Page 45 of All's Fair in Lion and War
Saul transferred the woman to the other man’s arms. The woman didn’t make a sound, but she snuggled into the dragon’s arms and hid her face in his coat.
“Tor, you lead the way. Let’s get to the cabins and then take a vehicle the rest of the way in.”
“Got it.” Tor turned and shifted in one smooth movement. He trotted ahead a few paces, clearing a path through the snow with his chest. The three of them followed the tiger at a pace most humans wouldn’t have been able to hold to for more than a few minutes. But they weren’t human. And they knew every minute counted.
Saul still had the strange feeling that something was wrong with Lorelei. They didn’t have a true bond yet, but it was enough that he was starting to feel certain things about her.
He needed to see her. Touch her. Assure himself she was safe with the others.
But the twisting in the bottom of his stomach was telling him she wasn’t safe. And likely wasn’t still with the others.
16
Lorelei
Lorelei ran through the streets of the town. She didn’t know where she was or where she was going. The streets were defined only by wheel ruts in the center.
The snow covered this world like sand blanketed La’Tar. White instead of orange and black. Ice instead of sweltering heat.
It was so dark outside. She hadn’t counted on that. She could see, but not into the distance.
Which way had they come from to get to the bunker? Which way was the mountain where Rivian and his pride were? She was all turned around. She looked behind her and then forward again.
One of the machine things Saul had called a truck was approaching, two white lights like glowing eyes were getting brighter and brighter.
She moved to the side of the road in case they didn’t see her. Saul had said the people on this world weren’t like Reyleans. They didn’t have beasts inside them. They weren’t as strong. And not to tell them anything. That it was dangerous to reveal to anyone who she really was—Reylean.
And absolutely not to shift into her beast in front of them.
The truck slowed it’s approach and pulled to a stop next to her. The window rolled down and an unfamiliar man’s face was frowning at her. “Ma’am, you need help?”
“Which way to Denali?” That was the name of the mountain. She needed a direction. The adrenaline from all the painful new memories was keeping her warm.
“Denali? The mountain?”
She nodded.
“You’re not dressed to be on a mountain. Sweetheart, you’re not dressed to even be outside right now. There’s a storm supposed to come in tomorrow.” His door opened and he climbed out.
The man was huge. For a human. Lorelei could smell that he wasn’t Reylean. He had a handsome, but rugged don’t-mess-with-me face showing right now, but she didn’t sense aggression from him. Or malice. He didn’t pose a threat to her.
“I really need to get to the mountain.”
He tilted his head to the side and stared at her in the dim light given off by his headlights and the small light inside his truck. “You friends with the people who live out there on the other side of the river? Col, Kann, Owen, and the rest?”
Lorelei searched through her jumbled brain and nodded. She remembered the names. Thevrakahad been Col. She knew that for sure.
“I need to get to the mountain.” Rivian was there. Vengeance was there. If there was a storm coming and more of this infernal white snow, she needed to get there sooner not later.
They’d kept saying Rivian was on Denali. That’s the only place she needed to go.
“Why don’t I take you back to the bar, it’s Tor and Dawn’s place. You met them? I’m Liam. I help them run the bar.”
“Yes, I’ve met them.” Her words were strained. This wasn’t what she wanted. But she also couldn’t make a scene with a human that knew them.
She wouldn’t betray Saul like that…or the dragon, even though she’d probably be dead before either of them realized what she’d done. But she wasn’t going to be that person. The one that left a mess for others to clean up.
“Can you take me to Col and Naomi’s cabin instead?” No one was there, but at least it was the right direction. She’d be able to find the mountain from there, even in the dark.
