Page 45 of In The Dark

His chest heaves.“And I’m very grateful?—”

“Isa!” Ezra calls from ahead, pivoting toward me, leaving Rydian to quickly pull his hand away.

My stomach drops at the sound of Ezra’s voice, adrenaline shooting through me as I focus my attention on the path ahead.Oh gods, did he see me?

“What?” I call out, probably a little too quickly.

Shame washes over me, as I was about to let the king of Aurelia touch me and I was… enjoying it. Gods, something is seriously wrong with me.

Since it’s clear Ezra wants to talk, I compose myself before riding to meet him near the water’s edge. Rydian’s tightly tucked behind me, my pulse climbing at the sudden realization.

“Slow your breathing. He can’t see me,”Rydian says, almost annoyed, leaving me to grind my teeth.

Ezra throws me a sideways glance when I approach. “We’re doing well on time today. We should be arriving in Dryborn shortly. Ren and I wanted to keep going for a while.”

“Keep going? I thought we were stopping in Dryborn?” I ask.

If we push through, the only thing in between Dryborn and Alvonia is the Twin Valley.

“We were, but I think we’d be able to camp right before we get to the Twin Valley so we don’t get stuck in it tomorrow,” he says, scratching his shoulder.

“Are you sure? What about the horses?”

“We talked with them already. They’re okay to push through for a while.” He chuckles, handing me a canteen.

Well, there goes that thought.

I sip, nodding. “Okay. We’ll just camp outside the valley and wash up in the stream.” Reaching over, I hand him the canteen.

I reluctantly agree, if only to keep him from becoming suspicious of me questioning our stops, despite knowing that Rydian will need to step out of the Veil and rest. I slow Bjorn, letting the distance stretch between us and the others.

“Ivy can still swap with me when we pass through. She’ll just follow you out while I stay behind,”he says, yet I can’t help but feel disappointed.

But with that comes guilt.

Guilt for wanting more of his touch and enjoying the press of his body against mine, even though I know I shouldn’t. Then thoughts of my missing mother come flooding back. I know that pretty soon, I’ll be searching for answers inside the walls of Castle Alvonia.

Perhaps his touch was my own personal distraction to this newfound responsibility as a princess of Aurelia.

Something I’m suddenly not sure an assassin is worthy of.

My thoughts whirl, leaving the rest of our travels to be ridden in silence with no other touch toward me along the way.

15

We arrivein Dryborn a couple hours later, riding at a slow pace. Rydian hops off a mile from town, wanting to walk. He’ll step out of the Veil, waiting until we’re far enough so that he’ll remain unnoticed, and Ivy will follow us out.

But Dryborn looks just as it sounds.

There’s no charm to it like Alvonia or Sylvanor. Just a town that’s simply caught in the middle of two beautiful locations, stranded on the flattest side of the mountain.

Finishing off a peach from my pack, I wipe my mouth, spotting Ren stretching his arms in the distance as we ride down the middle of the road. A small grin tugs at my lips as a glorious thought crosses my mind, knowing I’m about to ruin his brief moment of peace.

Chucking the peach, Ren’s pained grunt cuts through the air, hitting him so hard on the back of the head that it throws him forward. Enough to know that it must hurt.

He whirls around, directing his narrowed eyes at me when I catch his gaze, throwing him a small shrug. I casually point to Ezra—completely oblivious to what just happened.

Ren curses at Ezra, rubbing the back of his head.