My cheeks puff as I blowout an exhausted breath. I shake out my shoulders and bend my knees, preparing myself to move at a moments notice. As my eyes trickle down his thighs, I see his right one tense. He's going to use it to push off of. Without thought, I shift to the left just as he takes off. Before I can get the orb of light from my hand, though, he barrels into me. His hands grip around my waist, and he lifts me in the air as he comes to a slow stop. Had he not been thinking about keeping me safe, he would've knocked me out.
He sets me gently on the floor, and I absorb the light back into me. Shaking my head, I groan, tilting my head back and letting my shoulders fall. "How many beings out there are as fast as you?"
"As fast as me?" There's a cocky smile on his face. "Probably none, though Willem would most likely argue that point with me. But there are a lot of creatures that are quicker than you."
"How am I supposed to battle something that I can't be equal with?"
Kane shakes his head. "It's not about being equal, it's about using your own strengths to overcome where you lack. Your power alone is a force up from most every creature in this realm, and the next."
Kane's eyes shift up at the door and then back down at me. He walks over and makes sure the lock is clicked. For a second, there's a flutter in my stomach, an excitement, but when he turns back, a thoughtful look on his face, my cheeks redden. My mind went somewhere completely different than his. I'm not going to lie, I was kind of hoping he was locking the door for a bit more personal time.
Pretending to smooth down my skirt, I look away to hide my red face. Kane doesn't seem to notice as he walks a circle around me and sits down in one of the chairs. He reaches out and pulls another closer to him, patting the seat. He's acting curious, and from the fact that he's not verbally letting me know what he's thinking yet, I can assume it has something to do with Drogaem.
I sit down on the edge of the seat and lean forward, almost touching my forehead to his. He begins to talk in a whisper. "I think you know that enough time has passed since the attack, nearly 4 days now, that we need to get ahold of Willem so that we can get aid from Aiden and Desona."
Just the sound of his mother's name sends chills up my back. I can remember the last time I saw her. I had such high hopes for a relationship with the Mother, one of the Three, a goddess known to the humans as kind and gentle. But those hopes were quickly smashed when I realized she had no interest in a friendship with a human. In fact, she went out of her way to push Lilith on to Kane. Nonetheless, she is one of the Three. Between her and Kane's brother, Aiden, who also wanted Kane dead at one point, they have the ability to bring an incredible aid to the kingdom.
"With Drogaem forgetting about us right now, I wonder if it would be possible for me to sneak out at night and go into the woods? With the eyes from the rebels, Willem would know I'm coming right away."
Kane shakes his head. "I think that's far too much of a risk. If you're caught going in, they could find the rebels. If you're caught coming out, you could be killed. We've reached a point where we need to keep you safe just as much as me. Were going to have to try to contact them through letters or messages. Unfortunately, I don't have any allies within the castle anymore. They've all left. The only creatures behind are either pure darkness or have allied themselves with Drogaem in some way or another."
My lips twist, and I glance over at the window. "I just don't think that it would be smart for us to use the same method of communication with Willem. First of all, Drogaem caught me out there, and secondly, Drogaem knows that the rebels fought in the city. There's no way he doesn't know. If he didn't see it himself, Gregore told him when he got back. He will be extra cautious about the rebels and be monitoring things very closely."
"Even if we chose a different place where I took them?"
"No," I reply. "That area is likely guarded, and wherever Willem is, it's not going to be a place that is easily accessible at this point. If we try, we could get both of us caught. I just don't think I can do what you're asking. I think it's too much of a risk."
Usually, Kane's demeanor would change. There would be an indignant attitude for being denied. It's not that way, though. He listens to me and nods his head, thinking about the things that I'm saying. He taps his teeth together, his eyes shifting around the room. "Then how do we get a message to them?"
We both sit back in our chairs, thinking about different options of contacting. Signals won't work, as anyone will be able to see them. Letters won't work as we have no way to get them to them. Kane doesn't hold the magic to move through realms freely, and I'm pretty sure that Drogaem has put some sort of spell over the castle to keep outside influence out.
"Back home, things don't move as fast as they do here. In the mortal realm, it takes us a very long time to get from one side of the land to the other. If we waited on normal hand carrying letters, things would never get done."
Kane furrows his brow and leans forward
