Page 46 of Reigning
I dig my fingers into his wrist, but he doesn’t seem to notice. He steps away from me. Then he’s running. And he doesn’t stop.
He doesn’t glance back.
He’s gone.
Rime is slower to leave my side. He looks like he’s seconds away from trading in his own horns and never shifting again if it means he can keep me safe at his side. His steps are leisurely, and that calm, careless confidence he’s always had is right there on the surface when he comes to me. His fingers tangle with mine, and he holds my gaze like I’m the only thing he sees among this chaotic nightmare. A cold kiss presses to my lips, and he takes his time, slipping his tongue along mine for the smallest moment of just us. I don’t know how he does that. I don’t know how he takes away every single thing and makes me focus on only him for the briefest, consuming moment.
He pulls back but doesn’t allow any space between his lips and mine. “Chin up, my Tamer. You’re ready for this.” There’s a strength in the words he says, but the look in his eyes is more empowering.
He nods to me and doesn’t stop until I give a little subtle nod right back.
“That’s it.” He kisses me slowly one more time, and it hurts when he finally pulls away.
I watch him the entire time as he strides out just like the others. At the last second, he lifts his hands and tears his shirt over his head, scales ripping across his flesh like they can’t wait to dive into the snow and blood.
Then it’s just Kain and me.
“Anyone ever tell you that love is dangerous, girl?”
And Seara.
Right.
She swings her attention toward me with a heavy glare that sobers me.
She’s right.
It’s dangerous. Distracting. It’s enough to get me killed. To get us all killed if I’m not careful.
“Ready?” I ask.
Kain nods. As for the mage, she doesn’t say anything. Her dress is thin and tangles around her legs as she walks out into the cold battle without any warmth, or armor, without a single weapon.
Aside from the magic brewing within her.
Kain’s palm presses low on my back, and he leans into me, his lips parting like he’s thought about what he’s about to say more times than he can count. The concern and apprehension are what I notice first.
Except it doesn’t stay long.
Red eyes blaze wildly, and the sword that comes down on us is just as vicious. It cuts through our privacy. The demon slices that blade down, and Kain barely shoves me out of the way in time. His fist snatches the hilt of the weapon. The two men heave and shove against one another, and I can’t look away until Kain’s boot meets the metal chest plate of the man. He thrusts hard, sending the demon to his back and stealing away the sword in one forceful blow.
The easy way he rips the edge of the blade across the demon’s throat is too much to look at. Blood splatters across pure white snow.
Kain studies the blood that’s bathing the shining metal, appraising the length of the weapon and everything it’s capable of. He seems completely in control in this moment. The flex of his arms, the stiffness of his shoulders, the confidence of his stance; it’s all composed and controlled.
And I’m suddenly not worried about my alpha shifter anymore.
Unless these demons start treating him more like a threat than a mortal soldier. A little flash of magic is all it would take…
I force myself not to think on that too much.
The cold wind burns into my flesh, and the pain only intensifies when an explosion of red fires ice and rock into the air. It cuts across my face. I shield my eyes with my hands and push into the crowd of clattering iron and deadly magic.
The noise is deafening, building so loud that I oddly can’t focus on it at all. It all turns into a muted ringing. I divide my attention from dodging slicing swords and trying to find Kain with each passing second. I’m a woman walking among men, and I seem to be an unnoticeable thing. No one turns on me, and I can’t differentiate one man from another. I can’t identify who’s friend or foe. I can’t tell who’s with Ellise and who’s a Minden soldier.
I’m really not sure if the mass of violent men fighting one another know either.
A long, white fur cloak with a hemline dragging across the bloody snow catches my attention. My feet slide across the icy land, but I don’t even pause to check on Kain. All I see is that heavy cloak. I chase it into the crowd. Magic burns in my fingertips. It rises in me with every step I take.
