Page 50 of Winds of Destiny

And it looks like he didn’t stop there. My eyes are blurry with fatigue, but I can see something coming toward me. I ready myself to get up—

Then stagger with the impact of a body against my back. I almost lash out, but after a moment I realize this has to be Turo. He’s holding me so tightly that I can barely draw a breath. I didn’t even think he could get his arms all the way around my chest.

“Youstupid, fucking—what thehellwas that?” he demands hoarsely.

Uh… “That was…my god?”

“Yeah, Igotthat, but why did you look like you were onfirewhen you called on him?”

Oh, he—shit. He must have thought something bad was happening. I grimace. It was stupid of me to try a summoning without telling Turo what was happening first. “I’m sorry,” I say, and wrap one of my hands over his wrist. “That’s part of the ritual. It takes effort to call Carnuatu. He’s not always by the city like your god is.”

“Ophiucas isn’t my god,” Turo says. Before I can ask who is, his forehead thunks into the back of my shoulder. “If he was, I would pray for him to eat you for scaring the life out of me like that.”

“I really am sorry. But… I needed him.” I gesture toward the bloody ground a foot in front of us. “I couldn’t leave my people here to rot.”

“No, I understand that, I do, but…” Turo shakes his head. “Never mind.” He looks up, turning a little so that his face is almost right next to mine, then says, “Why are there two enormous rams headed this way?”

Oh, two of them? Excellent. “Carnuatu must like you,” I say.

I pat Turo’s arm one more time, then get to my feet. Sure enough, two rams are trotting toward us. A normal ram stands as high as my chest—these ones are half again taller than that and broader than two of me. Their horns have three full twists, and their coats are bright white with spots of dark gray around the shoulders and hindquarters. They’re not saddled, but they come to a graceful stop before us, then kneel down. “These are our mounts until my god decides to call them home.”

Turo’s eyes are bright, almost feverishly so. “We can catch up to Cam in a heartbeat with these,” he says.

“Not yet we can’t.”

“Kai—”

“No.” I’m not budging on this. “We have no idea where they’re going or if they’ve found more reinforcements. Cam is still a prisoner, and we’ll be even more visible on these than we would on foot. Not to mention,you”—I push his shoulder, and he almost falls, then glares at me—“are in no condition to be riding hard and fast inanydirection right now. We should at least check in with the next settlement on the road to Kamor and see if they’ve seen any of Embros’s chariots lately.”

His scowl looks like it might just become permanent at this point, but Turo knows I’m right. It takes him a moment to come to grips with it, and then he sighs and starts limping toward the overturned wagon. “I’ll salvage what I can of the supplies.”

I catch up to him immediately. “We’ll do it together.”

“Aren’t you afraid of our rides running off without us?”

I shake my head. “I’m not foolish enough to think that I’m really in control of them. If Carnuatu wants them to stay, they will. If he wants them to leave, they’ll go.”

Turo shuts his eyes. “I don’t like this.”

“I know.” Apologizing again would be meaningless, but a part of me wants to anyway. Turo’s not one of mine—not my soldier, certainly not my husband. I don’t owe him anything, and he would clearly rather run off into the Plains and die before letting me help him. I wonder how long I’ll be able to make him stay with me.

“I’m glad I’m not doing it alone, though.”

Wait. Does that mean he’ll stay with me? “Are you sure?”

“I am.” He pulls something out of the neck of his shirt, and I suddenly see a very familiar pearl resting against his palm. The silver setting is a bit tarnished, but the pearl is as lustrous as ever. “We’re both connected to Cam, even if my connection is incidental.” He rubs a thumb over the surface of the pearl. “It’s right that we go after him together.”

“It is.” If I didn’t know better, I’d clap him on the back. As it is, I nod my head toward the wagon. “Let’s get what we can and head out. We’ll find a place to sleep tonight on the Plains, and tomorrow we’ll see what we can find out about Embros and his men.” I do reach out to touch his wrist then—the same wrist I gripped when he threw himself against my back. “Cam is smarter than either of us. He’ll be all right.”

Turo shakes his head, his eyes pained. “I hope so.”

So do I.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Cam

Thud!

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