Novikke gaped at it. Her legs had gone weak, and she was leaning against the wall of the building for support. The thing’s face was above Aruna’s, its needle-teeth almost close enough to bite. He was straining to hold it off him.
She hesitated only an instant before turning to run toward the forest. The terror she felt toward that thing made the decision easier than it should have been.
“Novikke!” Aruna shouted, his voice breaking in the middle of the word. Novikke froze. The exclamation was a physical presence holding her back.
She turned, and he was looking at her. She had never seen someone so terrified. He looked away as the shade snapped at him and he was forced to devote all of his attention to keeping it at bay.
The shade would devour his body and then his spirit. It might choose to possess him first, then walk around inside his body like a ghostly parasite until he died. It was a fate too horrible for words.
She wasn’t really thinking when she started moving back toward the shade. If she had been, she wouldn’t have done it.
She held up her rock, then spotted Aruna’s dagger on the ground. She tossed the rock aside and picked up the dagger, then circled behind the shade.
The shade’s limbs were gradually melting into what looked like pure shadow. It had stopped trying to wrestle Aruna. Instead, it seemed to be dissolving and sinking into his body. Aruna’s struggles were growing weaker. His face and voice betrayed exquisite pain.
Novikke approached the shade. The creature gave off evil in a miasma, and she could feel it as she neared it. Blood pounded in her ears as she raised the dagger. She had no idea how to kill a shade. How could a blade pierce smoke?
As she raised the dagger, the shade twisted to face her, screeching, and she almost dropped the dagger. Its grotesque hands reached for her.
She brought the blade down hard in its chest. With an unnatural squelching, it sank through where its heart would have been if it were human.
The shade gave a hideous scream. Novikke leapt back out of reach, brandishing the dagger. Black ichor poured out of the wound. The shade twisted in agony, then began flaking into pieces. As if it could no longer hold its body together, bits of it scattered apart into smoke and floated away, until there was nothing left.
All trace of it evaporated into nothing. Even the slick black blood on the dagger disappeared. The air felt clean and refreshed in its absence. Novikke lowered the dagger, exhaling heavily.
Aruna, still on the ground, stared at the air where the shade had been. He was breathing hard, but seemed uninjured.
Eventually his gaze flicked up to her. Some of the shock left his face and was replaced with suspicion. His eyes tracked down to the dagger in her hand, then back to her face. He watched her, unblinking.
Novikke glared at him. No “thank you.” No outpouring of relief and gratitude. Just mistrust.
“Are you kidding me?” Her hand tightened around the dagger’s hilt. She wasn’t going to let him take it away from her. “I just saved your life,” she snapped.
He stiffened at the tone in her voice. He tilted his head slightly in a very Aruna-like, stern way, warning her. He nodded pointedly at the dagger—telling her to put it down. Commanding her.
It was so ridiculous that she laughed aloud. “By the gods, I’m stupid, aren’t I? I came back for you!” She gesticulated wildly in her anger. “I just risked my life to save you! And this is the thanks I get? I’m still your enemy? You’re still acting like I’ve wronged you somehow? What, do you want to tie me up again?”
He slowly drew back from her. His hand closed around his sword hilt.
Her blood went hot with indignation. “Don’t move,” she said through her teeth, brandishing the dagger. She took a step toward him. “Don’t you dare.”
He started drawing his sword.
Rage and fear flared in her veins, and she leapt on him.
She knocked him back to the ground and brought the dagger down toward his chest. He let go of the sword to catch her wrists, stopping the dagger before she could reach him.
She struggled against him, and he kept forcing her away. His arms shook, weak from fighting the shade. For a few seconds, they were in a stalemate. Then Novikke brought her knee up and jabbed him in the stomach. He gave a pained grunt, and his hold on her weakened enough for her to shake free.
He readjusted before she could bring the dagger down again. His hand shot out, grazing the blade as he did so. She had time to see blood drawn before both his hands grabbed at the hand holding the knife, immobilizing her arm. Her fist tightened on the hilt. She wasn’t going to let it go. He’d have to kill her for it.
She closed her other hand around his throat and squeezed. He grimaced, and after a few seconds of struggle, his grip on her grew weaker.
She wasn’t expecting the hard punch that came then—a blow across her face that sent her reeling.
The next thing she knew, he was flipping her over and climbing on top of her. In the jumble of movement, Novikke got the dagger within a few inches of his neck. He reached up to grab her wrist. Both of them shook with the effort of pushing against each other, Novikke trying to work the blade toward him and Aruna trying to keep it away.
