“What else are you not telling me, Kyra?”
“Nox says he can sense a bond between us, Cael,” I admit. “He says… we are bound together.”
Cael’s eyes meet mine evenly. “That day in the woods. The day we first—”
“Made love,” I finish his sentence.
His mouth drifts open. “You remember then,” his voice is barely a whisper.
I nod.
He looks to me a moment more as if waiting for me to say something else. Instead, I say nothing. I’m afraid to speak anymore on things that I’m not sure I understand. I have all these feelings for Cael, but I still cannot tell if they are truly mine or if they are just memories of what was.
He turns his gaze back toward the road. “We need to keep moving. If we’re being tracked, we have to find some way to lose whoever is tracking us before nightfall.”
Cael is silent as we continue on our journey. Every now and then we stop, as we did in the town, so he can listen for anyone approaching. But each time, he shakes his head, indicating that he hears nothing.
“Do you know what was tracking us?” I ask Nox.
“The magic of the dark mages takes many forms. I do not know what it was, I only know it means you harm.”
“Are you going to tell me what he’s saying? Or are you going to keep that to yourself as well?” Cael asks, staring at me accusingly.
I bristle at his sharp tone. “Why are you so upset?”
Drawing in a deep breath, he clenches his jaw. “How am I supposed to protect you if you keep things from me?”
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
He stares at me incredulously. “It’s my job to be worried. I have to protect you, Kyra. I can’t fail you like I—”
“You didn’t fail me,” I counter.
“Yes, I did,” he snaps. “It’s my fault you died and I’ll be damned if I allow it to happen again.” His gaze burns with sadness and anger as he stares down at me. “Do not keep me in the dark again, Kyra. I cannot—”
His voice catches and he lowers his gaze.
I reach for him, but he pulls away, refusing to look at me. “We have to keep going. We need to find somewhere safe for the night.”
“All right,” I agree and we continue down the road.
I don’t understand why he carries so much guilt for what happened in the past. That was an entirely different life from this one. We cannot change what came before. We are different than we were then.
But he does not see it this way. And I do not know how to absolve him of the guilt he carries deep inside.
We continue on in silence. When we reach a fork in the road, Cael continues straight ahead, moving us through the thick brush of the forest instead of choosing a path. He looks back at me. “We will turn left further up. This way we are not easily tracked.”
His idea is smart. The fresh hoofprints would have led our pursuers on the right path, but now, they’ll have a harder time knowing where we went since we did not immediately turn either way.
When we finally turn left, Cael leads us deep into the woods. So far away from the road, I can no longer see it. Nor can I even tell which direction it might be.
We dismount and he immediately goes about setting up our tarp and blankets, while I tend the horses.
Nox looks to me. “I believe your mate is upset.”
I sigh. “You sure have that right.”
His eyes meet mine. “He is only worried for your safety.”
I huff out a frustrated breath. “I know.”
Cael calls out behind me. “I’ve made the shelter and fixed the bedding. Your food and drink are already there. I’m going to keep watch while you rest.”
“Cael?”
His head whips toward me. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry. All right. I don’t know what else to say.”
“It’s fine,” he says defeatedly.
“Is it?”
A faint smile tugs at his lips. “Yes.”
I gesture to the bedding. “Stay with me.”
He shakes his head. “I’m going to keep watch for a while. I’ll come to bed later.”
Too tired to argue with him, I nod.
When I lie down, I’m so exhausted, it doesn’t take me long to drift off to sleep.
I dream of people storming the castle, an angry mob intent upon murdering me and stealing my powers for the God of destruction. Cael takes my hand, pulling me behind him as he cuts through the crowd with his sword, desperate to get me away from the castle to safety. But there are so many people, and we are only two. It’s impossible and I worry we are not going to make it.
An evil presence fills my mind. Fear wraps tight around my chest, and I feel as if I cannot breathe.
“You will die, Queen Kyra,” it whispers in the darkness. “You will not live to inherit your full power.”
My eyes snap open, and the nightmare fades away. The lingering hint of darkness stays with me, and my heart hammers in my chest.
I look over at Cael and find him asleep beside me on the blanket. I stare up at the sky as I take his hand in mine and send a quiet prayer to the God of Creation.
“If I am truly your Guardian, please protect him. Something evil comes for me, and I do not want him to die.”
Tears sting my eyes and I cannot blink them back. Sitting up, I wipe at my cheeks to brush them away, sniffling softly.
“What’s wrong?” Cael rasps, as he sits up beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Nothing,” I lie.
He goes completely still and I realize he knows I’m not telling him the truth. I turn to face him. “I’m sorry. I just… it was a bad dream.”
“What was it?”
Although it is dark, the moon casts just enough light
