The first time she'd ever seen one with her own two eyes.
Da'Vir was the green dragon, and said to be the largest of her siblings, though she was too far off to make out any details. Still, just watching the dragon fly so gracefully through the sky while Dalris held her was relaxing—and quite wondrous.
“She's beautiful,” Jada whispered, finding it harder and harder to keep her eyes open, particularly once Da'Vir disappeared over the trees.
“Have you ever met a Great?” Dalris asked.
“No,” she murmured, already falling asleep.
“I'll take you if you'd like.”
She cuddled closer to his warmth, wanting to tell him that she would like that, but wasn't certain if the words came out. Instead, Jada fell asleep, and didn't awaken until after the sun was up, still next to Dalris with the lingering scent of smoke from their campfire hanging in the air.
Slowly sitting forward, she rubbed her eyes and stretched with memories of the previous night quickly coming to mind. It was strange to feel a blush heating her cheeks in response, but the sensation only intensified when she looked back at Dalris.
Still sound asleep against the pallet with a thick arm behind his head, he was just as shirtless as the night before, his pants still bunched around his muscular thighs, giving her a very healthy glimpse of the male calling her his mate—and Jada shuddered. If this draconian was truly forbidden, then he had the most sinful body of any man she'd ever laid eyes on, her blood heating at the mere sight of him.
And she didn't feel one bit ashamed.
On The Cutlass, she'd experienced a similar lack of guilt, and Jada honestly couldn't say she missed it. Of course, she was still concerned about what the future might hold for their possible union, but as for last night's encounter, she was perfectly at peace.
Still, for as much as Jada would've liked to reflect on their intimacies and stare at the impossibly sexy draconian all day, moving on was even more appealing. If their journey went smoothly, they could reach the ruin in mere hours, and she was ready to get started.
But, as she reached over to wake Dalris, he suddenly flinched, letting a growl that was accompanied by a harsh scowl.
“Dalris?”
Gently shaking his shoulder, his azure eyes cracked open easily enough, expression softening a great deal when he spied her face.
But his previous expression had her too curious not to ask, “Were you dreaming? You seemed angry about something.”
He sat forward, lips parted to respond, but his vision suddenly dipped to her breasts in obvious distraction—if his stare wasn't indication enough, his cock went half mast.
In turn, her nipples hardened under his lustful gaze, causing her to groan in vexation as she tugged her long hair and braids over her shoulders to hide them, then asked, “Now will you answer me?”
A devious smirk creased his mouth. “It was a dream, it was just unpleasant.”
With that said, he sat forward and grabbed her pants to hand over, giving her the impression he wasn't going to explain.
So she asked, “What was it?”
“Not what I wanted to dream about after last night.”
She couldn't imagine so, urging, “And?”
Dalris frowned as if reluctant to answer, looking around for the rest of their clothing before grabbing his vest to pull on without a word. Such hesitation suggested the dream was personal, but he finally explained while rummaging through her pack for something to eat.
“In Terra, I'm the one who decides which of my siblings takes which assignment, and I have to know who'd be the most likely to complete a particular task. But they've gone missing on occasion, or we receive word they might've been killed, and sometimes I dream about jobs gone wrong.”
She could easily see how that would weigh heavily, asking curiously, “Was this one about a specific job?”
He nodded, handing her a ration of ham with a look suggesting the topic had soured his mood considerably. “It was about the time my youngest brother disappeared for two years, easily the worst of all.”
Jada's eyes widened. “Two years? What happened?”
Dalris nearly growled his response. “He was taken captive after an ambush, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't locate him. It was Isaac who finally found and freed him with the help of a sorceress, but he wasn't quite the same brother I remembered.”
Jada ignored her food in favor of listening to the story, and judging by his tone, she got the distinct feeling Dalris blamed himself for his brother's trauma.
It also seemed to make him angry because his movements were jerky as he searched his pack for a tie to secure his hair in a ponytail. So, the moment he had one in hand, she snatched it, then moved behind him.
Dalris gave her a questioning look, but she didn't explain, and merely started the process of separating his hair into three sections for braiding.
Once he realized her intent, he sat still without protest, and she commenced while pointing out, “You blame yourself, don't you?”
“Of course I do. I was the one who sent Ulric out, and until recently, there's been friction between us.”
Jada paused her braiding to ask, “Ulric?”
“Yes, why?”
“I remember him from Antarctica, and he didn't seem to dislike you there.”
“Because that was a job, the first he'd chosen to work with me on in fifty years,” Dalris returned. “Otherwise, he usually avoided me.”
Shaking her head as if he could see it, she countered, “That's not what I mean. I overheard Robi telling him how his decision to help had pleased you, and he replied that it felt good working with you again and he wished he could do it more often, but it was like he had some kind of weird performance anxiety.”
In response to her comment, Dalris' head tilted forward. But whatever he thought of his brother's sentiment remained a mystery as he stated, “I've failed with you, too.”
