Siege And Seduction

18

I reached out and placed my hand into his open palm, the heat of his touch blazing away the cold from the wall. A tingling warmth from where our hands met spread up my arm, down along my spine, and settled deep in my core. So much for self-control. Knight stepped up to the wall and pressed his free hand through the barrier as if the wall was nothing more than an optical illusion. The Fae could trace from one place to another, but I had never seen someone walk through an otherwise solid object. It was beautiful magic. I was stunned as his body disappeared, inch by inch, through the wall. When everything but his hand holding mine was through, he pulled me toward him, but my hand struck solid rock. He gave a couple of gentle tugs before walking back through to my side of the wall. I pulled my hand free as my mind became overwhelmed with doubt and disappointment. If he couldn’t get me through the wall, I would be trapped there at Merlin’s mercy. I would never get out and be able to search for the cauldron. Before my thoughts spiraled too far, Knight’s hands cupped my cheeks and lifted my face to his. “Stop worrying. I’ve got this,” he said in a quiet tone that brooked no argument. I nodded in response and slammed the lid down on my emotions, letting his confident demeanor buoy me. “We just have to get closer to one another. I’ll need you to be as close to me as possible.” Without waiting for a response, Knight spun me around and pulled my back against his chest, wrapping his arms around me. Our fingers intertwined, and his cheek came down to rest gently against mine. His beard tickled my jawline in a way that was unsettlingly pleasant. I cast away that thought like a week-old rotten egg. “Ready?” he murmured so close, I could feel the vibrations from his chest reverberate into mine. “Right foot first, then left.” I followed his command, his hulking frame curved around mine possessively. As our toes reached the wall, a searing heat radiated from his chest, warming my back and filling my body. To my utter astonishment, our feet passed through the wall. One small step at a time, we crossed through to the other side. When we were clear of the wall, I pulled free and spun around to look back at the wretched wall that had kept me so thoroughly imprisoned. He had done it. I was finally on the other side, standing on Seelie Lands. With a whooping cry of glee, I threw myself into Knight’s arms and squealed with exhilaration. It was a sound that hadn’t left my lips since before my mother had been taken from me. He might not have known me long, but he had to realize how uncharacteristic my outburst was. Instead of pushing me away or teasing me, he lifted me off the ground and spun me around with a hearty chuckle. When he stilled his twirling, his grip lessened just enough to allow my body to slide, inch by delicious inch, down his length. Even once my feet were firmly on the ground, he held me by the waist, pressed tightly against him. I couldn’t even be upset. I peered up at him with an idiotic grin plastered on my face. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I’m really here.” He stared down at me like I was an inscrutable puzzle, and he had been personally challenged to sort through the pieces. Reluctantly, he allowed me to pull away so I could examine the forest outside my prison. Everything looked more or less the same as inside the wall, but somehow, my outlook made everything brighter. The green leaves were the richest emerald I could ever recall seeing, and the small clusters of white moon flowers were an intricately woven layer of lace blanketing the forest floor. “It’s so beautiful,” I whispered. Knight came to stand beside me, still assessing me before looking back toward the trees. “Looks the same to me as it did on the other side.” “I suppose when you want something enough, it changes the way you see it,” I surmised absently. When he didn’t respond, I glanced over to find his features carefully blanked. I gave him a questioning look, but he turned his gaze away and stepped forward, silently refusing an explanation. “I don’t suppose this is the same forest where the mythical Castle Corbenic is located?” he asked with a hint of apprehension. Whatever he’d been thinking when I caught him staring at me had been locked away, which was just as well. I had no need for useless drama or anything that prolonged my search for the cauldron. “That would be entirely too easy,” I said wryly. “Castle Corbenic, where the cauldron is located, is in a forest across the Okeanos Sea. First, we have to find the gatekeeper.” “And how do we do that?” “We head east as far as the land will take us.” “And what if we’re as far west as we can get?” “Then we’d better get walking.” OceanofPDF.com Chapter Eight OceanofPDF.com MORGAN WE TRAIPSED through the woods for a solid half hour before I gave in and started a conversation. It wasn’t normally like me to fill the silence, but I was unnervingly curious about the man who walked beside me. So curious that a voice in my head warned me to shut my mouth for my own good. I gave that bossy b***h a two-handed shove to the back of my mind. “Tell me, why are you called Knight? And is that knight with a ‘k’ or night with an ‘n’?” I asked as I pushed aside a branch and made sure it didn’t fly back to whack him in the chest. He flashed a devilish grin. “Knight with a ‘k’ for being a knight in shining armor.” I gave an exaggerated roll of my eyes. “I should have known.” “That I’m in the habit of saving damsels in distress?” “That anything associated with you would be puerile.” “Careful, I believe you’re included in those associations.” Though I couldn’t see him, I could hear the smirk in his voice. “I am neither a damsel, nor am I in distress,” I corrected. “Right. A beautiful woman locked in a remote cottage in the woods— that doesn’t sound like every fairy tale ever told.” “Damsel implies witless, and distress would indicate I was in need of help. I am neither. I would have found my own way out if you hadn’t come along—it just might have taken a bit longer.” “Sure, princess, keep telling yourself that. As for my nickname, a number of months back, I helped protect a girl named Rebecca—” “You have got to be kidding me,” I exclaimed, cutting him off. “Rebecca, the wench who helped Merlin stop my uprising?” He gripped my arm and whipped me around so fast I almost lost my footing. “Watch who you’re calling a wench,” he growled. “She’s a friend of mine, and she was almost killed when you sent Ronan after her.” “Ronan? I never sent him after her,” I scoffed. “So it was simply a coincidence he went after her on your behalf?” he snapped, eyes blazing.