Page 16 of Rising Out of the Darkness (Divine Guardians Duology #1)
Elena
W ind howled around the towering pine trees as I tried to recover from the adrenaline that was still coursed through me.
My mind was still trying to wrap together everything that had happened over the past few days.
In all my life, I could never have imagined any of this.
It was like my nightmares, but this time, I couldn’t wake up.
Sighing, I let my aching body sag into the log. All I wanted to do was curl up inside one of the tents, but the ache clawing inside my stomach forced me to stay out here and wait for dinner.
Hares and potatoes bubbled away in a large pot in another fire beside ours. A few of the guards had gone hunting after they had finished setting up tents. Savory smells drifted through the breeze, causing my ravenous stomach to grumble more.
As if on cue, Liam approached with a steaming bowl of something that smelled positively divine. If my legs were working, I would have leapt towards the man and grabbed the bowl away from him. He placed the bowl in my hands, and I thanked the gods the bowl of food was for me.
Bringing the bowl up to my lips, I slurped the savory contents. When I came up for air, I used the back of my sleeve to wipe my mouth and flashed a glare towards Liam. He stepped towards me, and it was hard not to notice the smug smirk twisting the side of his mouth.
“Liam, I’m starving. Don’t you dare give me that look.”
He opened one of his hands, revealing a small spoon. “It appears you won’t be needing this.”
Heat gathered on my cheeks, this time due to equal embarrassment and anger. I ripped the spoon out of his hand and tossed it into the bowl. “Happy?”
“Exceedingly, little lady.”
I grumbled under my breath at the nickname, and Liam chuckled as he plopped down on the log next to me. Reaching into his other pocket, he retrieved the silver flask and dangled it ever so enticingly in front of me.
I took a deep swig of it before tossing it back. After today, whiskey seemed like an excellent distraction. “I swear, I’m starting to become a little wary of the guards who are supposed to be watching me. Just how much whiskey do you drink during the day?”
“Enough to handle a little lady, even one who bounces around spewing fire and challenging anyone around her to a fight.” Liam smiled, then sipped from the flask.
“Agreed! We drink enough to make sure our fire matches your blaze.” Killian snorted, as he sat down next to Liam. “Between the two of us, we make one ruthless enough guard for you, Elena.”
“I’ll drink to that,” a deep voice rumbled from the behind us. Killian tossed the flask over the fire to Declan. He raised it to his lips, taking the longest drink out of all of us.
“Who knew I had so much control over the drinking habits of my guards?” I scoffed, extending my hand to grab the flask back from the prince.
“That’s all for you,” he grumbled, sipping the whiskey before he tossed it back to Liam.
Rage bubbled up to the surface. I was sick and tired of his mood swings. All the anger, frustration and feeling of being overwhelmed were beginning to crack open the lock I had anchored over them.
Killian handed Declan a bowl of stew, and he swaggered over to a spot on the log beside us. Feeling the heat of my glare, he shot me a smug grin and continued to eat his food.
Boiling hot with frustration, I launched my spoon at the prince’s forehead, where it met its target dead on.
“Well, that’s one way to use a spoon,” Liam whispered so faintly I barely even heard it.
The prince’s gaze pierced right through me. His lips curled up like a snarling beast’s. The smile melted from my face as my eyes widened. A shiver crept over me.
Gods .
Before I could blink, he launched himself toward me.
M y world tilted upside down as Declan tossed me over his shoulder. Frantically, I pounded my fists against the stone wall of his back while he bent over to grab a satchel and strode away from the campfire.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I seethed. “PUT ME DOWN!”
Deep, raspy laughter tumbled out of the royal highness below me. The grin plastered across his face told me he was enjoying every moment.
“Help me! He’s lost his mind!” I yelled at the men behind me. “Tell him to put me down at once!”
Their eyes widened, and I craned my neck to see Declan toss them a glare as he stalked away.
“Nope, I think we’ll just play it safe and stay over here. I’m not really in the mood to be pummeled by the prince tonight.”
“Excellent decision.” Declan shouted as tossed me a bit higher over his shoulder.
“You miserable cowards!” I snarled, still thrashing about, kicking anything that gave my feet purchase.
The other guards snickered as we passed. Gods, we must really be a sight to behold. With each step Declan took, my ribs thumped against his back, and I began to feel the ache of my dynamis slither underneath my skin.
