drawing my attention far more than the views ever did. Even when I was young, he had this pull, an energy I couldn’t seem to resist. And I had grown no tolerance against it as an adult either.
During the long, boring hours, my mind drifted off a lot, going to dark, erotic places. Like the fantasy of him not walking away from me the night in Nanxun. Imagining his hand choking me while he drove into me, rattling the hinges on the door, howling through the small inn.
“Hello?” A small hand waved in front of my face, Sprig’s face about an inch from mine. “Anyone in there? Think you were purring there,bhean chait.” Cat-woman.
“No, I wasn’t!” I quickly countered, my cheeks heating, wondering if I really had been. It would be absolutely mortifying if I had. Cat-shifters used our throat vibrations for many things—healing, seducing, communicating, and when we were content. The purest was when it came unconsciously, letting down our guard, our cat taking over, our purr out of our control.
In all my life, a man has never made me purr after sex. I never was with anyone I could completely let down my guard. It was always just sex, or sex and a thieving opportunity.
“You sure?” Sprig nudged me with his elbow, his cape over his backpack, keeping Pam dry. “Any swabbing of the deck below?”
“Sprig.” I clenched my teeth, more images coming back to me. The night hiding in the hotel room, under the tiny twin bed. My core clenched at the memory of him licking through me, how the Silver-Tongue Devil had me orgasming so hard I went blind. Every time I shut my eyes at night, my thoughts went right back there, craving him so badly I had stopped sleeping the last couple of nights, staying on watch because I was afraid of what I might do. How natural it seemed to want to crawl into his sleeping bag just to feel his warmth surround me.
How could I crave and hate a man so much at the same time? This man, once again, was destroying my life, taking away all my hard work and carefully made plans. I had sacrificed and turned away from so much on my mission for revenge. To be the pirate who killed the legend himself. To feel fulfilled in my retaliation. Have him understand his crimes, feel his remorse, and know he was getting his just desserts.
Except none of that happened. Not only was I working with my father’s killer, but I had kissed him, and his devil of a tongue had made me come. Hard.
I was a cliché, another one to fall under his spell.
And now we were partners in the quest for this nectar.
Along with the rest of the world.
“Croygen?” Cooper called out to the pirate, flicking his head at Annabeth. It wasn’t cold, the humidity mixing sweat and rain together, but AB shivered as the sun lowered, her back curling more and more over her horse. Exhaustion riddled her thin body. Though the girl tried to pretend otherwise, it became increasingly obvious how sick she was.
Cancer.
The word triggered an ache in my chest. I hadn’t known her long, but I already cared for her. The internal battle to help my own family or to help her was already waging war inside. The nectar could save her life and turn her fae, but then I would be forgoing my own crew, leaving them to die in Emperor Batara’s hands, if they hadn’t already. Going against the vow to get him this substance would be suicide for me as well.
Croygen’s dark, sensual eyes went to AB, taking her in before he dipped his head. “We’ll stop here for the night.”
“I’m fine.” Annabeth waved him on, her arm barely lifting. “Keep going.”
“I need to stop,” I spoke, having this urge to take the burden off AB. “I’m tired. And hungry.”
