Page 160 of A Queen This Fierce and Deadly

“I will.”

ASINIA

I woke up to an empty bed. The indent in the pillow next to me told me Demos had slept beside me all night. And I hadn’t even noticed.

I scowled, rolling out of bed to dress. When I poked my head out of the tent, it was clear Demos had let me sleep late. Most of the tents around mine had already been packed away. Cursing, I pulled on my boots, grabbed my cloak and weapons, and apologized to the waiting soldier.

Demos was tacking my horse when I found him. His gaze caressed my face as I approached.

“Have you eaten?”

I shook my head. “I’ll eat in a few hours.”

He reached into his cloak pocket and pulled out a neatly wrapped package, handing it to me. My chest warmed.

I took half the bread and dried meat, giving him the rest back. He shook his head but took it.

“You didn’t wake me last night,” I murmured.

“You needed your sleep.”

I swallowed. After everything Demos had said…was he backing away from me once more?

“Sin.” He took my arm. “I wanted you to rest. Today will be a long day, and you looked so exhausted. Besides, I liked seeing you sleeping in my bed.”

My cheeks heated, and he gave me a slow grin. “The next time I get you in my bed, you won’t be sleeping for hours,” he murmured, and my thighs tensed.

Shifting his hand to my boot, he helped me mount.

Vicer had sent a pigeon to let the hybrids know of our impending arrival, and Vicer’s scouts had reported that Regner’s soldiers would arrive by nightfall tomorrow.

We traveled quickly, and it felt more difficult to breathe as the ground sloped up into the foothills. I kept my cloak wrapped around my shoulders for most of the journey, although the sun seemed to spear through my clothes, and the breeze held a chill that danced across my skin. A few hours before twilight, we reached the camp where a group of hybrids waited for us several hundred footspans from the pass.

Tibris’s face was the first I saw, Herne by his side. I jumped off my horse, stumbling a couple of steps as my legs protested walking after so many hours in the saddle.

He threw his arms around me. And I held him for a long moment. Demos stepped up next to us, and I hugged Herne as Demos and Tibris greeted each other.

Herne stiffened slightly and then relaxed into my hug.

“It’s good to see you.”

Demos nodded. “You didn’t need to come to meet us.”

“Yes, we did.” Tibris shot Herne a look filled with pride and adoration. “Since our arrival, we’ve spent every minute setting up traps for any enemies who happened to approach.” All joy drained from his face. “We didn’t truly think we would need such traps. They were just a precaution.”

“Now, they’ll save lives,” Vicer said, his horse trotting up behind us. Tibris grinned up at him.

“How did the hybrids know how to approach?” Demos asked.

“We’ve had sentries posted every day. They allow our people to pass and tell them how to stay safe.”

Tibris gestured, and we followed him, Demos and I leading our horses.

Each of the waiting hybrids took a different route, our small army separating into groups that followed those hybrids. Demos didn’t look pleased by the additional time it would take for us to reach the camp, but even he let out several low whistles as Tibris explained some of the traps we passed.

Many of them were hidden beneath layers of leaves and branches. The deep pits were lined with spikes or left empty to break the limbs of those unlucky enough to fall in. But there were also hundreds of smaller, shallower pits, carefully concealed and waiting for unsuspecting soldiers to break an ankle.

Demos’s favorites were the swinging log traps, which were triggered by trip wires. Large logs would swingdown from the trees and, according to Herne, the force was capable of knocking down multiple soldiers at once— and slowing the soldiers behind them.

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