She grasped for whatever her fingers could find, and she caught hold of the front of his shirt. His other hand was on her neck, but wasn’t squeezing. He didn’t hit her again. Like he was still reluctant to hurt her, even now. It was infuriating. She wanted him to try to kill her. Then she would try to kill him. Then things would be simple. Then she wouldn’t be so conflicted. That would be better than—than whatever in all the hells had been happening between them for the past week.
For a long second, their struggle became motionless. The dagger vibrated as they both pushed against it. Their faces were close enough that Aruna’s hair was grazing her cheeks. They both gasped for breath. His eyes bored into hers, and he looked more hurt than angry.
She wanted to laugh and cry and scream all at once.
She let him push the dagger a little farther away from his skin. To her surprise, he softened his grip on her in response.
“Why did the shade take my image?” she asked softly. “Why did she touch your face like that?”
He didn’t answer. She wondered if he guessed what she was asking.
She looked at him a moment longer, so close now that she could feel the heat of his skin. She tugged on his shirt, pulling him toward her. He didn’t resist.
Before she could think better of it, she leaned up and kissed him.
He didn’t react at first. He stayed perfectly still, like a cornered rabbit. But when she began to draw away, he pushed forward and kissed her back. A rush of lust and shame churned low in her stomach.
His mouth was hot and gentle and hungry. Each movement was somehow both tentative and vigorous, like he kept wanting to pull away but couldn’t.
The hand on her throat moved to her shoulder. He let go of the arm that was holding the dagger. Novikke let her arm fall, and after a moment of hesitation, she dropped the dagger.
She let go of his shirt and reached up to touch his cheek, like the shade had done. His skin was wonderfully soft, the bones of his face an artistic balance of angular and smooth. She pressed a hand to his armored chest and wished he wasn’t wearing so many clothes.
His hands were suddenly everywhere on her, caressing her waist and her hips and her breasts and her cheek as he claimed her mouth. A knee pressed between her legs, and she gave an involuntary moan.
Suddenly, everything was progressing very quickly. And suddenly, none of it felt difficult or complicated or confusing. It felt good and natural, and that was it.
Her hands searched for more bare skin, but his armor covered all of him in a thick layer of leather and cloth. She prodded, searching for a way to remove it. Locating laces at the side, she tore at them. She felt dizzy, and this time she didn’t think it was because of magic. She rolled her hips against him, and he made a sound that was somewhere between a sigh a
nd a groan.
Abruptly, as if with great willpower, he pulled back and looked down at her. Novikke expected him to look hot with desire. But he looked distraught as he searched her eyes.
It broke her concentration, and put a damper on her lusty daze, which was the exact opposite of what she wanted.
She knew she shouldn’t be doing this. She knew she’d regret it. She’d been very intentionally not thinking about any of that.
She didn’t want to stop now. She didn’t want him to think better of it. Her entire body burned with arousal. Right then, she wanted him so desperately that she didn’t care about anything else.
She fumbled with his belt while he looked at her, and after a moment, he gave in and helped her remove it. There was a flurry of movement as they both shed clothes, carelessly tossing articles of clothing aside until they were both bare.
Goosebumps formed on her skin as the chill air pushed in against her, but then Aruna banished the cold. His arms wrapped around her and lowered her to the ground.
“Verun en zhira?” he said, and the sound of his voice raised her goosebumps again. She hardly ever got to hear him speak, but when he did, it was velvet against her ears, soft and even. It was so husky with desire now that there was a slight croak to it.
His erection brushed against her stomach, and she angled her knees on either side of him.
“Keep talking,” she whispered, pulling him closer.
“Nhaava.”
He positioned himself against her. Novikke held her breath as he slowly pushed into her. She lifted her legs to wrap around his waist, and then she had very little leverage with which to control what was happening. She felt a spike of anxiety, until he bent to kiss her neck and ran a firm, gentle hand through her hair.
He murmured words she didn’t understand as he worked his hips against her.
“Oh, gods,” Novikke whispered, breathless as pleasure soaked into her through his body. Her hands rested on his back, tracing muscles that flexed as he moved.
It shouldn’t feel this good. None of this should be so good. It had no right to be. She knew perfectly well that after this, nothing would change. She would still be a prisoner and he would still be a night elf. But right then, at that moment, she could only feel positive things toward him.
She grabbed onto him as her climax rushed through her. For a brief moment, she felt none of her problems, none of the danger she was in, none of the animosity between them—only the feeling of his body against hers. For just a moment, the entire world disappeared and there was only the two of them.
Aruna gasped, his hips wrenching toward her as her thighs squeezed him. He pulled out of her, spilling himself over her stomach.
He tipped his head down, breathing hard. She was surprised when he leaned forward and cupped her cheek in one hand.
