Page 94

CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR

Ryker

The sun was coming up by the time I withdrew from Ellery, and she collapsed on top of me. I’d lost myself to her again.

I didn’t know how or why it happened, but there were times when I was with her that she became an all-consuming need I couldn’t deny. It had happened once before, in the Revenant Woods, but this time, self-hatred didn’t follow our time together.

Only love and concern filled me this time as I ran my hands over her silken hair. My loss of control around her should bother me. I thrived on control, but I couldn’t bring myself to care as her apple aroma had mingled with my scent to create an intoxicating combination around us.

Over the course of the night, we’d moved throughout the house before finally making our way downstairs. After pausing for some water, I’d taken her again in the kitchen before we ended up on the sofa downstairs.

Now, the rising sun peeked around the edges of the drapes as she nuzzled closer. “Are you okay?” I inquired.

“I’m fantastic.”

I’d meant if she was emotionally okay, but I didn’t push her on it. Reality would return soon, and with it, the reminder of her mother’s death. For now, she was content to stay in the bubble we’d created.

That didn’t last. After another minute, she released a sorrow-filled sigh.

Tenderly, her fingers traced the scars running on my chest and stomach. Between my back and front, hundreds of them covered me.

Ellery had never shied away from the marks. That didn’t change now as she ran her fingers across one running from my right shoulder to my left hip.

Lifting her head, she nibbled her bottom lip as her eyes and fingers followed the curve of another scar. “You were having a nightmare.”

When her eyes met mine, the blackness and lightning that filled them all night was gone. They had been replaced by the beautiful blue-green color I loved so much.

“I was,” I stated.

There was no need for me to confirm it; we both knew I was. She’d been there to pull me out of it, but the memory was returning… as was the reminder of our last fight. I wasn’t ready to return to that.

“Were you dreaming of the ophidians or your father?” she asked.

“Both. They’d meshed to become a creature with my father’s head and torso and the body of a snake.”

“How accurate.”

I smiled a little while playing with her hair. “It was.”

She shifted her attention back to my scars. “No one should have to endure what you did.”

I didn’t respond as her hair slid through my fingers. Given her pensive expression, her thoughts had turned to the prisoners.

Ellery nodded as if she were coming to some conclusion. “We’ll rescue them. I still think it’s extremely risky, but it’s also the right thing to do. However, I will be there for it.”

My hand stilled on her hair while I studied her. I would rescue those amsirah, but she couldn’t be there for it. “This isn’t a robbery.”

“Yes, it is. We’re just stealing amsirah instead of money. I understand why you and Tucker have to do this, and I will support you, but you can’t shut me out of it. You’ll need as many trained and powerful amsirah there as possible, and I will be one of them.”

I could feel her stubborn nature rising to battle with me again. Given everything Ellery could do and what she would mean to this realm once her powers were revealed, I’d far prefer if she were somewhere safe, but she’d prefer the same for me.

I couldn’t lock her away when she couldn’t do the same to me.

“Okay,” I relented. “You’ll be there, but only if I’m sure you’ll be in a safe location.”

She studied me before lowering her head to rest it over my heart. “We both might be a little crazy.”

“I agree.”

I placed my hand on her back as the sunlight poking around the drapes increased. “There’s something else we have to discuss.”

When she lifted her head again, her brow furrowed. “What?”

“Gaius Gisborne.”

Her confusion mounted as a line between her eyes became more prevalent. “Who?”

“Gaius. I saw you speaking with him yesterday.”

Her forehead cleared as her mouth parted. “Oh, that guy. He helped place my mother’s body in her coffin.”

Those words brought reality crashing over her as she closed her eyes and winced a little. I used my thumb to stroke the silken skin in the hollow of her back while she worked through her grief.

When she opened her eyes, the pallor of her skin caused her freckles to stand out more starkly. “Are you okay?” I asked again.

“Yes. What were you saying about Gaius?”

I wasn’t sure she was ready to continue, but I had to warn her. “There’s something wrong with him. He and Samael joined me for a drink in the tavern after I’d dispersed the last of my purses. He acts like he’s excited to help the realm, but he’s like my father; I know it.”

Her eyebrows rose at my assessment of the man. “There’s something about him I don’t trust, but that’s a terrifying prospect. I didn’t search him out to talk to him; he was just there… both times.”

“I understand, but I want you to stay away from him. He’s dangerous.”

She lowered her head to my chest again. “I’ll stay away.”

I enveloped her in my arms and held her close until it was time for her to return to work on the farm and for me to return to my father’s castle. I had to occasionally appear there before returning to Tucker’s encampment.

Once there, we’d plot how to free the prisoners.