Power slams into me, and I drop to my knees – hard. Lightning rushes through my every muscle in breath-staggering pulses. My hands brace against the stones of the path as my mind stutters and reels.
Then it’s gone.
Slowly, weakly, I begin to pull myself to my feet.
“Wait,” Killian barks, and no one moves to help me. “Let her do it.”
“What was that for?” I demand, my voice thin and strained.
Getting up is step one. Facing them is step two. Slapping each of them one after the other is step three. I like this plan.
Pax grabs me by my ripped-up shirt. I try to turn, and when that fails, I try a combination of leaning back and twisting to look up, but before I can work out what the bralls is going on, his lips are on mine. Needing is an understatement. Devouring isn’t even close. One arm braces me, the other trails down over my chest. Searching for the hem of my shirt then sliding under it to find skin. I’m wrapped up in his arms. Pinned with my back to his chest. Unable to move, his hands searching for a connection with as much skin as possible.
“Again,” Killian orders.
Pax’s power smashes into me – only this time the world goes black.
The second I’m aware of my body, I throw out a fist and hit something. Something that’s the exact right amount of hard and soft to be a person.
My person.
Pax, by the sound of the growl. My eyes snap open as he lets go of my legs and my feet hit the ground. Looks like he was trying to carry me, but now he has one arm around my back and the other rubbing his jaw.
“She’s already awake?” Seth asks.
“No,” I mutter, testing my strength to make sure I can stand before pushing myself away from Pax.
We’ve just left the glass tunnel to the Spring, and behind my four guys the walls shatter and reform – solid and smooth and impenetrable once more.
“Guys,” Roarke says, his tone blanched. We all turn, my state of awake and Pax’s state of having-been-punched-in-the-jaw forgotten. “The defenses are down. Wisdom gate and all the domain wards are gone. We’re sitting ducks.”
“This was in the plan,” Seth says, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck, ready for a fight.
“Not yet,” Pax says. “Did we do this, or someone else?”
They close in around me, Pax at the back with his arm draped over my chest and Killian at the front.
“I don’t know. We could have disrupted the magic when we went into the Spring, or someone powerful could have countered it. They’re not here yet though. Domain is empty,” Roarke says.
“Agreed,” Killian rumbles, marching towards the cottage. “Let them come.”
“Them who?” I demand.
“The Sabers hunting you since we left the White Castle,” Roarke answers.
“Someone’s been hunting me?”
Seth chuckles. “You didn’t notice?”
“No,” I snap. “We were all being chased – not just me – and you killed them.”
Silence.
“You did kill them?”
“Not all of them,” Pax deadpans.
“We need to leave,” Roarke says.
“We dig in,” Killian counters.
“We don’t know what Kitten can handle right now.”
“Pax just hit her with everything he has,” Killian argues, the two of them continuing to toss their points back and forth.
“And it knocked her out!”
“For two seconds.”
“Guys,” I shout. “I’m wet, cold, hungry, and busting for the toilet. Let’s do those things first?”
“Seth and Roarke, saddle the horses and bring them to the door. Killian, ward the house – we’ll be safe inside.”
Killian pauses to tilt his head toward the sky and inhale deeply.
“It’ll be here soon,” he says, then Seth and Roarke break off, running towards the horseyard.
Inside the cottage it’s clear exactly how relaxed we’ve become. The boots are scattered, bags everywhere, a cloak over the back of one couch, a bow leaning against the window. Pax grabs my hand and rushes up the stairs, marching for the bathroom. He practically pushes me toward the toilet, lets go of my hand, then hovers beside me.
I turn slowly, arms folded over my chest. “I don’t pee on command.”
A slow smile crosses his features, reaching up to his eyes and easing the tense set to his shoulders.
“And you can’t make me,” I add.
I tilt my head a little to the side, searching for that shadowy-double of Thane that I saw by the Spring, but it’s not there.
“I won’t watch,” he says, turning his back.
I press my palms to his shoulder blades and push him out of the bathroom’s alcove. No time like the present to create boundaries.
“Or you could wait out here,” I say.
But he follows me back into the room, right behind me, his exhales dancing across my neck. “I can’t be that far away from you,” he says softly.
I find my insides relaxing a little – because honestly, I don’t want him to be that far away from me. But no amount of being stuck with these guys has made going to the toilet in their presence any easier.
His fingers trace down my arm, skimming over the rough bandage made from Seth’s shirt. They sting each time I move my arms, and I definitely am not savoring the sensation as much as when I was affected by the Power Blocker.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
“Just don’t expect me to have the same reaction next time,” I tell him.
His lips press to the back of my head, so gentle, so controlled, so faking it. His hands settle on my hips, the weight of them comforting. Our layers of wet clothes stick to each other, but I don’t care.
“I’m going to fix it, Beautiful – Shade. We’re getting out of here, then we’re going somewhere safe. Whatever it takes.”
“You can’t make that kind of promise to yourself. There are a million more dangers in this world, and we still have a job to do.”
“Fine,” he says, sliding his hands a little higher and gripping a little tighter. “If I can fix it, though, I will.”
Then he moves away, and I really don’t have
