Page 51 of A Dance With Fire
Shula rubbed at her eyes with the heels of her hands, willing away the stress and shadows from her mind but they clung sharply to her.
“It’s okay, Shula, I don’t mind the questions.” Orna’s palm settled over Shula’s shoulder. She dropped her hands and turned to Orna. Her skin hadn’t lessened its shine. She still sparkled like the sky. “I know our relationship might be odd for you…”Since you’ve only ever known cruelty.Those words went unsaid, but Shula felt them just the same. “But I have a dream that one day, the Fae will rise again. One day, we’ll walk among the humans again, and there won’t be fear in their hearts or ours and all will be as it once was.”
She smiled radiantly, like she was so sure of this outcome. Of her own dream.
But Shula stared, and all she could do was muster up a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
That dream shone brightly around Orna. It shone against her very skin, and Shula wondered if she wished on the glitter that streaked across her flesh all because the smog covered the sky. She wondered how many hopes and dreams could possibly live within one tiny, young Fae woman in a world so cruel and full of darkness.
Betrayal was everywhere, and yet Orna and her husband had hope. For a better world. A better future.
And Shula turned away from them again to stare into the fire in silence, biting down on her tongue until she tasted the copper of her own blood. It was better this way, she thought. It was better if she didn’t say anything at all.
Because Orna’s dream?
That’s all it was.
Just a dream.
18
Death, Lust, and Love
They traveled for days at a slow, grueling pace. Woods hollowed out into mountains and caves, which diverged into more forests. The routine remained the same for the three days they walked. Tirelessly and without rest in the mornings, and they only settled down late into the afternoon.
Every night, Shula helped Orna pass food along to the others. When they finished, Orna disappeared into the woods, likely to steal a moment alone with her husband.
If only things could have been so simple for Shula.
She’d tried wandering into the woods on her own, but before her feet even touched the inside of the forest, Clay would appear, wrapping his arm tightly around her shoulders and steering her away with idle chatter in her ear. As if it wasn’t obvious what he was doing. Sometimes even Ryker stopped her from wandering, moving so fast he was a blur to appear in front of her. Every time, she rammed into his chest. It was becoming habit now, for her to slam into his solid body and glare up at his scowling face.
How someone so large could walk as quietly as the cat that usually remained perched on his shoulder, she didn’t know. It defied all logic.
But she was annoyed that she kept running into him and even more annoyed with herself for turning and wandering meekly back to the campfire like a good little captive.
They didn’t own her, and she had the right to wander and do whatever the hell she wanted. She’d grown too complacent to their wishes. So that night, when her feet walked towards the line of trees and Ryker appeared before her, she side stepped him and swept past his towering form only to be yanked back once again.
She whirled and brought her fist up in an arc, but Ryker caught it in his massive palm, enclosing her hand entirely and squeezing gently. It was like a sharp reminder that if he put just a bit more pressure on it, he’d crush her fingers in his grip and wouldn’t be afraid to do so.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
Shula still wasn’t used to the dark timbre of his voice. It did something dangerous to her insides and made her body tremble with something she was sure was fear.
Her lip pulled back from her teeth in a sneer. “I have to take a shit,” she spat. “Want to watch?”
His frown only deepened. “You cannot wander off alone.”
Her sneer curled into a smile that was just as vicious. “Why?” she demanded, yanked her fist and arm from his hold. He let her go easily. “Afraid I’ll escape?”
He growled low in warning which she ignored and turned back around to walk into the woods.
She hoped with everything he would ignore her, but much to her annoyance, he followed close behind. Not close enough to touch within arm’s length, and yet she still felt his heat as if his body were pressed tightly against hers. There was an awareness that sizzled between them, and it pulsed like currents of electricity in a storm.
On impulse, she skidded to a halt, just to give him a taste of his own medicine. But whenherammed intoher, his bulking body nearly sent her flying forward.
She swore she heard him chuckle behind her.
Huffing an embarrassed breath, she kept forward, wandering with no purpose.
