Page 109 of Bonded Chaos

More terrified screams broke out, and I didn’t have to guess the cause. Dark shadows swirled across the ground, twisting and thrashing as they grew. Darkness engulfed the clearing, and the sounds of the Wraith Borne dying ebbed and flowed until only silence remained.

Ryker’s shadows receded, and when I raised my head, steel-grey eyes peered down at me.

“Are you all right?” he asked as he lifted me into his arms.

“I’m fine,” I protested, my cheeks heating at the way Ryker cradled me against his chest. “Can youpleaseput me down?”

Ryker grinned, and it would have been charming if not for the copious amounts of blood staining his hair and painting his handsome face.

“Worried what would happen if I got my hands on you again?”

“No,” I lied.

“About time,” Riordan grumbled as he sauntered up to us.

Mercifully, Ryker lowered me to the ground, but he didn’t let me get far as he pulled me into his side, his palm firmly planted on my hip.

“I thought you could use the exercise, Little Brother,” Ryker teased.

Riordan mumbled a curse under his breath, but I tuned them out as the prickling sensation of unseen eyes assaulted me once more.

I turned to the spot where I had seen the cloaked figure, but he was gone. Still, the feeling didn’t abate. It only grew stronger.

Unease crept over me, and something told me that whoever he was, he wasn’t finished with me yet.

Chapter Forty-Four

Cadence

By the time we reached Ryker’s chambers, I was exhausted. My whole body ached, and muscles that I didn’t even know existed protested in pain.

Still, I was alive, so that was something.

The room was quiet compared to the soft noises of the forest and the violent sounds of battle. Everything had been amplified out in the woods. The sound of my blood pounding in my ears had been a constant companion as I lurched from one moment to the next.

Now, the silence was deafening. Eerily so.

As I peered around, taking in the velvet drapes and ornate furnishings, it seemed like they had lost their opulence. As if the night’s events had dimmed them somehow.

Ryker set me on the edge of his chaise before disappearing into the bathing chamber. My clothing was ruined, and I was smeared with blood and grime from the battle. I’d stain the soft fabric of the lounge in my current state, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

A moment later, Ryker returned with a washcloth in hand. He lowered himself to his knees before me, then pressed it to my temple. I hissed as pain radiated from the site, and when he pulled the cloth away, I was surprised to see it was bloody.

I hadn’t even realized I’d been injured.

“You held your ground out there,” Ryker murmured as he continued cleaning the dirt from my face.

I blinked, unsure how to take the praise.

“Did I?”

Ryker nodded, his eyes never leaving mine as he worked.

“I’ve seen more seasoned warriors falter when confronted with such odds.”

A humorless laugh escaped my lips.

“It was terrifying, and I’m not entirely sure how I made it out alive,” I admitted.

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