The thought of riding even one more mile made a little whine escape from the back of his throat, but a glimpse of the sun sitting perilously close to the treetops had him limping back to Horse’s side and leading the animal to the largest rock he could find to mount again. Gritting his teeth, he nudged Horse into another trot.
When he first spotted a single rider on a dappled brown horse in the distance, his heart lurched and he held his breath. At the sound of their approach, the rider turned, and even at that distance, Ravi knew it was Daks.
Oh, thank the gods.
Daks pulled his mount up short, allowing him to catch up, and Ravi felt like fainting with relief.
“Ravi? How—?”
“Never mind that now. We need to turn around and get out of here.”
“Why?”
“I had a Vision. There’s a Spawn out here.”
Daks’s eyes widened, which was good. But he still hadn’t moved… which was not good.
“Come on!” Ravi cried.
“Wait a second,” Daks said, infuriatingly calm as usual.
His eyes got that faraway look as his attention drew inward. When he focused on Ravi again, he was shaking his head.
“There’s not a Spawn within miles of us. It’s okay.”
Ravi glanced at the lengthening shadows of the trees scattered around them. Almost dusk.
“It’s not okay. I saw it.”
“What did you see?”
“You, alone in the woods, facing off against a thing with glowing red eyes,” Ravi shot back. “Now can we go, please?”
Daks nudged his mount closer, though the poor animal didn’t seem to like the idea, because its eyes were wide and it kept sidestepping restlessly. “Do you know when this is supposed to happen?”
“At dusk. Like, now!”
Ravi squeezed the reins until his knuckles were white and clenched his teeth instead of wringing the man’s neck and shouting obscenities at him.
“Do you know what day, though?” Daks asked calmly.
“It felt like today.”
Daks raised an eyebrow, and Ravi wanted to smack him. When Ravi only glared back at him, Daks scratched one stubbled cheek and sighed.
“Ravi, I can’t go back, not without Shura. It’s almost dusk as it is. We won’t be out of the trees before nightfall, even if we start now. And you’re here with me, so I’m no longer alone.” He dismounted in one fluid movement that made Ravi narrow his eyes in jealousy. He moved in close and took Ravi’s hand. “I promise you, if a Spawn were that close to us, I know I would feel it. They light up like a bonfire to my gift. Please believe me. I’d know.”
Ravi worried his lower lip, letting Daks’s words sink in and trying to think rationally beyond the fear that had been riding him for hours. He was tired, every muscle in his body ached from trying to stay on Horse’s back, and now that he’d stopped his headlong chase, his stomach reminded him he hadn’t eaten since his meager breakfast.
After blowing out a long breath, he nodded and allowed Daks to help him off Horse’s back. When Daks pulled him into a hug, Ravi melted against the man with a whimper of relief. Maybe Daks was right. Maybe he’d already changed things. Daks would have kept going at least another hour if Ravi hadn’t stopped him. Was that enough?
His stomach didn’t think so, but that could just be the hunger.
“You came to save me, huh?” Daks murmured.
Ravi could hear the stupid, smug grin in his voice, even if he couldn’t see it, and he gave Daks a halfhearted shove. Daks’s big body didn’t move an inch. In fact, he tightened his grip and kissed the shell of Ravi’s ear.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered, his lips brushing Ravi’s skin, making him shiver.
“When I need to be,” Ravi replied, borrowing a bit of Daks’s bravado.
Daks chuckled, the sound vibrating through his thick chest and into Ravi’s. He drew back enough to capture Ravi’s lips, kissing until they both forgot about anything around them. Then Horse sidled into them, knocking them apart, and the spell was broken.
“You’re going to have to tell me how in the Seven Hells you managed to get this brute back across with you without the ferry. Did you swim?”
“I’ll tell you everything I know, but please tell me we can stop here for the night.” He gave Daks his most pathetic expression. “I’m not sure I’ll survive much more riding today.”
Daks’s lips split in a crooked smile. “Not even the good kind?”
Ravi’s cock twitched at the huskiness in his voice, but he ignored it and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think you fully realize what I went through today to get here.”
Daks just smiled and shrugged as he moved to take the reins of both horses. “We’ll stop for the night and get a fire started, and then you can fill me in.”
Chapter Fifteen
“YOU TRADED Horse?” Daks asked incredulously.
Ravi gave him a sour look. “I thought the risk worth it. Maybe I was wrong? Maybe I should have just left you to your fate?”
The fire he’d made burned cheerily against the cold and damp of their surroundings. In the flickering light, Ravi looked as lovely as ever, despite his current expression.
“I’m not saying that, but….” Daks left the wording hanging and had to hide a grin when Ravi huffed and his scowl deepened.
He wanted to be mad that Ravi had endangered himself like that—and perhaps he would be later—but right now he couldn’t get past the giddy realization that Ravi had risked so much just for him. Other than Shura, he didn’t think there was anyone in the world who cared that much. Unable to hide it anymore, his grin spread from ear to ear as he put his hands behind his head and stretched his boots toward the fire.
Ravi’s eyes narrowed to slits as his cheeks darkened. “I could go back, you know. I could leave you here to get eaten by Spawn or cursed by a wizard or whatever.”
“You wouldn’t
