Page 90 of His Claim

Varek’s gaze shifted to me then, and for a heartbeat, the rest of the world disappeared. I could see the battle already in his eyes, the part of him that wanted to grab me and drag me as far from danger as possible, and the part that knew he couldn’t.

He reached out, brushing his thumb across my cheek one more time. “You stay with her,” he said. “If anything goes wrong?—”

“I’ll handle it,” I finished for him, placing my hand over his. “You have your mission. I have mine.”

The faintest smile curved his lips. “You sound like a soldier.”

“Maybe I’m learning from the best.”

His hand lingered on my face for one last heartbeat before he let it fall. “I’ll find you when it’s done,” he said.

“You’d better.”

Elsie cleared her throat loudly. “Alright, lovebirds, break it up. We’ve got a city to crash.”

Varek gave her a look that could have cut through stone. She only grinned wider. “Don’t worry, big guy. I’ll bring her back in one piece.”

“You’d better,” he said again, voice like gravel.

Elsie turned to me, nodding toward the trees. “You ready, Mariah?”

I tightened the straps of my pack and straightened. “Let’s go.”

I took one last look at Varek, at the man who had dragged me out of hell and made me want to fight for a future I hadn’t dared to believe in. Then I turned and followed Elsie into the trees.

We set off at a brisk pace, our boots crunching through the frost, the camp fading behind us. The forest swallowed us quickly, the path narrowing into a thin line between the trees. The cold air stung my lungs, but every step steadied me.

For a while, we moved in silence, the only sounds our breathing and the faint click of Elsie’s rifle strap against her shoulder.

After a while, she spoke, her voice quieter than I expected. “He loves you, you know.”

I glanced at her, surprised. “That obvious?”

She smirked. “Sweetheart, it’s obvious from orbit. The man looks at you like you hung the moon. And if that doesn’t terrify you a little, you’re stronger than I thought.”

“It does,” I admitted. “Terrify me. But it also… makes me want to be worthy of that kind of love.”

Elsie gave a short nod, her expression softening just a fraction. “Good answer.”

Over the next three days, we traveled light and fast, keeping to the game trails that wound through the trees and dipped between the folds of rock. The morning mist clung to our clothes, beading on Elsie’s rifle and turning my hair to damp curls. She moved with a kind of relaxed confidence that made me think she’d done this a thousand times before—boots silent, eyes always moving, one hand resting comfortably on her weapon.

The ground was slick from a recent rain, and every sound felt too loud in the quiet between the ridges. Somewhere far below, a hawk cried, its echo fading into the valley.

Elsie broke the silence first. “You always this quiet?” she asked without looking back. “Or are you just scared I’ll bite?”

I smirked. “You don’t seem like the biting type.”

She glanced over her shoulder with a grin. “Oh, sweetheart, that’s where you’re wrong.”

I shook my head, smiling despite myself. “You remind me of Kendra.”

“That the mouthy brunette?”

“Yeah. She’d love you. Or you’d kill each other within five minutes.”

“I’m charming as hell,” Elsie said, stepping over a fallen log. “People just can’t handle me.”

“I’m sure that’s it,” I replied dryly.