Page 120 of War

“I don’t exactly know,” he says, dismounting, his kohl-lined gaze squinting at the sun.

I glance around. “So there’s no particular reason why you brought me here?” I ask.

“Oh, there’s a reason,” he says, “it just has nothing to do with our surroundings.”

I’ve taken a few steps away from him, but now I glance back. “What’s the reason?” I ask.

“I want to hear what you sound like when no one but me is listening.”

Chapter 34

When it comesto intimacy, War gives more than he takes. Which is a lot. It’salla lot. He has the appetite of a deity, and I can barely keep up on either end.

He’s making meworkfor those aviaries.

I lay on a blanket with him, our clothes cast aside.

“I like it when you’re like this,” he says, trailing a finger over my bare abdomen.

I glance over at him. “I bet you do.”

“Not just inthatway, wife,” he says, giving a low laugh. “You are more open with me in these moments.”

I am? Alarm bells are going off.

“And you like that?” I say.

“Of course I do.”

I study the horseman’s face. “Why?”

His gaze searches mine. The gold in his eyes glitters in the light.

He’s more than just enamored with you.Zara’s words ring in my ears.

Before War says anything, something moves in the distance, causing me to jolt in surprise. My entire body is exposed. I desperately gather my clothes to me, trying to cover myself.

“What is it?” War says, his voice sharp. His gaze follows mine.

It’s a person, one I’ve now doomed to death.

But when the horseman sees him, the tension in his body eases. “Relax, wife. He’s one of mine.”

“One of yours?” Does he mean one of his soldiers? Because I really wouldn’t want one of them seeing me naked.

“The re-animated dead,” War explains.

The hairs on my arm stand up. I’d almost forgotten about that ghoulish ability of his.

I take the distant figure in again. “What is it doing out here?”

“Miriam, my undead linger everywhere I am or have been. They patrol every piece of earth I’ve touched.”

I figured as much after encountering his zombies back in Ashdod.

“How long do they patrol a city?”

“Forever. Once I’ve claimed a territory, I do not give it up.”

---