Page 27 of Great Falls Cadet
It had taken all of Coal’s will to halt himself from shoving Tye and Katita right into the sand and keeping them there until the pair couldn’t look at Lera again without twitching in pained memory. Like the lust, the protectiveness had come out of nowhere, gripping Coal’s chest like a band of iron, making it hard to breath. Hard to think.
Which Coal needed to start doing. And fast.
Stopping before the infamous tree that Lera no doubt used to get herself over the wall last night, Coal made short work of pulling himself up and jumping the two-pace gap to the wall. No need to explain more than that. Actually, there was little need to explain anything with Lera, not when she understood him without words. And, somehow, Coal understood her.Why,he had no idea—and no intention of trying to figure out. That could only lead to trouble, and trouble was exactly what he’d come to the Academy to avoid.
Sparring had been a mistake. Fortunately for all involved, the mistake wouldn’t have a chance to repeat itself since the girl would be packing up soon enough. River seldom asked for a favor, and if the commander wanted Lera gone, then Coal would make it so. And would keep the girl at arm’s length until then.
Landing on the soft-packed earth beyond the wall, Coal spared a backward glance to ensure his charge was still there.
She was. And her damn eyes were alight with…with excitement at the turn of events.
Coal growled under his breath and picked up the pace, choosing a trail uphill through the dense mountain forest. The rough, rocky terrain and whipping pine needles set an appropriately ominous atmosphere for the rest of the afternoon. Lifting his face toward the chill wind, Coal savored its nip along his skin, his body merging with the forest-covered hills. For a moment, he pretended he was alone, that the tantalizing lilac scent the breeze carried came from nothing but oddly placed flowers. That River never ordered him to drive Lera out of Great Falls. That his world made some bloody sense.
None of it was true.
Especially the part about the world making sense. Running a step behind him—probably because the trail was too narrow to let her pull ahead—Leralynn looked downrightpleased.As if an uphill trek through puddles and branches and bugs was exactly the way she’d wanted to spend her day of liberty. Her gaze never stopped surveying the terrain, especially each time they came to an overlook where sheep pastures and forested trails drew a mosaic across the countryside, with the steep gray mountain faces as a dramatic backdrop.Stars,despite a pace that would have had anyone but Shade or Tye emptying their stomach three times by now, Lera seemed utterly unaware that she was supposed to feel anxious and miserable at all.
Cresting a hill, Coal spied a patch of thick mud. Dropping them both for push-ups in the middle of the cold goo, Coal felt a prick of satisfaction when a small flash of irritation finally flittered across Lera’s face. “Two dozen,” Coal said. “All the way dow—”
Coal shut his mouth. Leralynn was already dipping into the freezing mud with each descent, the tightness around her jaw confirming that grit and moisture were seeping effectively into her gray uniform. Her head swiveled each time she straightened her arms. Not just surveying her surroundings but…watching for something. Or searching for it. Coal’s gaze tightened.
“Another dozen,” Coal ordered a heartbeat after the set was finished, waiting just long enough to let a false sense of relief fill Lera before snatching it away.
At least that had been Coal’s intention—and a failed one judging by an utter lack of surprise in the girl’s face. As if she’d known exactly what he’d do. Just as she had when the two sparred that afternoon. Yes, Leralynn was a decent fighter—but not so good as to block Coal’s opening volley the way she had. Not without somehow knowing to expect it. Knowinghim.
A shiver that had nothing to do with the mud and cold ran down Coal’s spine, a memory echoing through his skull.
Coal’s hands were shackled, his shoulders screaming from the strain. The taste of blood and fear choked him, blood from his last beating crusting along his skin. The islanders who’d held him for the past year never intended to let him leave. Never let him take his life either, no matter how he tried.
A noise scraped against Coal’s hearing. He shifted, the sores beneath his shackles sending lightning bolts of agony down his skin, choking him.
“You aren’t alone.” A feminine voice sounded behind him, soft steps circling until a young woman with intelligent brown eyes came to stand before him. She was small, barely reaching Coal’s shoulder, yet she filled his world with a lilac scent that drowned out all else. One of the islanders he’d not seen before.
“Let me out.” Coal’s quiet words ripped from his raw throat, the sound of his own plea tightening his chest.
The woman bit her lip, her eyes glistening. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I can’t take your pain either. But I can be here. So you aren’t alone.”
Coal shook himself, trying to shed the memory of the mirage. Of whatever that woman had been. She’d done as she promised, staying with him whenever his captors let him be, mending his soul piece by piece even while his captors bled his body. But when River and Shade finally broke Coal free, he’d found no trace of her. Not in the prison. Not in the silent night. Not anywhere.
Later, at the docks, Coal learned that a woman matching her description had purchased passage on a ship two days earlier. Had left. Without saying a word.
Coal shook himself. A small woman with auburn hair and intelligent brown eyes—just like Lera. No wonder his body was playing games with him.
Beside Coal, Lera had finished the second set of push-ups and was awaiting further orders. Saying nothing, Coal got to his feet and set them running again. Up a hill. Down. Pushing through pine branches and climbing hand and foot over tumbles of lichen-covered boulders. Back up. Up higher still, Leralynn’s breaths became ragged as the already gray sky darkened further. Sooner or later, Coal was going to get that rain he wanted.
They had just crested another hill when the young woman’s forever watchful eyes froze on a spot some yards to their right and widened, her hand bracing on her thigh. Following her gaze, Coal tried to mark what might have caught Lera’s attention but found nothing—just a forested slope leading up to a sharp ridge across from them, cloaked in a wide grove of trembling green aspens. Coal jerked his chin toward the decline. “Move.”
“Wait,” Lera said, her breath more strained than Coal had expected, her pulse beating so hard that he could see it in the soft side of her neck. “One moment, sir. Please.”
“No.”
Lera didn’t move.
Coal gripped her upper arm, dragging her back into a run.
Lera took a single step before tripping over another, her hand clutching her side. The strained breath grew rapid, her slender shoulders trembling with a distress that made Coal freeze—despite this having been the goal of the excursion.Bloody hell,he was turning into mother Shade.
Lera swayed slightly.
