Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Elara’s heart thudded. If she had attempted to escape, she would have been caught. The shimmering blue light had warned her.
Fae folk.
It was the only reasonable explanation. But what were they doing in the forest when they had been banished to Driochmor?
Elara turned, hearing Feena speaking to Adira as they approached and tucked the question away for another time.
“Why do you speak to her when she cannot hear?” Elara asked, curious.
Feena explained. “Adira might not hear or be able to speak but she can feel. Feel the same pain, hurt, joy, sorrow, happiness as anyone else and so she uses all the senses to help her understand. A gentle touch brings less worry, comfort is felt when held close, the vibration of a soft or angry voice can be felt. Feeling is the way Adira understands communication, facial features also prove helpful and some hand gestures as well. So, speaking to her gently allows her to feel that vibration and know that she has nothing to fear. And presently, the less she fears the better.”
“I will remember that when I speak with her,” Elara said.
Feena smiled. “It is good you think of it as speaking to Adira. It makes a difference. Now, are you finished? We should return to camp before Hunters come looking for us.”
“I only need a moment. I’ll be right behind you,” Elara said and bent to snatch up her cloak.
“Don’t dally,” Feena called out already disappearing around the turn of the bend.
“I won’t,” Elara said loud enough to be heard as she straightened and froze once she reached her full height.
A presence stirred amongst the trees not far from her. Not the shifting whisper of leaves, nor the gentle tread of Feena’s feet. This step was silent. Measured. Intentional.
Elara stared at the shifting shadows until…
Dar stepped out of the dark, leather merging with shadow, moonlight catching the steel at his hip and the hard line of his jaw.
She had held her anger back all day, but now alone with him, it rose like a storm she could no longer contain.
“I will never trust you again,” she said, bitterness in her every word.
The words struck the air between them with sharp finality.
Dar didn’t flinch. If anything, he seemed to brace himself. “Whether you trust me or not changes nothing. I will still protect you.”
“Protect me?” She laughed, but it was hollow. “You betrayed me. You lied to me from the moment we met.”
“I had a mission and I followed it,” he snapped harshly.
“Was I that mission?”
“Aye,” he admitted. “I was sent to find the silver-haired lass with the amethyst eyes and bring her to the king.”
She stepped toward him, her look fierce, yet hurt. “You pretended to be a wanderer. You let me believe… you let me feel safe with you. And then you tore it all away.”
His jaw tightened. “I had a mission.”
“So, you’ve said repeatedly. But why wait to bring me to the king? Why not take me to him immediately.” She raised her hand stopping him from responding and turned a sorrowful smile on him. “When I spoke about finding the healer the king searches for, it made you wonder if I was not the one and decided to see if I could take you to her. You used me.”
“I kept you safe.”
“And those women who we helped stay free, did you report them to the Hunters you spoke with when I was not nearby?”
“Nay, there was no reason to. They harbored nothing I needed. I only needed you.”
He had needed her but in ways he didn’t want to admit.
“You shattered any trust I had in you, shattered the spark of caring that you ignited in me with the simple touch of your hand and…” She shook her head, trying hard not to recall his kisses. “It is all gone now. Gone forever.”
Her words hurt so badly she feared she would weep, and she refused to do that in front of him.
Silence fell heavy around them and for a moment neither moved.
Dar’s fury mounted when he saw the hurt he had caused her rise in her violet eyes and his firm control snapped. He reached for her, his hands gripping her arms, not harshly but with a force that left no space between intention and action. He pulled her against him, his breath mingling with hers, his voice rough.
“Elara—”
She didn’t have time to answer.
His mouth captured hers in a hard, fierce, hungry kiss.
Everything he’d held back, every denial, every command, every crack in his armor, poured into that single moment.
It wasn’t gentle or measured. It was desperate. It was claiming. It was apology and fury and desire tangled into one unbreakable pull.
And the night swallowed them whole.
Chapter Twelve
Northen Woods
Close to Caerith
* * *
Elara pushed at his chest, and she could feel his reluctance to release her, but he did. She staggered back a step, her breath caught somewhere between her chest and throat. Her lips still tingled from his kiss, the heat of it lingering like a brand she could not scrub away. She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth, furious that her body still reeled from his touch when her mind screamed sense at her. She had been foolish to trust him, to let him close, to allow the seed of something tender to spark inside her when betrayal had been in his heart all along.