Page 15 of Of Kings and Thieves

“Same here.” I narrowed my eyes at Col. “I’m sensing a pattern, Col. You like to rescue people you despise?”

Col pinned me with an intense gaze. “You were especially irritating when we met.”

“And you weren’t?”

“Never.”

I rolled my eyes and then grinned. Magnus stomped back over to the fire and set a freshly dressed kill over a spit. “Col never can hide his feelings.”

Col turned on Magnus. “I don’t need to hide them from people I like.”

“Which means you must have liked me from the beginning.” I smirked.

Magnus saluted me.

“Joking aside—” Killian began.

Magnus scoffed. “You wouldn’t know a good joke, Killian, if it got naked, danced in front of you, and rammed itself up your ass.”

Killian ignored him. “I’ve used my knowledge and connections to assist Col. My magic, too, has proven useful in gathering intelligence and getting us out of tight spots.”

“Like when you rescued me,” I murmured.

Killian nodded. “A truly fortuitous chain of events.”

I turned to Col, determined to get an answer. “How did you know where I was?”

CHAPTER FOUR

“I swear on my life, I heard your voice in my head, clear as day.” Col frowned as he tried to make sense of the situation. “You were in pain, and I heard you say exactly where you were.”

I stared at him, unsure if I had heard him correctly. His hazel eyes were shadowed with emotions I couldn’t decipher. “You’re sure?” My voice came out hoarse. I cleared my throat and tried again. “You’re sure you heard me? In your head?”

Col nodded. “As clearly as if you were standing next to me. I heard you say my name, and then...” He frowned, brow furrowing. “It was like I could sense where you were. I saw glimpses of the road, and then I asked where you were, and you told me Prismvale.”

“How?”

Col raked a hand through his hair, and for a moment I imagined I saw an inky black feather in the shadows behind him. It drifted to the ground, stark against the vibrant green of new spring grass. And then I blinked, and it was gone. A trick of the shadows cast by the sun through the trees.

“I don’t know,” he said finally.

“Maybe it was just a fluke,” Magnus chimed in, scratching the back of his neck.

“Or maybe it’s some kind of magic we don’t know about,” Killian added.

“Magic?” I echoed.

“Think, Samara,” Col urged, his hazel eyes searching mine for answers. “Has anything changed since we first met? Something that could explain this connection?”

Connection. The word reverberated through me, as if plucked from my own mind. I stared at Col, this man I’d only known for a matter of weeks, yet who I couldn’t imagine my life without. The thought of a connection between us, some kind of unbreakable bond, sent a surge of emotion through me.

Joy. Fear. Anticipation.

And underneath it all, a slow burning heat I refused to name.

Col reached for my hand, his calloused fingers threading through mine. A jolt of warmth spread from his touch, chasing away the chill that had settled over my skin. “I noticed you have my mother’s ring, though I distinctly remember giving it to the clothier,” he said, his thumb brushing over it. His eyes danced with amusement. “Do I want to know how you got it?”

I stared at our joined hands, at the gold rings we now both wore. My hand instinctively reached for the ruby ring on my finger. “The ring… It happened after I put it on.”

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