“Avkenash va chandar khova?” he asked, grinning sloppily.
She didn’t know what to say.
He blinked.
His smile faded. He leaned away from her. He looked away and started to get up. Novikke grabbed his arm. He paused, looking down at her guiltily.
She didn’t want to be dragged back to reality just yet. Just a few more minutes of this. A few more minutes of holding someone and pretending everything was all right.
After a few seconds, he gave in and stretched out on the cold ground beside her, still looking pensive. They lay side by side in silence.
She was looking down at his dark chest, at the angles in his shoulders and collarbones, at the black hair pooling around his head. She had the urge to reach out and touch him. She wanted to kiss him again. But that all seemed inappropriate now, somehow. The moment was gone.
She twitched with discomfort as the cold returned. She could feel scrapes on her back from lying against the stone. She hadn’t cared at the time, but now it hurt. There was blood smeared on both of them—from the cut on Aruna’s hand, she realized. Her cheek stung from when he’d hit her.
She gave a bitter laugh, shaking her head. “What a mess we are,” she muttered. Aruna looked over at her curiously. She got up and started dressing.
As she was shrugging on her jacket, she turned and found Aruna writing in the notebook. He was wearing a dark shirt and pants but no armor. She’d rarely seen him without the armor. The simple clothes made him look more like a normal person. Less alien.
He finished writing, but didn’t show her the page yet. Novikke raised her eyebrows at him. He glanced up at her, then tore out the page he’d been writing on, balled it up, and stuffed it in his pocket. He wrote something else, then turned the book for her to read.
“This doesn’t change anything.”
Novikke stared at him, watching his stiff expression.
“Of course not,” she sneered.
His lips twitched. He looked away, returning the book to his pocket.
Chapter 8
The next day, they arrived at their final destination.
The outpost was two or three times as large as the one they’d passed through before. A tall fence surrounded it.
As they neared the gate, Novikke stopped, her stomach twisting with fear as she looked at the dark figures moving around the outpost. Aruna gave her an impatient look. She motioned for him to give her the notebook. He sighed and handed it to her.
“Will they listen to you?” she wrote.
She could tell that he was annoyed at her for bringing it up. Because he didn’t want to think about what he knew they were going to do to her.
Things had been uncomfortable since the ruins. They’d not spoken after that. He’d avoided looking at her.
But then he nodded. He looked like he believed it, too. Novikke waited for a sense of comfort that didn’t come.
“Is this the last time we’ll see each other?” she asked.
“Most likely.”
She felt like she should say more, but what else was there to say? There was nothing more he would do for her. This was the end of the road.
He held the book for a few moments, looking as if he was going to speak again, then didn’t. He took her by the arm and guided her into the camp.
She steeled herself, already feeling the tension of Panic in her throat and chest. Things were about to get a lot worse.
Past the gate, the place was illuminated with sharp, flickering light from the fire at the center of the camp, and compared to the complete darkness outside, it felt like midday. It was the only thing Novikke found comforting about the place.
As they walked through the outpost, fewer people stared at her than at the last place they’d stopped, but those who did glared with so much hatred that she looked away rather than meet their gaze.
She inhaled a slow, shaking breath. Aruna glanced over at her and gently squeezed her arm, but said nothing.
They came to a door. He must have learned his lesson last time, because he took her inside with him instead of leaving her alone.
They went down a hallway and into a room where several people stood. They’d been talking, but they stopped and stared at Novikke when she entered.
Aruna said something. One of the others—a woman in elegant black and silver armor—waved the others off, and they left, leaving Novikke, Aruna, and the armored woman alone in the room.
The woman looked her up and down once, then turned back to Aruna, as if Novikke were hardly worth her notice.
Aruna began talking a lot more than she’d ever heard him talk. Explaining who she was and why she was here, she assumed. Novikke watched them discuss her, trying to guess what they were saying. She would have given anything to speak their language right then. The not knowing was torment.
Finally, the woman stepped forward, took her arm, and pulled her out of the room and back down the hall.
They left the building, and the woman led her away, across the outpost. And Aruna didn’t follow.
He did nothing.
An icy wave of fear went through her, striking deep at her core.
There was nothin
g shocking about any of this. It was exactly what she’d known was going to happen for days already. Why, then, did it still feel like a knife in her chest? Why was it only now that she felt genuine despair?
She could pick out his voice among the chatter behind them. She could hear him talking with someone casually. As if he’d already forgotten she existed.
She looked at the ground, unresisting as the woman guided her.
The woman brought her to a small wooden hut with a dirt floor. It was empty inside except for a few tall wooden posts driven into the ground.
Night Elves of Ardani: Book One: Captive Page 9