Page 30 of A Lick of Flame

I widen my eyes. “Is that what it’s called? The Hourglass?”

Orion nods. “Yep. It’s a huge trough that is open, sandy, and extremely rocky. It bottlenecks through a valley with cliffs on either side and then back into another barren sand, rocky wasteland section on the other side. The bird’s-eye view would be similar to that of an hourglass lying on its side.” He shrugs. “I mean, it would look like an hourglass if a person had a really good imagination, that is.”

“Have you seen it when you’ve flown over it on your dragon?” I ask, my voice laced with excitement.

He hesitates. “Yes, I have, but that was a long time ago. I must say, it didn’t look like an hourglass to me.” He shakes his head. “The thinner middle section was clear. There are mountains on either side, with a long, thin pass through them. A lot has changed since then.”

“It most definitely has changed since Snow took over. Everything has changed.” I think back to my youth. To my family. To a much happier time.

Then I watch Orion narrow his eyes, which sweep across the horizon once more. “It’s all open terrain out here, with no place to hide.”

“We will easily be able to see if someone were to approach.”

“You’re right.” He nods.

“It would take them a long time to get to us,” I remark as Midnight negotiates a rocky patch. I hold on to my saddle horn, willing my body to stay relaxed so that I can move with my horse and not impede him.

Orion is right behind me, and a few seconds later, he comes back in alongside me as we hit flat ground again. Like most fae, he has excellent skills in the saddle.

“It would take folk on horses a long time to catch us, but that isn’t the case for camels,” he remarks.

I frown. “Camels? As in the creatures that live in the desert?”

“Yes. There is a tribe that lives between the various arid areas within the realm. They have been known to spend time in the Hourglass. They like much smaller horses but have also been known to ride camels as they can move more quickly through the sandy, rocky regions they prefer to live in. They’re nomads. I’m hoping we get lucky and that we don’t run into them.”

“Are they dangerous?”

He nods. “Then there are the bands of humans.” Orion turns his green eyes to me, and for a moment, I can’t breathe. They’re so beautiful. He seems to look right into me with an intense stare that has me spellbound and tongue-tied. “If we are attacked, you need to run. I will stay and fight. You get away, Maya. Do you hear me?”

“I couldn’t just leave you. You said it yourself; we’re tied together. If you die, I die. If you fail, I fail.”

“No! I don’t care about any of that. You run. Go back to the orphanage, and I’ll find you again at the Forgotten Caves.”

“You might not make it out. What then?” My voice is a little shrill.

“I’m resourceful and quick.”

I give him a look that tells him I don’t like it.

“Then, if we’re captured, you need to say that you’re being held captive by me. Humans hate us. The tribes living in these parts hate us even more. You can’t let them know that we’re working together in any way. Hopefully, they will help you.”

Hopefully. I don’t like those odds.

“And I’ll have to watch while they quarter you,” I scoff.

“Better than both of us being strung up and quartered,” Orion mutters. “Please, Maya, you need to listen and do as I say. I know you’re fiercely loyal and a kind person. It would not be in your instinct to betray me, even if you do see me as the enemy.”

“We have been forced into a truce, and until such time as the truce comes to an end, we are together in this, for good or bad. I will not abandon you.”

“Maya,” he growls. His deep voice washes over me, causing gooseflesh to lift on my arms.

Kakara help me, but I hate how I react to him so readily. I hate that I’ve noticed the masculine line of his jaw and how his stubble accentuates it. I hate how it makes me feel when he looks at me and says my name. It’s probably why I didn’t want him to know it in the first place.

Orion is still the enemy.

He is a beastfae.

One of them.

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