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The Mist continued to thin out, and I kept my dagger within reach, the blade ready to spill blood. Before we’d settled down in the clearing yesterday, the fog had been dense enough that I could only see five or six feet in front of me. Now I could stare off into a distance of fifteen feet or more, perhaps even farther.
One would assume it would grow thicker the deeper we ventured, which was why my instincts were screaming that something was off. While there was no discernible danger, my rapid heartbeat told me otherwise.
The moonlight helped ease my fears, and I tilted my head to the sky. I noted that the moon appeared bigger than before, which was mind-boggling in itself, for it was already unnaturally large. Today, blue tinted its glow, a soft shade that reminded me of the lakes of the southern lands.
After another five minutes, Kiara halted, her sudden stop causing me to jerk back in surprise.
“What is it?” I whispered, peering over her shoulder as I took a step back.
She didn’t need to answer.
Kiara had almost stumbled right off a cliff, the rocky edge but a few feet ahead. And at the base of that cliff lay a ramshackle village. Opaque spirals of white and gray wound about tents and wandering villagers, their feet shrouded entirely by the fog. It was thicker than the blue haze we’d journeyed through, as if no color dared to touch the foulness of the village and its inhabitants.
“It’s them,” she hissed between her teeth.
I knew who she spoke of—the masked men. Bending into a crouch, she examined the torchlit village and its many torn and ragged cloth tents. Everything was in shades of slate and ivory, not a trace of color to be found. And from the looks of it, I’d speculate there to be no more than forty people living there.
“What do we do?” Kiara’s breaths came out ragged. Her dagger was at her side.
I thought on that. We only had one option, really. “We go around them.”
The two of us combined wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to take down a whole horde of masked fighters. They weren’t as well trained as Knights, but they were still skilled. I surmised that you would have to be a decent enough fighter to live out here.
Kiara gave a jerk of her head. “Fine, but I want to wait a second before we go on.”
“Why?” The longer we sat here twiddling our thumbs, the greater were our chances of exposure.
“Just…I don’t know,” she huffed. “I have a feeling.” Great. Afeeling. Those were never good.
“We don’t have the time, Kiara,” I groused, the inner commander in me rearing his head. I’d allowed her actions to slide too many times, and with our safety—hersafety—in question, I had to toughen up.
“Youcan leave. I’m staying here.” Kiara met my penetrating stare head-on, never flinching beneath my icy gaze.
Gods, this woman.
“I am still your commander,” I ground out, my patience wearing thin. “We shouldn’t risk an entire kingdom full of lives just to satiate yourfeeling.”
“Then I guess I’m disobeying a direct order.” A hand went to her hip, a feral gleam lighting her determined eyes.
She was challenging me.
“Kiara…” I warned, my tone turning low. “While things between us might be blurred”—I grimaced, knowing full well it was my fault—“we still have a mission.” I should never have crossed that line to begin with, even though we’d been dancing around it for weeks.
“Blurred?” she scoffed, her free hand clenching into a fist. “Blurred?” she echoed, and I didn’t like the sound of that. Taking a mighty step forward, the tips of her boots bumping against mine, she raised her head. “The lines didn’t seem soblurryyesterday when you had your tongue down my throat.”
“That’s not what—”
“And besides”—she interrupted, her hand shoving against my chest—“why would you listen to me? The person who saved your ass that first day when you couldn’t even open your eyes? Hmmm?” Her voice rose with her swelling ire. Kiara’s temper burned bright, and once sparked, it could easily catch flame.
I grasped both of her arms. “We will stayfiveminutes. That is my only compromise. And you should think yourself lucky I’m even allowing that.”
Kiara shook me off her, shooting daggers into my skull with her eyes before lowering herself into a crouching position behind a patch of thick black reeds. I watched the back of her head a moment longer, knowing full well I’d given in to her demands. I was getting soft, and that was a weakness I couldn’t afford.
But now that I’d gotten a taste of her, I craved more. Kiara’s lips on mine brought air back into lungs that hadn’t taken a full breath in years.
Grumbling, I assumed a similar position, landing on my knees and crouching behind the tall charcoal reeds. If any of my soldiers saw me giving in to a recruit, I’d be the laughingstock of the brotherhood.
Kiara didn’t look back at me, not even to glower. She fixed her eyes on the village below, watching every movement like a hawk.
