Page 65

“That would mean that there is something here that needs to be defended,” Raiden says, his eyebrow raised.

“That can’t be good,” I reply.

“It could just be natural defenses,” River suggests.

As we round the corner, we suddenly find ourselves face to face with a group of supernaturals that absolutely do not look friendly. Their expressions are fierce, they’re holding spears that are on fire, and the few that don’t have weapons are engulfed in flames themselves. With dark red skin, huge ears that look like fennec fox ears perched on top of their heads, except the skin is covered in scales, eyes that are too big for their heads and slit like a snakes, plus the long and pointed snouts that are currently all snarling at us, they don’t exactly portray a picture of welcome.

“You were saying, River?” Griff murmurs out of the side of his mouth, and I try not to smirk.

“Wishful thinking,” River retorts.

“Hello, we don’t want to cause you any trouble, we're just heading over to the cliffs,” Evander explains calmly.

It’s clear from the way that they suddenly appeared and their aggressive body language that they have no intention of talking through anything peacefully, but Evander has to try. None of us wants to end up in conflict with the locals if we can avoid it, and especially not over a misunderstanding. There is a small chance that they have come at us aggressively because they think that we’re intruders intending to hurt them.

“You will not get safe passage through us until you pay,” one of them says as he moves forward and stands in front of the group.

He’s bigger than the others, and I would be willing to bet that he is the one in charge.

I glance at River, he was still holding the giant gemstone a moment ago, and if they see it, then I’m pretty sure that it will be what they insist on having in order to allow us to pass. We obviously can’t give it to them, we need it in order to pass this trial, the instructions were pretty vague about almosteverything except that we have to put the gemstone in the cave. So we won’t pass if we give the gemstone to these locals to keep the peace.

Thankfully, when I look at River though, the gemstone is nowhere to be seen. I have no idea what he’s done with it, or where he could have possibly put it, but that’s not really a question that I can ask him now. Right now, I’m just glad that it’s not in sight.

“And what is it that you require for payment?” Raiden asks, his eyebrow raised slightly.

Doc curls his lip, baring sharp teeth that I have never seen before, as he takes a step closer to me protectively, and his body tenses like he’s ready to spring into action at any moment. I have never seen this side of him, with his eyes glowing gold and his fangs extended, he looks deadly, and absolutely fucking gorgeous. However, his reaction is not reassuring, and unfortunately, I am pretty sure about what has triggered it and what these supernaturals are going to ask for. I hope that I’m wrong, but Doc wouldn’t react like this for no reason.

The supernaturals behind the leader shift excitedly, and my hackles rise as the voices stir in warning. The leader’s eyes move to me and drag over me in a lecherous way that seems to be universal for all of these kinds of males, regardless of realm or species. River growls low in his throat in warning, and all of the guys move closer to me, anger filling their expressions, although they keep a lid on the majority of their magic, only letting a small amount free.

Instead of being put off by the guy’s reaction, the leader’s eyes light with challenge.

Well shit, River’s growl, Doc’s snarl, and the guys all moving protectively around me have increased his interest in me rather than made him think twice. He now wants me because they are being protective of me, and therefore, that means that having me would be even more of a win.

“We’ll take the woman,” the leader predictably says.

“No,” Van replies, firmly with absolutely no room for argument.

The leader looks slightly surprised, he gestures at the supes behind him, “You are outnumbered. You would risk death for one woman?”

“Yes,” is the resounding answer from all of my men.

My smile is wide as happiness sets butterflies free in my stomach. That was really fucking cute.

As they all tense, gripping their weapons tighter, I feel myself moving my fingers, in the sign that Coen, Dimitri, and I made up. I haven’t actually done this sign for years, it’s not like the thank you one. It’s the sign that we used before we went into a difficult fight, one that we weren’t sure that we would come out of. It’s the one that we used to say what we couldn’t say out loud, and it stabs at an old and not very well-healed wound.

I didn’t consciously choose to do it then, and I’m not sure why I did. I haven’t made the sign for years and years. It was subtle enough that I really doubt that anyone has noticed it, but Coen and Dimitri would have if they were watching, and I know that Dimitri is because he came to my aid with Coen, and there is no way that he would have known that I was in trouble without seeing the Choosing.

That’s probably why I’ve made the sign. He came and he sang, and my heart can’t fucking take it. It’s not only been broken by him, but torn to shreds, and I know that I am not capable of enduring any more pain from him. I barely survived it before, and I think if I had just escaped and hadn’t ended up working off my sentence with HID, then I may not have survived it. Coen witnessed enough of the way that Dimitri changed to know how bad it was, and he was talking to Kar about it, and had planned to stick around until he disappeared, and I saw him less and less. I’m not really certain when the timelines cross with Coen being pulled into the Draconian team, but I must have seen him when it first started happening. If he had said something then, I might have been able to help. Although I suppose I was trying to keep myhead above water and plan the escape that ended up with me being in HID. He was probably ordered not to say anything to anyone as well.

I think that I ended up in HID just as Coen and the guys all finished the magical academy and went into the training one. Possibly, they may have been in their last year of the magical academy. Honestly, I have no idea, it doesn’t really matter, and I will most likely forget to ask them any time soon.

Asael zaps my hand with a small sting of magic, and I jump, trying to yell. Shit. We’re in a situation, a dangerous one, and I’m going down memory lane, and trying to figure out a timeline that doesn’t matter at all in the long run. We made it to this point and we’re together, the timeline overlapped in ways that were most likely very complicated.

This time the voices shout and I frown, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, my ease to be distracted is at a new fucking level. I tune back into what is happening, grateful that despite my distracted wanderings, I only appear to have lost a couple of moments.

“Very well,” the leader grins. “This will be fun, and we’ll still get your woman. Maybe we will keep you alive long enough to see what we’re going to do to her.”

Before anyone can do or say anything, the leader explodes, actually scratch that, explodes isn’t the right word, he fucking vaporizes. My eyes go wide as everybody just stares in shock at the space where the leader once was. It only takes seconds for self-preservation to kick in, and the rest of the locals turn tail and run away. Turning to look at the guys, I try to work out what happened and see all eyes on Reed, his expression is filled with fierce anger, and his power is completely unleashed. he reaches for me and pulls me in close to his side.