Page 46 of Shadow Master
He kissed me hard on the mouth. “Okay, now you can tell me.”
I filled him in on everything that had happened and everything I’d learned. When I finished, we floated in the darkness, our threads bobbing side by side as he processed it all.
“So, everything we’ve been told about the fomorians is skewed?” Kash said.
“It would seem so.”
The weave was a little farther away this time, and my body ached to float closer.
I ignored the urge and focused on our discussion. “It makes me wonder if the Shadow Master knew the truth. Orion Winterlock must have. He’s fucking ancient. He’s Tuatha, and he was there. Why didn’t he say anything?”
It was a rhetorical question, and Kash didn’t bother to answer.
“I need to get back, but you have to warn Lloyd. Tell him what’s coming. Call a meeting if you have to, but they need to know the truth. Laramir is coming, and the mist isn’t going to stop him. We need to be ready to fight. The fomorian militia is going to cut down as many fir bolg as they can, but you need to be ready for the rest. I’ll be back in a couple of days to help.”
He stroked my cheek. “Do not die, Justice. I’ve grown attached to you.”
I rested my cheek on his chest, allowing myself an extra second in his orbit, and then I let go.
* * *
I lay on the ground,on the furs provided by Balan and his men, and stared up at the stars. I’d taken off my breastplate and shin pads, and my body begged to get out of the feytech skin. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option right now.
Harmon’s large frame was beside me, the sound of his breathing almost soothing.
“Why lie to us?” The question had been bugging me since speaking to Kash. “Why not tell the shadow knights the truth?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Harmon said, picking up my train of thought. “It doesn’t matter if they’re fomorian or fir bolg, as long as we have an enemy. Knights needed us to fight. It was simpler to give us one face to fight against. Fomorian enemy was easier.”
“You think the Shadow Master knew?”
“Henrich? No. I don’t think so. We spoke while I was locked up. He visited me every day. He was a good man. Nothing he said gave any indication that he knew the fir bolg were the threat. He thought fir bolg name of fomorian army.”
“Which is kind of true.” I shot him a sidelong glance. “You’re talking easier. Is it less painful to speak on this side of the mist?”
He nodded. “Indie … What if I can’t go back?”
I shut down the panic. “It will be fine.”
“I can feel myself changing.”
I rolled onto my side to face him. “We will figure it out. I promise. If for some reason you can’t get back through the mist, then I will find a way to get you through. I’ll speak to Orion. I’ll get a fix, but I will get you home.”
I kissed his jaw and brushed his lips with mine. “I won’t leave you stranded. I promise.”
Our breath mingled.
“Your focus needs to be our world, not me. If I have to stay behind, then I will. I’ll fight for us on this side until we can find a way to be together again.”
The thought of leaving him behind, of going back without him, had my heart hammering way too hard against my ribs. I leaned up and kissed him hard, a desperate kiss. A kiss that molded my body to his and quickened our pulses.
His hand cupped the back of my head, and then I was sprawled across his massive frame, aware of every dip and hard plane of his muscular frame.
His hand slid over my hip, fingers curling over my buttocks. He broke the kiss. “Right now, you need to go sleep somewhere else.” He pressed his groin to mine, and my breath caught.
He was fucking huge and hard.
“I need to calm down,” he said.
