"Fine," Cal decided, grabbing the reins of a nearby camel. "Then let’s get moving."
The journey to the Lunaley should’ve taken just about a week—which was bad enough, considering we now had less than half a month to return to Blackwood with a chimera egg—but with the diversion to the canyons, it was going to take an extra two days.
We’d travelled nonstop, only pausing for a few bathroom breaks during the day and to sleep at night. By the time the infamous Dryroot Canyons finally came into view, I was sweaty, tired, and my thighs were freaking chaffed to hell.
I fell off my camel and sprawled out on my back in the sand. "Thank you, gods, we made it."
Everyone else dismounted a bit more gracefully.
As I lay there, I was smacked in the forehead with something wet.
"Ew." I swiped at it quickly, thinking one of the camels had spit on me, when I was hit with another drop of wetness, this time on my arm. I held it up and examined my skin. Cool, clear liquid drizzled down my flesh, looking for the life of me like... water.
Thunder rumbled softly in the distance, and when I glanced up, the sky was suddenly a light gray color rather than blue.
What the fuck?
I glanced at Ben who merely shrugged. "Guess the rainy season is here."
The wind picked up, gently tugging on my gown as I stood and spun in a circle. As far as my eyes could see, the landscape looked dreary. When the hell had that happened?
Rob and Ash had wandered over to the canyon’s edge, arms crossed, staring intently toward the bottom. Curious, I trailed after them, wishing almost immediately that I hadn’t. I’d never been so high up, not even if I climbed the highest tree in Blackwood or the tallest mountain. The canyon walls consisted of layer upon layer of different colored dirt and rocks—orange, brown, red, cream, tan. And at the bottom was a river, but it looked like nothing more than a squiggly black line drawn in the sand.
"Bonus points if you hit the river," Rob told Ash, who scoffed and shook his head.
"Bonus points if I survive."
"Oh, stop being a pussy. Just get it over with."
The wind blew a bit harder, knocking off my equilibrium and making me feel dizzy and unbalanced. Gasping, I backed away from the ledge. "Please don’t do this, Adam."
He chuckled and glanced at me over his shoulder. "I’ll be okay, Princess."
"But what if you’re not? I’m serious. Please. Don’t do it."
"He better fucking do it," Camilla complained. "So help me gods, if we went out of the way for nothing..."
Rob smirked malevolently. "Oh, he’s doing it all right." Then he turned to me and lowered his voice. "It’s the only way he can get back into the group. He has to."
"Surely there’s another way?" I begged.
But Rob shook his head. "Sorry, Jewels. A deal’s a deal." Then he patted Ash’s back and grinned. "Have a nice trip, Adam. See ya next fall."
"Ha. Ha." Asher responded flatly. He took a deep breath and started stretching out his limbs.
This was insane.
I ran over to Ben and took his shirt in my hands, whispering fervently. "Don’t let him do this, Ben. There has to be another way to add him to the group."
Ben smiled warmly and put an arm around my shoulder, leading me even further away from Camilla and the guys. "He’s already in the group, Sailor."
My brows pinched together. "What?"
He nodded. "Remember the lightning bolt that enforced the magical rules of the blood bond?"
"Yeah."
He shrugged. "That never happened with Ash. And you’ve already kissed and fucked him."
"But... how is that possible?"
"He was there for the blood bond ceremony—in sloth form—remember?"
I hesitated. "Yeah, but that bond was forged in blood. I think we would have noticed Speedy cutting his paw and—oh my gods."
Ben’s expression turned curious. "Yes?"
"Right before the ceremony, I was discussing the pros and cons of the blood bond with Speedy."
"You talked to that sloth a lot, didn’t you?" he asked with a warm smile.
"More than you ever want to know," I assured him. "But while we were talking, he fell off my bed and cracked his head on the floor. Which, in hindsight, I realize that was him trying to turn back into Ash and tell me not to make the bond... but, regardless, the point is, I had his blood on my hand."
Ben’s eyes lit up. "And when you sliced your palm, his blood mixed in with yours, and when you added your hand to the circle, his blood got included in the bond. Holy shit, that’s amazing."