“How?” Jada asked quickly.
“Last night, you could've been killed after I took that fall. Also, when we first arrived in Ithelyon, I allowed myself to be distracted, and Menlor ambushed us.”
Now finished with his braid, Jada moved around him so she could hold his gaze while stating emphatically, “That wasn't your fault. Menlor found the sphere, and it would've been a lot harder to escape him if you weren't there. As for last night, don't fool yourself. That wasn't the first giant I'd ever fought, and I could blame myself just as easily for allowing you to take that fall.”
Dalris pursed his lips as if he knew she was right, but didn't want to accept it. “I should've been able to—”
“Nope,” she interjected, slapping her fingers over his mouth. “What is it they say in Terra? Coulda, shoulda, woulda, whatever. Let's just be glad we're both well, and move on, okay?”
Dalris grumbled, but he didn't argue, taking her hand to kiss her fingertips before removing it with a request.
“Very well. I'll let it go if you accept my apology. And let me kiss you.”
Grinning at his persistence, Jada nodded. “Okay, I accept your apology for doing absolutely nothing wrong.”
He grumbled at her phrasing, but she ignored it in favor of giving him a quick kiss, then put some distance between them, remarking, “That's good enough.”
“Oh?” he started, adding smoothly, “You don't want to sit in my lap? Give me a better taste?”
Jada muttered under her breath. The thought of sitting in his lap and kissing him senseless was irritatingly tempting, but she had a good reason to resist, announcing, “Not today. We're only a few hours from a place I've waited nearly thirty years to visit, and I'm not allowing any distractions.”
Rolling up her pallet to store with her pack, she looked up and noticed a smile on his lips that said he didn't mind, and even admired her determination. He must've wanted to get moving as well because he wasted no time getting his own pallet stored away and double checked their supplies.
Yet, as she was strapping
her swords to her back, Dalris got her attention with a serious inquiry.
“Jada, before we go, tell me the truth. The dream you had last night means you've started bonding with me, doesn't it?”
Groaning, she stood and muttered, “You had to ask that, didn't you?”
“I'm not taking it as confirmation of anything if that's what you mean.”
Slinging her pack over her shoulders, she turned to face him with a shrug. “It's a sign that bonding has started, yes. But I don't know how far it will go.”
Curiously perplexed, he asked, “What do you mean?”
As Dalris hefted his own pack up, Jada looked to the side in thought, qualifying, “Sometimes the bond starts, but doesn't form completely, like thinking you're falling in love with someone, but later realizing you never really felt it.”
At that, they started walking, and Dalris looked thoughtfully intrigued. “Then you'll keep having the dreams until you know for certain?”
“Basically,” she answered vaguely, unwilling to admit the dreams would probably stop if they had sex—or at least ease up. The timing just wasn't right for one thing, and she still wasn't certain how far she wanted to go with this.
Yet she got the feeling they may have already passed the point of no return.
Mentioning to Dalris the way people sometimes believed they were falling in love had reminded her of Menlor. For a time, she thought he was the one, and she'd even had a few dreams while they were together.
But what she felt back then was nothing compared to the raw emotion her heart was swamped with now, and it was all centered around Dalris.
Bonding or not, she had feelings for him. The fear she'd experienced last night after his fall was a prime example, and her reaction to his guilt was another. She hated the notion that he blamed himself for so much, and wondered just how often he had the chance to express those burdens, or if anyone in his family even knew of them.
He'd been so reluctant to talk about it that she had to question it, deciding then and there that if they were mated, she'd make certain he always had someone to talk to.
Yet that was a ways off, and for now, she focused on their journey, unable to suppress a swell of excitement every time she thought about just how close she was to a significant milestone in her life. It didn't matter if this ruin turned out to be Rinora's temple, or just a shrine as Dalris postulated. The fact that they were about to open the doors to a place that hadn't received visitors in nearly two millennia was historic in itself.
Thankfully, their trip was peaceful as well—but the further they went, the stronger Jada's instincts became, until they finally reached the swamp where every sense she possessed was screaming the same thing.
They were being followed.
CHAPTER 27
Though their trip to the swamp was uneventful, Dalris knew they weren't alone.
Ever since departing the glen, his instincts had been sounding warnings, and despite the fact that he hadn't spotted a single soul nearby, he wasn't ignoring his intuition. A good hunter knew how to stay hidden until they wanted to be seen, and whoever was tailing them now was obviously an expert.
Of course, Menlor certainly qualified as a suspect. Dalris had no idea how the tracker could've found them after leaving The Cutlass, but he didn't underestimate the elf's abilities.
Yet he wasn't the only possibility; there was also a chance that they were being followed by trolls.
Typically, trolls were dangerous, nocturnal creatures that liked to conduct their attacks in a violent manner and rarely bothered with stealth. But sometimes, they stalked their victims with the intentions of frightening them—particularly if that victim happened to be an elf.
