Page 31 of A Dream Shrouded in Fury
Kalla had inspired my first song in over six years, and not only had she sat through it, she’d been enthralled by it.And now I was fucked, because all I wanted was to keep her listening.More than killing some irrelevant princess, more than returning to Soldara to look Leonine in the eye when he realized his ambitions were ruined, I wanted to tear off this blindfold and watch her expression while I played.Would it be similar to the look in her eyes when I’d slid inside her?Would it be even sweeter because she was connecting with my soul instead of my body?
I needed to know, and that need terrified me more than the darkness.
“Hey, Cliff?”Ria called out beside me.“I think we might need a break soon.The musician’s slowing us down.”
I’d been lost in thought after too many long, uncomfortable nights and had tripped over one too many divots in the uneven terrain.“Perhaps if you guided me around the holes instead of through them, we wouldn’t be lagging behind.”
“Perhaps if you allowed me to lead, I wouldn’t have such a hard time guiding you,” she shot back.
“Allowed you to lead?”I replied with a harsh laugh.“I see nothing.If you haven’t been leading so far, I’m astounded we’ve stayed with the group.”
“And I’m astounded—”
“I’ll take over.”Kalla’s voice cut through the other woman’s argument.“We have a carriage to catch up to and don’t have time for you two to bicker.”
There was practicality in her tone, a hint of authority, but something else as well.The slight emphasis on “you two,” perhaps, that made me swear a jealous streak was buried under her pragmatism.
Her familiar hand slid under my arm, replacing Ria’s rougher grip, and my blood sang at the closeness even as my flesh craved something more.Skin to skin contact at the very least.But I could be satisfied with this for now.A trickle of water to quench my parched throat.
I wracked my brain to come up with a clever quip to get Kalla talking and break this tension between us, but every word fell flat before it reached my lips.I wanted to hear her voice, but every question I came up with was too personal, too invasive.So instead we walked in silence.My stride evened out thanks to her gentle guidance and my hyper-awareness of every minor twitch of her fingers.
We seemed to be making good time, though I had no idea how much distance we’d actually covered, and I found myself counting steps towards our final goodbye.Until Kalla drew to a sharp halt with a hissed, “Shit.”
“What is it?”I whispered back.
“Why are we stopping?”Corban asked at a normal volume.If he’d been closer, I would have kicked him in the shin for his inability to pay attention.Cliff replied with a few sharp whispers, and then we were moving again.
Kalla’s grip on my arm tightened, and our pace quickened.I did my best not to slow her down, but the urgency made me wish I could remove the blindfold to see what was happening.
We stopped again, and Kalla pulled me down into a crouch.
“How many do you see?”Ria asked.
“I spotted four to the west,” Kalla replied, and I knew the fae we’d heard from the cave were close.
On my left, Birch said, “Three to the east.”
“And another two north,” Cliff added.“Fuck me.We’re overrun.”
“Think we can avoid—” Ria asked.
“Nope!”Kalla didn’t bother to keep her voice down as the sound of rattling armour closed in around us.“Blades ready.Protect the fae.”
To the sky with that.If guards had found us, I knew what they were capable of.Four vampires alone wouldn’t stand a chance.Taking off my blindfold would break my vow to Kalla, but that didn’t hold me back from saying, “Let us help.”
No one acknowledged me, and in another breath, the first blows were struck.
The song of steel on steel rang in my ears, and I whirled left to right, struggling to face the fighters so my back wasn’t vulnerable.Kalla kept her hand on my arm, dragging me with her while she fought.
Verbena-scented metal polish tickled my nose and left little doubt who we were dealing with.The gleaming armour of the guards flashed in my vision as I fell into memories of my last encounter with them.I knew how quickly they moved, how ruthless they were, and my fears for Kalla clogged my pores.
“Take this blindfold off and let me help you,” I growled, but her only response was to grunt and whirl me around again.The citrus scent grew stronger, and acting on a whim, I threw out a punch in the direction I believed it to be coming from.
By luck, my blow landed, and my knuckles crunched against something hard and sharp.Teeth, maybe.A curse followed, and I allowed Kalla to jerk me back to avoid being hit in return.A whoop of victory sounded beside me as she took advantage of the fae’s shock, and the stench of blood mingled with the lemony polish.
More fae swept in.A scream that sounded like Ria’s shot through the night, followed by Cliff’s cry for her.Between the clash of blade against blade and the creak of armour, the previously peaceful wood was overwhelmed by the sounds of battle, and I didn’t think we were winning.
“Come on, Kalia me.If you want to survive this, let me help you.”