"Right?" But then my excitement died down again. "No matter how you look at it, this is pointless. If Ash is already in the group and in on the bond, then there’s no reason for him to go through with this whatsoever."
"That’s not true. I think he needs to do it. To prove himself. If he doesn’t, the other guys will always feel like he doesn’t quite belong. It’ll tear us apart."
I ducked out of Ben’s grasp and shook my head. "You’re all insane."
"Finally, someone who agrees with me," Camilla huffed mockingly.
The rain came down harder, slowly soaking through my hair and the gauzy material of my gown. I had to blink away the droplets collecting on my lashes in order to even see.
Then Rob’s voice cut through the air, making me physically sick. "I’m going to count you down. Ready? Three..."
"No!" I cried, throwing both hands up to my mouth in terror.
Ash simply sucked in deep, calming breaths and honed his focus on the edge.
"Two..."
I was too scared to move, too scared to cry. I couldn’t tell if my heart was hammering nonstop or if it had stopped completely. "Please don’t!"
Dan came over and pulled me into his arms, trying to comfort me, but the embrace felt more like a restraint.
"One."
"Asher!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, watching in blood-curdling horror as he sprinted to the ledge and jumped out of sight.
Chapter 11
I tore myself from Dan’s arms and raced to the edge, dropping to my knees and sobbing as Asher fell... down... down... down...
Then he hit the ground in a puff of golden dust.
My heart splintered. Shattered. I couldn’t breathe. The pain was so intense it was almost numbing. The sobbing that overcame me was nothing short of volatile.
He was... gone. There was no way he could’ve survived that. After all this time, I’d finally gotten him back just to lose him again.
Toppling over, my face smashed gracelessly into the sand, mixing with the rain, snot, spit, and tears streaming from me like a leak in my fucking soul.
Rob took a deep, shaky breath and stormed off. "I’m going to search the astral plain."
Whatever the hell that meant. As if it even fucking mattered.
No one spoke. No one moved. The only sounds to be heard were the pattering of the raindrops in the sand and the bone-crushing wails emitting from my mouth. I couldn’t stop them, couldn’t contain them. They poured out of me like a grievous, off-key requiem.
Eventually, Camilla spoke. "Well... now that you morons are done with your stupid fucking suicide quest, we need to keep moving. We have to make it to Maltor by dark. I can promise you, you don’t want to arrive there in the morning when their high has worn off."
But I still couldn’t move, and it didn’t seem as if the Storm Princes could either. We were all lost in a spectrum of pain, from sorrow to shock, agony to numbness.
Suddenly Rob’s eyes snapped open, and he clutched at his arms as he shivered. "He’s not there."
A huge, collective sigh passed through the group as my brows furrowed, and finally some of their voices returned.
"Thank the gods," Cal muttered, running a nervous hand through his blond hair.
Sniffling, I wiped at the sandy fluids caked to my face. "What does that mean? He’s not there?"
"It means his spirit isn’t on the astral plane," Ro
b explained quickly. "He isn’t dead."
"Oh my gods," I gasped as I scrambled back over to the ledge. But I saw nothing at the bottom. No gold dust, no animal, no human. "Where is he?"
Minutes stretched by—long strokes of an invisible clock I wanted to tear right off an invisible wall. Then a black and blue butterfly slowly rose from the canyon, struggling to fly through the cascading raindrops. He had a single white dot on his ebony torso.
"Ash!" I whisper-shouted, covering my mouth with shaking fingers. "Shit. I mean, Adam."
Camilla chortled, but no one paid her any mind. "Save it, Princess. The jig is up."
Rob’s hands clapped together quickly, smashing the beautiful bug in an instant. When the magic kicked in and Ash returned to human form, Rob had him in a burly hug so tight he probably couldn’t breathe.
"Thank the fucking gods you’re okay," he growled out, burying his face in Asher’s shoulder.
Ash chuckled and hugged him back. "I take it this means my debt has been paid. We’re cool again?"
