Page 36 of Shifter King

"Agreed."

"We at least have a more secure location now. It should provide us safety for a time, as long as we are cautious." He sighed, pinching his brow for a moment, then lifting his head. "Being underground helps as well. But it will not be enough. There are too many signs. And we cannot hide her completely."

"She is too weak." Everything that could be done to wreak vengeance on the Abliatos and destroy their stronghold or free these people all becomes dangerous when she is brought into the consideration. We will need all of this for this war, but where is she to go?"

"She has a long path ahead of her," AaQar said. "Some of that damage—"

"She will recover, but she will not be strong enough for this world. We should see if we can find a suphrite vein to help bolster this healing."

"The suphrite can't fix all of this either," AaQar said calmly. "It does not change the fact that we barely have a safe house of any sort. And if we go to war, she will be vulnerable."

"But it will help. Whatever helps, she gets."

"Most people don't survive this sort of thing. I don't have much information to go on in encouraging her recovery, and I don't suppose you do either."

"Mostly guesses." Guesses he hoped were wrong. She wasn't going to be especially happy, but anger could be used to fight. And—there had to be a way to protect her from the Bealorns and the Abliatos and return Darmusky to Darmoste in every sense. "We need to make her terrifying. It is what we do for ourselves. We make for her the same reputation. Make it even worse. They need to be so afraid of her that they will not even dare to lay a hand on her."

"How?" AaQar frowned, almost laughing. "She's—she's—" He rubbed his hand over his face. "Naatos, I love her dearly, but she is not a threat to anyone. It isn't a bad idea to make her seem like a threat so long as it would not draw more hostility her way. And that we cannot guarantee. But she literally cannot kill. And we cannot allow that to ever be known. She can't even run right now."

Naatos scoffed. There was one option. "Who said she has to be the one who does the killing? What does it matter what the truth is so long as the myth is so compelling it is never questioned?"

* * *

Amelia stirredas Naatos joined her in the bed. It felt as if she hadn't been asleep for any time at all. As his arm tightened around her, he tucked her closer, grunting. She drew in a deep breath and released it. His heart beat sounded behind her, steady, firm. Even angry, he was present. Solid and abrasive as always.

She wriggled a little so that his arm was lower on her waist and she could rest her head on his upper arm.

"You're awake?" he asked, his voice a low rumble.

She shrugged in as his breath tickled her ear. "You didn't exactly come to bed lightly."

He kissed the dip of her neck.

She shivered inwardly, grateful for his warmth and for the pleasure that rose within her.

The Ki Valo Nakar moaned with annoyance and scuffed off deeper.

Fine by her.

"You're safe," he said softly, his mouth near her ear. "Nothing will happen to you."

She twisted her neck enough to see him. In the darkness, there was little more than his general outline, his coarse hair loose about his shoulders. There was the slightest glint that might have come from his eyes or perhaps her imagination. "This whole world is wrong, Naatos."

"It is." He kissed her again. "But they will not take you. I swear it. I have lost more than enough, and we will fix this. We will defeat the Abliatos, restore the Tue-Rah, and change everything."

"Do you really think that the Tue-Rah can be restored in such a way to fix the timelines?"

His body tightened. That tension spread through him and into her as if she had struck a nerve. "There are many things that must be done before then. We will address the matter of the Tue-Rah's restoration and the timelines when we come to it. For now, there are more pressing things."

She could practically see the creasing in his brow, and the rigidness of his arm told her as much as anything that his confidence had waned. "Even if not...maybe..." What was she even saying? What could she offer? She slipped her hand over his, then dropped her forehead against his shoulder.

"I’ll fix things," he said at last.

She tucked her head down, a smile pulling at her lips. "Fix an entire world gone mad?"

"Yes." He pulled her back against himself, his leg tucking in over hers and between her ankles as he cupped her breast.

"Are you afraid I’m going to leave in the middle of the night?"