Page 138 of A Dance With Fire
Ryker had known they would ask, just like he knew that when he told the truth they’d want to go after her. Which was why he’d taken his time coming back to camp, giving Shula just enough time to flee so they couldn’t catch up to her.
“She’s gone,” Ryker growled. “Good fucking riddance.”
A collective silence washed over the small group. Then, “What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?” Valerio stepped towards him, snapping his canines.
“She ran away just like she always does.” Ryker had never struck his prince, but in that moment he contemplated doing just that.
“We can’t just let her leave.” Julius pushed to his feet, staring at the darkness of the woods as if he meant to run and catch up to the Fire Dancer.
“She won’t help us. She’s too scared.”
“Well, what the fuck are we supposed to do? Just let her walk the fuck away? The soldiers would find her in a minute and take her to the emperor!”
Ryker knew better than anyone what he had let walk away. A weapon for Illyk. Their only chance at saving the Fae.
His fuckingmate.
“She would have kept fleeing from us.” It would have been a special kind of punishment to watch her leave, walk away from them, and have to bring her back every time. “It’s better this way.”
“Better for who?” Clay growled, shouldering aside his cousin so he was in front of Ryker himself. “For us or for you? Because it sounds like you let her go out of pure selfishness.” Then Clay’s palms collided with Ryker’s shoulders, shoving him backwards. “Weneedher, you asshole!”
“She’smymate!” Ryker shouted, shoving Clay back just as hard. The Fae stumbled, his eyes widening with surprise. Ryker didn’t blame him. He’d avoided speaking about what she was to him ever since they all realized what she really was. He hadn’t even wanted to admit it to himself. “Not yours! None of you get a say in what she does.”
“I am your prince,” Valerio interjected, his voice containing the cold of his fury. “We had orders.”
Fuck your orders,Ryker wanted to snarl but somehow held the words back.
“We have to go after her.” Valerio’s hands began waving around, a silent issue of orders that set everyone in motion.
“It’s too late.” Everyone froze and turned as Weylyn emerged from the shadows of the trees, his golden eyes glittering in the dark, a devilish sneer pulling at his mouth. “The Fire Dancer is gone; we cannot possibly catch up to her.”
It took a moment for everyone to absorb this, and a moment later for Ryker to feel the blow of a fist against his cheek.
“You asshole!” Clay pounded into him and Ryker staggered back. Blood burst inside his mouth and he spat it out, a growl ripping from his throat. Soon, they were nothing but a scuffle of fists and tangled limbs on the ground. When Clay’s fist dug into Ryker’s still-healing shoulder, he screamed.
“Enough!”
Clay was yanked off of Ryker and hauled backwards. Ryker took a breath before he slowly pushed to his feet and turned to meet his prince’s stern gaze.
“This is a fucking disaster! You may have just fucked over the entire Fae race by letting her go. Do you know how much danger she could be in? The emperor could find her and she has no one to protect her now.”
“Sounds like her fucking problem,” Ryker bit out. But he didn’t feel the words. In fact, they felt vile. Untrue. He hated them as soon as they left his lips and they made an ache build in his chest, more painful than the wound on his shoulder.
Valerio looked at him with pity in his eyes like he could see right through him. “What you did was an act of treason. My father could have your head for this.” He said it softly, sadly, and Ryker almost believed that the prince really cared.
Too bad Ryker couldn’t bring himself to in that moment.
He didn’t have it in him to respond.
“We will go to the safe house and think about what to do next. Perhaps we can somehow track her.”
Ryker did not want to track her. He didn’t think he want to see Shula Azzarh ever again.
“Ryker…”
The sadness in that tone undid him. “Let’s go,” he cut off the Seelie Prince. There was no point in staying here when he knew she wasn’t coming back. That final glimpse of her walking away was probably the last he’d ever see of her.
“Ryker, we can’t just—”
