23
1178 Words
Not only was he working against me on my mission to take down Guin, but I had no more spare pieces of myself to hand out. He was the type to wrap his sexy self completely around a girl’s heart and not let go. I couldn’t afford to play such a dangerous game. You shouldn’t even be thinking about him at all. I needed to focus on the upcoming challenges or how to avoid future sandpits from hell, not analyzing my feelings for a man I hardly knew. I squirmed from his grasp and stood, taking my backpack off and batting at the moist dirt particles covering it. “Thank you. Sorry I freaked out back there,” I offered in a murmur, too upset to meet his eyes. When he didn’t respond, I peeked at his hard face. His brow was deeply furrowed, lips pressed in a thin line as he stared at me. Something was going on behind those amber eyes, but I couldn’t make out the meaning, and he didn’t offer an explanation. Good. It’s best for everyone if we pretend the incident never happened. “I guess I’m a mess now. Maybe we’ll find a creek soon, and I can wash off,” I rambled in an attempt to fill the awkward silence. Two more days, and I’d be like every other simpering woman who jabbers every time there was a lull in the conversation. “I doubt it’ll be a problem,” he indicated gruffly, eyes glancing up at the black clouds above. Knight’s mood had gone just as dark as the billowing clouds above us. Why had he withdrawn? Was he upset with himself for comforting me? He couldn’t possibly be upset I had pulled away—could he? I shook my head to myself. It didn’t matter what bug had crawled up his ass. It wasn’t my job to make him happy. Hell, he had my wrists in iron cuffs. I’m the one who should need cheering. We weren’t lovers or even friends. I was his captive, and I needed to remember that. “We’re losing daylight. Let’s keep going,” he ordered before walking to the tree line and disappearing into its depths. I followed gingerly in each of his footsteps, attempting to ignore my niggling unease at the tension between us. OceanofPDF.com Chapter Nine OceanofPDF.com KNIGHT WHAT THE HELL happened back there? The sinking dirt pit hadn’t been all that shocking—that kind of crazy s**t happened all the time in Faery. It was my moment with Morgan that had taken me by surprise. When I pulled her from the ground, she had looked at me like I was her f*****g savior. Like I had hung the stars in the sky just for her. It made the beast in me roar with pleasure, putting me even more at odds with myself. f**k. If my wolf could have purred when I held Morgan in my arms, it would have. At that moment, with her head cradled against my chest and her shaking body wrapped in my arms, she gave me a glimpse of the vulnerable woman under the bravado. It was a good thing we were alone in the woods because had someone approached us, I wasn’t entirely sure I wouldn’t have killed them. Like an injured animal, I had been reduced to my most basic nature—protect at all costs. My wolf had taken control and howled its claim of possession. My logical side knew Morgan was a hot mess, and I wanted no part of that. The trick was explaining that to my animalistic side. He had a mind of his own. I did everything I could to shrug off the overwhelming urge to club Morgan over the head and drag her back to my cave. I had just met the woman, and what I had heard about her was less than flattering. So far, I hadn’t personally witnessed any outrageous behavior, but her track record was proven. Her claim that she hadn’t sent Ronan after Rebecca was intriguing. I had detected an element of shock and dismay over what he had done. It had seemed sincere, but I wasn’t about to believe her so easily. As for her claims about Guin, though they weren’t complimentary, if true, they still weren’t enough to make the Seelie monarch “evil.” It was like Morgan had started with a seed of logic but watered it with pure emotion until it had morphed into a grotesque creation of her own imagination. She had spent her whole life demonizing Guin for the loss of her lover. How many people’s sons, daughters, mothers, and brothers had lost their lives because of Morgan’s vendetta? She talked about other people not owning their actions, but she didn’t take responsibility for her behavior. Hypocrisy much? At least she could admit she wasn’t perfect, but nothing else she said made any sense. She was probably just as crazy as the stories implied, which meant I was a raving lunatic for following after her. I had felt a magnetic pull to her since the moment I transformed, and she had scurried away from me. However, that wasn’t enough to have me following her on a wild goose chase through the Seelie woods. The clincher was when she said she had been to Castle Corbenic. That was when she had me. I had never heard of anyone else seeing the mythical castle. If she had been there once, would that help her chances of finding it again? How had she found it before? Had she seen the cauldron before? Was I a monumental fool for believing anything she said? Probably. She wasn’t the only one with inner demons. Mine begged and pleaded with me to give her a chance, regardless of how absurd it seemed. I was angry with myself for volunteering to join in her foolhardy quest and for allowing her to slink her way under my skin. For miles, I berated myself and questioned how I had allowed myself to get sucked into her madness. Neither of us said a word as we forged ahead, lost in our own tumultuous thoughts. Rain began to fall in sheets, soaking us through to the bone. The thick clouds brought darkness on early, so we made camp for the night when we came across a small cave. Not exactly a cave. A chunk of hillside carved out from erosion. There was enough of a hollow to protect us from the rain and a wall to our backs that would help keep us safe from the locals. We wordlessly gathered the few bits of dry wood we could find and started a small fire. I took off my shirt, wrung it out, and laid the drenched fabric along the inner wall of our sanctuary in the hopes that the fire might help it dry. There was so much moisture in the air. It was a long shot but worth a try. I hadn’t expected Morgan to follow suit.
- Writer
