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"Ten days?" I repeated as I glanced over at him. "It only felt like a few hours."
They looked at one another as though exchanging some secret conversation, one that wasn't for me. I wasn't quite sure what it meant, but I had a bad feeling about it.
Chapter
Three
Thorn
When Ronan first saw a shape coming towards the woods none of us were sure what to think. Was it another fae? Was it something else, something that had made it through one of the barriers to our lands?
I had no idea who or what was walking towards us, but something in my gut told me that it was Senara. Her lithe figure was burned into my brain, even though I'd never seen her in this context or at this distance before it just felt like it was her. I didn't know how else to describe it.
Ronan watched me get ever more antsy to move forward. I must have moved without realizing it because he cautioned, "We don't know who it is yet."
"I know, but it could be her." My tone was clipped, my focus narrowed to the figure moving on the horizon.
Ronan sighed and even without looking at him I knew he was rubbing the back of his neck in something like frustration. "It's been ten days now. We said four more and then we would resign ourselves to the fact that she was gone. Nobody can survive two weeks in the veil."
I grunted an agreement. "True, but we don't know what magic is at play yet."
"You're just saying that to put off preparing yourself for the worst," he countered, coming to stand next to me.
"I'm saying that because it's true." As the figure drew closer, I got more confident that it was, in fact, Senara.
She seemed to know we were here, judging by the reactions. "Halt," I called out, using my gruffest voice to make sure she heard me as we surged forward, covering the space between us as fast as I could without breaking into a run.
"Raise your hands, gesture of surrender," Ronan called out, dropping the pitch of his voice to sound more like mine. He still didn't believe that it could be her after being in the veil for so long.
She froze in place, raising her hands defensively. "Come on," I said to Ronan. As the wind whipped across the plains I was grateful for the clothing that we had found at the safe house. Although our house was being generous, it was more just a small shack that was set up a little ways from the veil to give me and Ronan supplies that we desperately needed, ones that would help us get to a town or a city. It wasn't the usual place people used, Sanctuary, which was more of a waypoint between destinations and could have anyone inside. The shack was private, something I needed.
Finally, we were close enough for me to make out that it was Senara and she was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. I must have made some kind of noise because Ronan muttered, "Don't forget your sun kissed. She's moon marked. Never the twain shall mix."
The words were like an arrow to the heart. He was right, though. We were forbidden from intermingling. If I had known what she was from the beginning, then I never would have slept with her. But I had. Multiple times. So much so that she hadbecome close to an addiction for me. One that I couldn't turn down or say no to. At least not easily. It had taken everything I had not to take her and make a run for the veil when the King had given me permission to go along, but I might need to go back to the human lands at some point, so I couldn't risk making an enemy of the ruler.
"Senara." Her name was like a prayer on my lips, leaving them without me consciously thinking about it.
Her head snapped up and her gaze locked onto me. Eyes that had been grayish-blue were now a light violet color while her skin was pale as the moon and the mark that had just been on her back before now spread up and over her shoulder, continuing up her neck until it was almost touching her cheek.
Based on the size of the mark alone she was incredibly powerful, and yet she claimed to have no magic. How those two things mixed, I wasn't sure, but I knew we would find out.
I couldn't stop myself from admiring her as we approached. Everything about her was just...Increased. She was more beautiful than ever before. What I wouldn't give to have seen her for the first time alone and left Ronan back at the small camp we had made. The words that would have poured forth from me would have been entirely too flowery and too affectionate. In some places they would even be considered illegal.
My eye blazed the anger, making the flames grow hotter. How dare we be denied one another? I knew there was some reason behind why sun kissed and moon marked didn't mix but seeing her standing there, my mind filled with memories of all that had passed between us made me want to rage until I was allowed to be with her once more.
"Thank the gods you're alive," I said, even though I was surprised at how small she was.
"I told you she would make it," Ronan said, smug in his words even though a moment ago he'd been trying to prepare me for the worst.
She smirked for a mere second before wiping the expression off her face. "Thanks for your vote of confidence. Does anybody happen to have any clothes I could wear?"
I had been trying to ignore the fact that she was naked since it didn't help things and I wasn't sure how to fix it. When she mentioned it, I saw Ronan shrug off his coat and I did the same, secretly hoping that it was my jacket that she used to cover herself.
She grabbed both out of the air as we tossed them in her direction, but only pulled mine on, making my heart swell with pride. The jacket swamped her, looking more like a dress, which was fine by me since the more of her skin I saw the harder it was to resist touching her.
As she wrapped it tightly around herself I realized just how small she was. Her mark may have been big, but her body was not. She was barely bigger than a human. Certainly not a normal size for fae. Was this the result of her heritage, or did this have something to do with the rough childhood I gathered she had had?
"Have you seen Wyn?" she asked quietly, her downcast gaze telling us that she was dreading our answer.
