Confusion clouded her eyes, her gaze darting around the hidden chamber. “How did we get here? I went to your tent…” She tried to sit up.
“Slowly,” he advised, slipping an arm around her back.
She settled into his embrace, the rightness of her there a cruel reminder of everything he’d lost. He’d have to let her go, but with memories of her lost in the moment, her body arching so sweetly into him, he couldn’t pull away. Not yet.
The decision was ripped from his hands as Briana frowned and her eyes snapped to his. The longest moment of his life passed, and he knew that she’d relived the same memory—the very same one that was a still a living, breathing brand on his mind.
She stiffened in his arms, leaning away from him. “I’m fine.”
“B?” Nessa looked primed to make a move.
If the huntress thought to separate them, he’d happily show her how easily he could separate her from her weapons. Without them there was no wounding him, no evening the odds in a competition that was nothing more than a good time for bored gods. Nessa might be just as determined to win the games, but she really needed to stop looking like she was all too happy to bury a blade in his back.
Briana pushed to her feet, and doubled over.
On instinct he reached for her, but the blue depths of her eyes turned to ice. “It’ll pass in a couple of minutes,” he offered.
Which was more than he could say about the memory continuing to replay in the back of his mind. He kept waiting to forget the smell of her hair or the contagious sound of her laughter.
She staggered upright, but when he stepped in to steady her, she avoided him.
“She needs a minute,” Nessa said quietly.
He hadn’t realized he’d moved toward Briana again until the huntress’s words stopped him. He knew he should stay away from her, but couldn’t make himself walk away from the choking waves of disappointment and anger that radiated from Briana.
She was hurting and it was his fault. God damn it, he’d warned her that night in the meadow. He knew he hadn’t deserved her, and instead of doing the right thing, he’d been selfish. And she’d paid the price.
He turned around to find Nessa had left them. He stared at the opening in the wall, willing himself to take a step toward it.
“I waited.”
A cold fist gripped his stomach. He glanced over his shoulder.
“That night, outside your tent,” Briana clarified. She took two steps toward him, her anger reminding him that she was as much a predator as he was. “I waited. I kept thinking there was no way you wanted to spend the night with her. No way you could be so amazing with me and then make me leave to be with someone else. I knew you felt what was between us.” She laughed, the sound strained. “I had myself convinced of that, so I waited. Even when it started to pour, I didn’t move.”
He hadn’t known.
“And I was right.” Her smile bordered on bitter. “She didn’t stay, but you didn’t come looking for me either. You
It took two tries to get the words out. “It was a long time ago.”
“Really? Because it feels like just moments ago to me. Except this time I know better than to wait for you.”
“Briana!”
“Stay away from me, Lucan.” She turned away, but he didn’t miss the glossy shine in her eyes she masked with a murderous glare.
Walking in the other direction was almost as hard as sending her from his tent, and left him fighting both his desire and the wraith the whole way.
Briana leaned against the wall of the tunnel. She’d underestimated the continued effect Lucan would have on her. One minute her body felt utterly quiet, the cat content to be alone, and the next his touch unleashed a vicious hurricane inside her.
Worse than that, though, she’d underestimated the lengths the gods would go to keep her and every other competitor off balance.
It made her even more determined to win.
She reluctantly set her sword aside, using the torch to see the stone she pulled from her pocket. She’d grabbed it and stuffed it into her pants a heartbeat before she and Lucan both stupidly reached to catch the chalice that had catapulted them down memory lane.
It shouldn’t still hurt so much, yet her heart felt bruised. Everything about that night with Lucan had been so incredible, right up until the moment she realized he had already pledged himself to another.
The woman in his tent hadn’t been the type to follow Arthur’s camp of men from place to place, available to anyone willing to pay. Her expensive clothes and air of nobility told a different story, as did the open affection and trace of hurt Briana had caught on the woman’s face before she’d been sent on her way.
She hadn’t been so naive as to think being with Lucan had changed his loyalty to Arthur or his plans. He’d been set to drink from the Grail and swear his vows, though having seen him with Arthur, she suspected the latter was just a formality. But she’d hoped she would see Lucan again soon and that maybe someday…
She’d never been able to bring herself to ask her brothers about the woman with Lucan, and they’d never said a word about him marrying. They’d never spoken of any other unions except Arthur’s, really, and even the god-king had been married barely a year before everything had changed.
“Don’t think about it,” she whispered, concentrating on the red stone that glinted in the torch light. Later she could mourn for the young woman she used to be.
She closed her fist over the gem and shoved it back in her pocket.
Okay. One down…two to go.
Pushing off from the wall, she threw herself into the search. It was impossible to know how much time passed as she navigated the endless tunnels and caverns. Occasionally she would hear a roar or yell echo through the cavern, and tightened her hand on her weapon, but she didn’t come across anyone.
The air gradually cooled, the walls darkening with shards of black crystal sharp enough to maim jutting from the walls and ceiling. Inch by inch the crystal overtook the walls until she entered a cavern that appeared coated in black ice, broken by sections of the impaling crystal.
Here the air was crisp and a trace of ash rode on the air. The dragon?
Pinning down a trail was difficult when the crystal surface didn’t absorb much scent. She continued forward, debated shifting to her cat form. She wouldn’t be as hindered by the dim lighting and would easily blend into her surroundings.
Warmth pulsed in her pocket. Resisting the urge to check that the stone was glowing, she tightened her hand on her sword. Kel had doubled back and she’d just become the prey.
The air stirred behind her, and she ducked to avoid the fist that snaked out to grab her. Spinning around, she found Kel too close. Unable to dodge his next punch, the glancing blow caught her across the chin.
She kicked out, nailing him in the abdomen. It was like hitting a utility pole.
He grunted, but managed a smile colder than the crystal she brushed up against. “Give it to me.”
“No.”
He pursued when she retreated, moving around the mounds of crystal she tried to keep between them. Though she was a bit out of practice, she kept her body loose, staying on the balls of her feet, never taking her eyes off Kel.
“The knight was right. You should have left when you had the chance.”
“Sorry I deprived you of the chance to see me torn apart.”
Pure reptilian, his grin rattled her. “The games aren’t over yet.” He lunged for her.
Twisting around, she brought her sword up, catching him across the torso. Blood nearly as dark as the crystal dripped down the blade.
Briana didn’t wait for him to retaliate. He evaded the next swing of the blade, however, but not the next kick