“Hold your breath, my lady.” The prince snickered as he launched me into the lake below him.
My scream echoed into the night, arms flailing against the air, before my body came crashing down into the icy water below.
After a huge splash, I flung myself back up to the surface, gasping for air.
The piercing cold water attacked my skin like a thousand tiny needles, causing me to tremble uncontrollably.
For a moment, even the memory of how to swim seemed to evade me.
I wiped the water away from my eyes as my toes searched for purchase on the floor beneath. As I treaded closer towards the shore, my toe snagged against a rock and my feet finally touched the bottom. Anger quelled within me, as my breaths began to steady.
“How dare you,” I seethed.
Arms folded across his chest, he leaned against a tree, a perfect display of a smug prince. “You needed to cool down. I figured this was the best option.” He shrugged casually. If that wasn’t enough for me to begin thinking murderous thoughts, he added in a devious smirk.
I submerged myself underwater and screamed—first, to avoid my stubborn mouth saying something I shouldn’t, and second, to cool my emotions before we had a repeat showing of the chaos that was my dynamis. Only once I felt my dynamis seep back to the depths where it resided did I emerge.
“Toss me your clothes, and I’ll hand you some soap.”
I shook my head in response, and he sighed, tilting his head back against the tree. “If you’re going to continue to ride with me, then I need to fix the lingering problems. Snoring I can handle, but the smell? That has got to go.”
“I don’t snore, and I absolutely do—not—SMELL!
” My restraint snapped once more. My toes searched for a loose rock beneath me until they snagged against one.
I bent down, grasped the slippery stone and drew my arm back before I chucked it towards him, releasing all my rage along with it.
It hit the tree with a crack, barely missing his head by half an inch.
His voice rumbled deep and low, like a purr, no sign of anger or annoyance, just pure delight. “My dearest Elena, are you trying to kill me?”
“If I was trying, I wouldn’t have missed. That, dear prince, was a warning.”
His eyebrows shot up as he paused momentarily, running his hand over the scruff on his chin. Pushing away from the tree, he stalked towards me, unbuttoning his tunic with each step.
My heart started to race as he tossed his shirt aside and began to kick off his boots. Just what does he think he’s doing? When he began to unbutton his pants, my eyes bulged, and Declan cleared his throat. “You may want to shield your little eyes, Elena.”
I immediately slapped a hand over my eyes and turned around. A splash arose from behind me as the prince dove into the water.
“You’re safe. You can turn around now.”
His voice seemed to echo from a distance, so I waded around.
I was completely unprepared for the sight before me.
Water rippled over the prince’s clearly defined chest, no doubt constructed from the many years of training and battles.
My lips parted as he laced his fingers through his wet locks, sending more droplets of water cascading over his chest. When my eyes finally met his, a faint smile danced across his lips.
I snapped my gaping mouth shut, but I couldn’t unlock my eyes from him, and neither could he from me.
His eyes rolled to my lips, down to the rest of my body where they lingered.
It was only then that I realized that I was still wearing my white Ascension dress.
A very thin dress that was now soaked and probably almost translucent.
Flinching, I wrapped my arms around my body and sank my shoulders under the water. Averting his eyes, he put his focus to use elsewhere.
The water cut him just above his lower abdomen and was dark enough to hide whatever was below.
Unfortunately, I’ve always had extremely active imagination, and my mind concluded everything concealed below was probably just as beautifully defined as well.
A bar of soap in hand, he lathered his body, perhaps a little too thoroughly, before diving under to rinse.
“Catch!” He tossed me the soap, knocking me out of my trance. The slippery soap floundered around like a fish in my hands as I tried to grab hold of it. “Your turn, stinky.”
Unconsciously, a growl rippled out of me. “Declan, I can’t—I won’t, especially with you in here. Also, I don’t even have anything else to change into.”
“You must really think me daft, don’t you?” He waded towards the shore to get out.
Lost in anger, I almost didn’t realize I was about to see a very naked prince. My hand flew over my eyes just in time. When I heard the swish of legs sliding into pants, I slowly peeled my hand away.
“I grabbed your satchel earlier. I figured there was a change of clothes inside. So, now you have clothes and no more excuses.”
Fighting hard to not roll my eyes, I mumbled some very un-lady like words instead.