AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We were already pushing our luck being so deep in the unclaimed no man’s land between our two nations. It was a nebulous zone that was just as much our enemies’ stomping ground, but Irina was talking about going beyond that and actuallyintoVekas.
That was another matter entirely.
Yet did we even have a choice?
“So, this may be crazy,” Tristian chimed in. “But I think I know the same vampire you’re talking about and where they’re stationed.”
At that, Darla’s eyes went wide, and I was pretty sure mine mirrored hers. “What? How do you know that?”
“Info I picked up on my last mission—the one where I learned about this attack in the first place. Living vampire blood is in high demand, apparently.”
“Wow,” the psychic continued. “That is…insanely convenient.”
“Hey, you don’t have to believe me, I’m just delivering the info I found while scouting.”
“We’ll do it,” Kai said, but he didn’t sound enthused. Was he upset with me for not being more successful in my mission? I'd most certainly tried. I'd thought that perhaps my coven might be more lenient with me, but I’d still anticipated a somewhat cold reception.
“All right, then, let’s refresh our canteens and get ready for our journey,” Irina said, all business now that we had a plan in motion. “With any luck, we’ll be back here in a day and a half or so.”
Luck, sure, but since when had that ever been on our side?
Chapter 19
Kai
Somehow, I managed to wait until we were well away from the protected land of the coven before calling for a break to rest, refuel, and recharge. While the others sat, I pulled Ayla to the side. Not so far away that we’d be completely out of earshot, but enough that I didn’t have to worry about our two other shifter companions picking up every single word.
“Wha—” Ayla started to say before I kissed her fiercely. I knew we probably shouldn’t, considering where we were and who was after us, but I couldn’t resist. I was so anxious about us being separated, and relieved to see her again, not to mention proud of her for being brave enough to face very complicated figures in her life.
When I broke away from her, Ayla looked more shocked than usual. I was all set to apologize when she spoke, taking me for a surprise.
“You’re not disappointed in me?”
“What? Why would I be disappointed in you?” I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how she’d come to that conclusion, but I was concerned if she thought she’d done anything remotely close to warranting that reaction.
“Because I didn’t get the relic, and now we have to go on this even more dangerous mission, risking our lives and taking even longer to protect our people.”
Damn, my beautiful, loving, wonderful mate. Would she ever cut herself some slack? As far as I was concerned, she’d gone above and beyond everything asked of her. I just wished she could see herself that way, but considering the women who raised her and the breadth of their opinions on her, perhaps it wasn’t such a wonder that her self-esteem was low.
At least I'd a lifetime to help counteract that, and by the gods, I would. Even if I sounded like one of those cheesy wife-guys, I'd make sure that one day Ayla saw herself for the wondrous woman she truly was.
For the moment, I just had to deal with it directly, and I felt acrid, noxious anger spill into our bond, fueled by memories of how her fellow witches treated her.
“You have nothing to worry about. You are incredible, and those old crones need a lesson in compassion.” That was much nicer than what I actually wanted to say, but I figured it wasn’t in good form to chew out Ayla’s only living family when she was already emotionally raw.
“Oh, I, uh… I…” She shook her head, as if trying to rattle her thoughts into order. “Sorry, this just wasn’t quite how I expected this conversation to go.” I wanted to comfort her, to tell her that she didn’t have to worry about me ever blaming her for things outside of her control, but it seemed she didn’t need it. “Right, well, anyway, they weren’t quite so bitter about my curse when I lived there before.”
“Maybe something else happened between you leaving and coming to the fort. I imagine those weren’t back-to-back events, were they?”
“I’d…rather not talk about it.”
Another secret, another unexplored avenue. I found myself quite ardently wanting to know what happened because it was another story of my mate—one that would hopefully let me get to know her better. I could feel her walls building right back up again, and I didn’t want her to resent me or feel her privacy was being invaded at a time when she’d already been an emotional punching bag today.
I mentally tucked that question away right on top of all the others I wanted to ask, assuming that one day we'd have the time and not the threat of an intense battle hanging over our heads.
I did want to say more, but both of us scented the air at the same time, detecting that our dear Darla was approaching us. She moved quietly for a human cryptid, but not quietly enough to completely fool shifter senses.
“Ooh, am I interrupting something?” she said, emerging from a thicket of bushes while interrupting absolutely nothing. Ayla and I had already taken several steps apart from each other and were standing there with our arms crossed. Definitely not an illicit picture at all.