Rob held him out at arm’s length and smiled wide. "We’re cool, bro."
Dan threw an extra pair of shorts at him, and he quickly covered his nakedness. After that, we all took turns hugging him and welcoming him back to the group.
When it was my turn, he picked me up and twirled me around as the rain fell all around us. It was a magical sort of moment, one that would never fade from my memory. All five of my Storms were alive and well, and I would never take that for granted—even if we lived forever.
Camilla put a hand on her hip. "As touching as that was, we need to keep moving. We only have twelve hours to get to Maltor while it’s still dark, and I have no idea if that’s going to be enough."
Ash put me down and took my hand. I stole a glance at his brothers, making sure they were okay with our PDA, but they were all still smiling. We were just so happy that Ash had survived that we were fine with just about anything he did.
Rob glared at Camilla and pointed a finger in her pretty face. "Not a fucking word about Asher being alive, understand me? You risk his life like that, and I’ll take yours."
"You mean like you just did?" Upon seeing Rob's expression darken even further, she held up both hands and took a healthy step backward. "Relax, asshole, I wasn’t going to say anything."
"Good." His voice was hard and dark, as was the look on his face. If I were her, I’d sure as hell keep my word. Rob was hot as fuck when he was angry, but I did not want to be on the receiving end of his brutal rage.
"All right," I said brightly, trying to lighten the mood a bit, "let’s do as Camilla says and keep moving."
I had no idea how late it was when we finally saw the first glowing bonfire at the edge of Maltor, but the sky was not nearly as inky black as we’d hoped. Dawn was creeping in, lightening the clouds just enough to be noticeable on the eastern side of the horizon. In other words, we’d only just arrived, and we were already running out of time.
Camilla tightened the scarf around her face, leaving only enough room for her eyes to peek out. "I’ll do my best to gather supplies as quickly as possible. Make sure the camels are fed and watered while I’m gone. I’ll meet you at the northern edge of town, near the clock tower."
She started to leave, then paused, spinning back around.
"Oh, and Storms? Try to stay out of trouble. I heard what my father said. No magic. I expect you to obey his commands while you’re here."
Ben bowed his head. "And so we shall."
She disappeared down a side street, and I glanced at the group through a drizzle of rain.
Rob nudged Dan as soon as Camilla was out of sight. "If we get into any fights, we’ll just have to kick some ass the old-fashioned way."
Dan chuckled darkly. "I haven’t gotten into a fight in ages. It almost sounds fun."
Cal sighed and held up both hands. "No. No fights if we can help it. We’re supposed to be laying low. Maltor is the most dangerous place around."
"Way to be a wet blanket, Calvin," Rob muttered.
He sighed once more. "Trust me, I hate to be the responsible one all the damn time, but somebody has to be."
Ben grabbed the reins of two camels and cocked his head to the side. "Come on. Let’s get these beasts watered. If they’re anything like me, they’re parched. Plus, the well is going to be a hot spot as soon as the sun rises, and we do not want to be vying for water against the locals. We need to remain inconspicuous."
Right. Inconspicuous. Easier said than done when most of us had skin as white as moonlight and all of us had a fucking full-grown camel trailing behind us. Blending in and keeping out of trouble sounded like a physical impossibility.
"We’ll just stick to the outskirts of town," Ben continued, leading the way. "Hopefully we’ll avoid any... trouble."
But his words trailed off as a gang of Maltorians cut off our path. They were dressed in harem pants, as most Eristani men seemed to, and in the same shirtless style. They carried long, curved blades and wore overconfident smiles. I got the feeling they were a seriously competent group of thugs, not often losing a fight. The dusky air was rank with the scent of unwashed flesh, and despite the slow drizzle of rain, it was already getting hot.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" the leader of the gang said, scratching his stubbled chin with the edge of his blade. "Tourists, so early in the morning? It’s our lucky day, boys."
The boys chuckled from behind him, setting the hairs of my arms on end. Shit. There had to have been at least fifteen of them and only six of us. Without magic on our side, I didn’t like our odds.
