Page 122 of A Dance With Fire
The tender look was replaced with an annoyance Shula felt herself.
“Yes, some would rather let their wounds fester and infect until they’re so wounded, they’re left blaming the rest of the world for their ailments.”
Beneath their joined palms, his heart pounded, and Shula couldn’t move away from the evidence of his life. Like she needed this one moment to ground her own soul back into place.
For a moment, where hatred once reigned, caring was in its stead. She could feel it;hecould too. Even if it felt so right, the perfect way it seemed to fit within their emotions was wrong.
“There’s a difference between sacrifice and stupidity.” She pulled her hand away and curled it into a fist so he couldn’t see how badly she was shaking. “What you have is stupidity in abundance.”
He bared his canines, snapping them in threat. “Get the fuck off me, Fire Dancer,” he spat her name like an insult. On his tongue, it was.
Shula scrambled to her feet, her knees shaking only a fraction. A moment later, Ryker grunted as he got up and they faced one another, him baring his canines, her glaring.
“What the fuck just happened here?” Julius demanded with a hint of teasing in his tone.
Shula turned to them and saw Clay throw his arm around Julius’ broad shoulder. The blond-haired Fae was smirking. “Romance, my dear Julius.Attraction.Pure, primal attraction.”
Rolling her eyes and ignoring the slice ofsomethingdown her back, but she decided she would analyze that later.
“If you’re done spouting your fucking delusions,” Ryker growled, “what are we going to do now?”
They all turned to Valerio. Even Shula, because she certainly had no idea what she was going to do. Information had not only dropped into her lap but had erupted. Everything she thought she knew about herself had changed within a few moments. Not like she’d known much about herself in the first place, but there was something special about finding out she was one of the keys to opening a portal directly to Mana to summon destruction.
Her life had taken a turn for the unexpected, and she suddenly found herself in a position she never imagined before. Killed by humans? Sure. Thrown into a camp and burned alive? Also, sure. But learning how much power she truly wielded wasn’t what she wanted. It was a burden, one she knew others would want to exploit. One theyhadtried to exploit.
The danger of the situation suddenly hit her, especially when the Seelie Prince looked into her eyes, expression on his face grave. She wouldn’t be safe. She’dneverbe safe again. Because if she was what The Seer said she was—and Shula believed it—then the Emperor of Illyk would never give up until he found her and the other Elementals.
Fear had her tucking her hands into her pockets and chewing on the inside of her cheek.
Finally, Valerio looked away from her. “We can do nothing now except rest. The iron still courses through us and we will need our strength to decide what to do next.” He looked at their surroundings, a barren wasteland. Uric had transported them just outside the Ley Line, in Orknie. “Let us rest our feet for an hour, deal with our wounds in any way we can. The closest town is a few miles north of here. We have a safe house in Terryln. It’s one of the nicer ones.” He gave them a rueful smile. “I think we deserve to sleep in a bed tonight.”
They’d been through hell and they looked it. A few hours to rest and a real bed sounded like a fantastic and terrible idea all at once. Her limbs screamed, aching and demanding, her stomach rumbled with hunger pains, and she was suddenly so, so tired.
So when Valerio suggested a safe house in a small village in Orknie, well, Shula just didn’t have the heart or will to argue.
42
Hatred Tastes a Lot Like Chocolate Cake
Shula didn’t argue with the idea of a safe house until after she rested her feet and cleaned the blood off her face with a torn part of an extra shirt, and with what little water she had left. When Valerio rounded them all up and told them it was time to go, she felt the nerves of the situation kick in.
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” She usually tried to avoid Valerio because of who he was, and because the Seelie Prince unnerved her almost as much as Uric, his faithful hound, though not as much as Weylyn.
It wasn’t the only reason she avoided him.
The confession he’d whispered a few nights ago had stuck with her. She tried not to think about it, but it still slithered through her mind on occasion. If not for what Davina said, he wouldn’t have gone to try and save her at all. While she knew he didn’t think she was his mate, it was still awkward that he’d thought so at one point.
That, and the fact that he’d kept her prisoner for days in his camp.
It was in the details.
“You dare question the heir to the Seelie throne, Fire Dancer?” Uric spat. His voice was grave, hoarse. Not from being tired, but from old age, the remnants of using his magic still clinging to him.
There was bite to his tone, but Shula just felt like she was being lectured by a senile senior and paid him no mind.
“Need I remind you that Illyk is full of humans who despise Fae and you plan on walking into a populated village in Orknie just like that?”
Terryln was a pretty populated place; Shula had been there oftentimes enough toknowhow many humans took up residence in the town.
