Page 67 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

Ryker

I was not in the best of moods when I returned to Tucker’s camp, but I tried to keep it hidden while I helped train some recruits. Others in the camp readied the purses we’d distribute through the towns tomorrow.

I would have much preferred to kill something and contemplated slipping into the woods to do so, but I’d returned later than I anticipated, and Ellery would arrive soon. I wanted to make sure she was safe, and it had been an uneventful day.

Since I couldn’t kill anything, I focused my hostile energy on training. When dusk descended, Tucker called an end to the archery and swordplay before walking over to join me.

Shadows still marred his eyes, and his skin remained paler than normal, but he’d recovered well from his injury and the poison. He eyed me as he stopped beside me.

“Did you see your father today?” he inquired.

I grunted in response.

“How is the duke?”

I grunted again.

“So, he’s doing good, and everything went well.”

My eyes narrowed at his flippant tone, but Tucker wasn’t the one I hated. I studied the camp while I tried to get my temper under control.

The purses had all been filled and stashed in a chest beneath Tucker’s treehouse. Many were settling in for dinner, but a few were still working with the animals.

It was all so peaceful, even as the night creatures started to wake and hunt. Maybe coming here wasn’t the best idea; I felt too volatile.

“What did he say?” Tucker asked.

I turned to my friend. Maybe I shouldn’t be here, but I was, and Tucker had to know what I’d learned today.

“Every time I think he can’t shock me anymore, he proves me wrong,” I said.

“What happened?”

“We should get Ianto for this.”

Tucker lifted an eyebrow but refrained from saying anything more as I waved the giant over. Ianto saved some children from the orphanage fire; he had a right to know who started it and why.

The giant finished cutting a piece of meat from a deer and placed it on the plate of a young girl. She was one of the orphans Ianto had saved, but the girl standing behind her was a new addition to the encampment.

Ianto handed his knife and fork over to Luna. They exchanged words before Luna went to work on the deer, and Ianto joined us.

“What’s going on?” Ianto asked.

I jerked my head toward the edge of the forest. The truth would come out, as I had no intention of keeping my father’s secrets, but for now, it was best to keep this between us.

I also had to tell Ellery my father had hinted at me marrying Bria. It would never happen, but we’d agreed to be completely open with each other. I would uphold that promise, just as she was.

Ianto and Tucker walked with me toward the edge of the woods; we slipped a little into the shadows of the trees. From my position, I could still see the encampment, and anyone looking could see us, but the trees and descending night provided privacy.

I leaned against a tree and watched the encampment for any sign of Ellery’s return while I told them what I’d learned. As I spoke, Tucker stood with his mouth ajar while Ianto looked ready to murder.

The giant didn’t have a chance of getting to my father before me, but if he did, I had no doubt he’d kill the duke.

“ Children died because of him,” Ianto said.

“He doesn’t care about that.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“You’ll have to ask him that yourself, but as his son, I can assure you, he doesn’t give a shit about any child… including his own.”

“He’s offered you a chance to leave Tempest,” Tucker said.

“I’d never take it. I’d have to give him Ellery, and that will never happen. Besides, he wouldn’t let me leave; I have no doubt that, in his mind, once he gets his hands on the female lightning bearer, I’m as good as dead.”

“Shit,” Ianto muttered.

“He’s desperate to get his hands on Ellery,” Tucker said.

“They’re all desperate for that. Ivan’s plotting something; I don’t know what it is, but he’ll make a move soon. Once he does, there’s a chance we won’t be able to keep Ellery hidden.”

“What do we do when that happens?” Tucker asked.

“Keep her alive, no matter what,” I said. “Other than that, we’re doing everything we can to make Tempest safer again.”

I gazed out at the few hundred amsirah now gathered in the clearing. I wished we could do more and do it faster, but we were growing stronger.

Despite planning to spread more money through the towns, we still required more carisle to pay for weapons, but if I could find my father’s treasury, it would help solve that problem. At least I knew where his weapons room was now.

When shit finally went down, I could try to get in there to steal some of the weapons. I couldn’t do it now, and the timing would have to be perfect, but that would also help us.