Page 123 of A Dance With Fire
Just the thought of doing something so reckless was fraying at her nerves. Her fight-or-flight instincts were kicking in, and every cell in her body was screaming at her to turn and run in the other direction. Away from the Fae and the humans that wanted them dead.
Valerio’s lips pressed together, and she realized he was suppressing a smile. “I commend you for your worry, Shula, but it is misplaced. We have safe houses in plenty of populated places. We will be very careful.”
Her fingers twitched. “I have a bad feeling about it.”
“We have been through hell, Shula; we have been hiding in forests, we have fought, we have suffered, and I would like to eat something other than dried meat.”
He must have seen the uncertainty on her face because he sighed.
“It will be safe. It’s a tactic we have used many times before.”
“Tactic?”
He smirked. “Hiding in plain sight. I am sure you are quite familiar with that one, so why are you so worried?”
She was familiar with it. It’s probably why they were looking at her as if her slow-building hysteria was unnecessary. But she’d hidden in plain sightalone.Never with a big group of Fae. They were smaller than the refugees the Resistance had saved, but the fear was still there. With a bigger group, the outcome had been death and heartbreak. Even if this smaller group was filled with those who kept her held against her will, she had grown close to them and feared for what might happen.
It would have been a lie to say she feared for herself more, but Valerio was looking at her expectantly, as if he could read every thought that crossed over her mind, and the truth would not spill from her lips.
“I’m worried aboutmyself, Seelie Prince. I’ve been avoiding danger my whole life only to have you come and try to throw me straight into it.”
Valerio turned away, but not before Shula caught the smile on his face. She fell back a step, accidentally ramming into Weylyn’s chest. The contact made her jolt away from him. His shoulder brushed against her and his feline features smirked down at her, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking and what a lie her words were.
She supposed hedidknow. That was unnerving.
She fell back again, if only to avoid his stare, only this time, it was Ryker who rammed into her shoulder. It was unkind but not painful, and with just enough force that let her know he’d heard every word she said.
And believed it.
Clay and Julius sandwiched her between their large bodies, Clay throwing his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry about a damn thing, Fire Dancer. You’ll like this safe house. It’s disguised as a bed-and-breakfast. We’d get our own suite and a decent meal and dessert.”
Julius bumped his shoulder against hers and smiled. “You like chocolate cake, little dancer?”
Her stomach growled at the very prospect. “Of course. Who doesn’t?”
“All women love chocolate. It’s magic, or science.” Clay’s hand squeezed. “Whatever you want to call it, it’s just true.”
“Is there really chocolate cake?” She’d always loved dessert for dinner, and at Piriguini’s Circus there had been confections in abundance. The only thing preventing her from becoming as big as Illyk’s fattest man was the fact that she danced. Sugared candies and glazed buns had become an everyday thing for her.
Ever since she’d been with the Fae, she hadn’t had a single pastry. Just thinking about them now had her whole body shivering with anticipation and her tongue getting heavy in her mouth. She could almost taste the creamy goodness…
“What other kind of desserts does this safe house have?” she asked. And surprisingly, Shula felt all her fear melting away.
And all it took was the promise of a chocolate cake to do it.
* * *
They reachedTerryln by nightfall but didn’t walk through the paved roads of the populated, busy town. They crept in through the woods that bordered the line of houses and shops, hiding in the shadows.
Sweat stained Shula’s palms, her heart pounded up to her throat, and her stomach twisted into knots. She fought hard not to give in to the rising panic that clawed through her body, taking deep breaths that did nothing to steady her and everything to make her sound like she was losing her mind.
“Breathe,” Ryker snapped, the sound of his deep voice impatient.
“I am breathing,” she hissed. She was breathing so much, making too much noise. If there was a soldier patrolling the woods or the back doors of shops, they’d hear her. Her body didn’t seem to care, though, because it racked with nervous shivers.
“You’re hyperventilating,” Ryker said again.
She ignored him that time and focused on steadying her breaths. Valerio was confident there was nothing to be nervous about, but Shula didn’t have the Seelie Prince’s unwavering confidence. The last time they’d been near a safe house, humans had found them and murdered Orna.