"You don’t want to do this," Cal assured them calmly, as if we weren’t about to get our asses handed to us. "You’re looking at the Princes and Princess of Blackwood Kingdom. Attacking us will only result in your death."
The leader chuckled, revealing a hole where one of his front teeth should have been. "Royal tourists. And without any guards. Looks like the best catch we’ve had all week."
Rob turned around, daring to give the thugs his back, and he pointed to me. "Take the camels and get out of here."
I stood firm. I might not have had much training, but Taron and Tamara had taught me some shit. And I had a weapon strapped to my waist and my thigh thanks to Ben, so I wasn’t entirely helpless. I didn’t necessarily want to fight, but if the guys were going to risk their lives to protect us, then I needed to pull my weight too.
I reached down and unsheathed my sword, holding it nervously in front of me.
Rob glared at my defiance, and Ash seized my wrist. "I don’t think so, Sweets."
But I yanked it right out of his hold. "You didn’t listen to me when I begged you not to jump off that cliff, so I’m sure as fuck not going to listen to you now."
"Oh! Burned by our sexy fire girl!" Dan announced through a shit-eating grin.
"Peach, I think Rob and Ash are right. You need to—"
"Zip it, Cal," I snapped, gripping my sword even tighter. "You made me sit out the last fight, and I hated it. You’re not going to make me miss this one."
"Double burn!" Dan declared, bending over in laughter.
I turned to Ben, raising a brow. "You said earlier that you’d let me fight whoever I wanted as long as it wasn’t you guys. Were you serious?"
He blinked, and his brown eyes went wide. "I mean... yeah, as long as you’re sure."
I turned to Dan. "And you?"
"I got your back, Sexy Lexi. Always. And usually your front too." He winked, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
The lead thug’s brows were furrowed as he watched our encounter like an unwilling hostage. "Are you through? Can we get to the actual fighting now?"
"You bet we can," Rob growled as he launched at them.
Soon, chaos broke out. We quickly became a writhing mess of swinging arms and slicing blades, ducking here, jabbing there. Surprisingly, I wasn’t even scared. There was no time for fear to infiltrate my system, not with pure adrenaline pumping through my veins.
I reared back and sliced down in front of me, cutting into the skin of the nearest thug’s shoulder. He didn’t scream, as I would have; he simply gritted his teeth and came at me like a hungry bear. He didn’t hold his knife like I held mine. He gripped the handle and jabbed it forward, nearly impaling me through the stomach. Luckily, I hopped backwards at the last second.
I studied my fingers on the hilt and realized I must’ve been holding my weapon incorrectly. I tried to adjust my grip, but the blade just felt all sorts of wrong in my hand.
My moment of distraction gave the thug another chance to attack. He jabbed at me again, this time slicing through the shimmery fabric of my gown and drawing a thin line of blood from the skin of my stomach. It stung, but it wasn’t unbearable, thank the gods.
A moment later, that man’s head rolled right off his shoulders and the rest of his body crumpled to the ground, revealing Rob right behind him.
"You okay, Jewels?" he asked, staring darkly at the dick who’d cut me.
I nodded, eyeing the decapitated guy a little nauseously.
Rob quickly grabbed the back of my head and pulled my forehead to his lips. "Be careful."
Then he found another thug and got back to kicking ass.
He’d let me keep my dignity by allowing me to fight, then he’d protected me when I didn’t even realize he was looking, and now he was once again allowing me to have my freedom. I knew we were in the middle of a fight, but I couldn’t help falling a little further in love with him.
"Your boyfriend was right," another oily thug taunted, drawing my attention. "You should have run away when you had the chance."
"Which boyfriend was that again?" I asked, trying to keep him from concentrating too hard. "I have five."
He glanced around to where the guys were battling it out with the rest of the thugs. The odds didn’t look bad anymore, but I still wouldn’t call them good. We seemed to have about a fifty-fifty chance at winning or losing.
"A foreign whore. Maybe I should get in on that action, eh?"
"Sorry. My schedule is full."
Stormy Nights (Storms of Blackwood Book 2) Page 10