Page 11 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Ellery

I pondered his question as I recalled the panic taking me over, my inability to remove my hood, and the terror clawing at me like rats in garbage. Despite the sensation of spiraling into madness, Ryker’s voice had been a calming, welcoming balm that broke through it all.

“If anyone can get through to me, it’s you,” I told him.

Clasping my face in his palms, he lifted it to kiss my nose. “Always.”

“Always. Have you ever had the lightning encompass you like that before?”

“No, but I’ve never harnessed that much of it before. You’re also more powerful than me.”

I blinked at his strange assessment. He was so strong, and he’d endured so much in his lifetime. He was the Scourge of the Ghouls, a warrior, survivor, and the only other lightning bearer in this realm.

“No, I’m not,” I told him.

He smiled at me before bending lower. His lips brushed mine when he spoke again. “Yes, you are. You have more power than I’ve ever seen; don’t deny or hide from it, Ellery. It will save you and countless others, but power can also corrupt… as we see in Tempest.”

I gulped while searching his eyes. “I can’t become like one of them.”

“You never will. I can guarantee it.”

“Why am I like this? Why me ?”

“I don’t know. We may never know. It might be that fate knew Tempest would need you, and it was time someone such as you came into existence, or it could be genetics.”

My lips twitched at this assessment. “My parents were pretty amazing.”

The reminder they were both gone was a fresh dagger to my heart, but I managed to keep the tears suddenly burning my eyes at bay. I missed my mother more than I could ever express, but Tempest was on fire, shit would soon get worse, and we had things to do.

“They were,” he agreed.

Ryker kissed me one more time before releasing me and stepping back. Before he could move too far away, I placed my hand on his arm. “Let me check your injury before you leave.”

His hand went to the bandage on his neck. I’d cleaned and bandaged the healing cut when we returned home last night.

“I’m sure it’s healed,” he stated.

“Let me make sure before you leave.”

“Bossy, aren’t you?”

I smiled as I rose onto my toes to free some of the tape. “Yes, and after last night, you can’t walk into Nottingshire with a bandaged neck.”

“My shirt will cover it.”

Before returning here last night, he’d gathered some clean clothes from his treehouse and tossed his ruined ones onto the fire. Covered in a blanket, I’d returned Ianto’s shirt to him and burned my clothes. While they’d been plain and indistinct, I wasn’t taking the chance of bringing them back to the manor.

I removed the bandage from Ryker’s neck to reveal the smooth skin beneath. I ran my fingers over the unmarred flesh cleaved by a sword last night.

Most of the scars covering him had come from repeated trauma in war and at the hands of his father and the ophidians. That sword hadn’t inflicted the same level of damage.

“It looks good,” I told him.

“Of course it does,” he told me with a wink. “I have to go.”

“I know.”

He kissed me again before pulling away. Gathering his clean clothes, he pulled them on before returning to kiss me.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too. Stay safe.”

“You too. I’ll be back soon, but if you see anyone coming who you think might be a threat, return to Tucker’s.”

“I will.”