Why? Because trolls used to be elves.
Dalris wasn't clear on what happened to make them so twisted in both demeanor and looks, but the reasons didn't matter. If any of the disgusting creatures were following them now with the intent on causing Jada harm, he'd make certain each paid with their life.
With the lethal thoughts in mind, the pairing traversed the swamp as silently as possible—a difficult task on such soggy ground. Making it even more arduous was a low-lying fog obscuring their steps and impeding their progress.
But as far as looks went, the swamp was actually a nice view in a mystical sense. Around them stood several floating trees, named such because their thick, sturdy roots held their trunks aloft above the soil, creating hollows at the base.
Some of those hollows were big enough to pass through, though Jada and Dalris avoided doing so since predators were known to lay in wait beneath the trunks. Yet they did stick as close to the trees as possible if only because the ground was less soggy at their roots.
But for as helpful as it was, the couple eventually reached a shallow waterway possessing no visible means of crossing without entering it.
Even worse? It smelled like a waste dump.
Jada cringed in response to the odor, and stopped at the shore. If Dalris didn't know her better, he'd assume she was just reluctant to wade through a cesspool—the particles of dirt, muck, and tiny, wiggling insects floating by wasn't exactly appealing.
But he knew she realized they were being followed, and didn't want to make so much noise by sloshing through the pool, proving it by asking softly, “Do you see any other way across?”
“No, not from here.”
He looked down to see her nodding as if she'd come to the same conclusion. But it also seemed that Jada had a plan because the move she made next contradicted her statement entirely.
“It's okay,” she started on a normal tone of voice. “The water's too shallow to be dangerous, so let's just get through this mess as quickly as possible.”
With that said, Jada took his hand and quietly backed away from the water's edge rather than moving into it. In the process, two copies were left in the spot where they'd once stood, one of Jada, and the other of himself.
The sight was surprising—Dalris hadn't known the duplication rune could copy other people, and wondered if that was the reason she'd taken his hand. But whatever the case, she ducked by the large roots of a nearby tree to stay out of sight as their doppelgangers moved ahead into the water.
Watching them go, he quietly asked, “How long will those copies last?”
“Long enough to be misleading, so come on, let's find another way across.”
With a nod, Dalris checked beneath the upraised roots of the tree they'd hid behind, and once he'd established that it was safe, he led Jada beneath it to head west over relatively dry land.
As they went, the sound of their doppelgangers sloshing through the swamp in the distance was easy to detect. Hopefully, by the time their stalkers learned the copies were just phantoms, they'd have a hard time doubling back to locate their true targets—and as luck had it, the couple found a large, fallen tree trunk that allowed them to cross the water without making much sound.
One by one, they climbed across, and Jada checked her compass before pointing toward an incline ahead, mentioning, “Papa's tome says the entryway is at the top of a western hill located between a ring of floating trees.”
Nodding, Dalris took Jada's hand and started moving up the incline, hoping they were close enough to slip inside this place undetected, particularly since the distant sounds of their clones had faded after crossing the waterway.
The silence made it difficult to tell if they were still going, and he didn't want to lead any enemies to this ruin if possible.
But they made it to the top of the incline in quick time, and ahead was an area overgrown with weeds and vines. There were no visible signs of any ruins, or even life for that matter, though the fog made it harder to take in details without a closer inspection.
Yet Jada suddenly gasped, probably because she'd noticed the same thing he just had—the trees were forming a ring around a specific spot.
As they approached the space, she pointed it out, mentioning, “It's going to be hard to locate the entrance in all this f
og and overgrowth.”
“True, but—,” Dalris stopped after taking another step toward the center of the ring where his foot landed on what felt like solid ground rather than soggy dirt.
Looking down, he tested his theory by rocking against it, and when the surface didn't budge, he stated, “Jada, I think I've found something.”
The elf quickly joined him, and as soon as her foot hit the hard surface, she gasped in surprise.
“Oh, this feels like a structure.”
Leaning down, she started clearing the overgrowth and dirt away to find what looked like chiseled rock—certainly not a natural formation in the middle of a swamp.
Dalris joined her, and they eventually uncovered ornate carvings in the slab, as if someone had purposefully decorated the stone.
They were definitely close, and he couldn't help but smile at the enthusiastic way Jada was clearing out the vegetation until she suddenly announced, “Dalris, look! It's a door!”
Turning for a glimpse of the area where she was working, he did indeed notice a crease around the edge of what appeared to be a circular platform in the ground. After a few more moments passed, they both stood, having cleared enough away for a better look, and whatever this doorway led to, the fifteen foot circumference suggested it was at least of a moderate size.
But this was only half of what they needed, and the other half was going to be the difficult part—finding the lock.
Jada had never been so excitedly frustrated in her entire life. They'd just uncovered the doorway into the ruin, and she wanted to enter it so badly she almost couldn't think straight.
But where was the lock?
She tried to suppress her emotions long enough to consider everything she'd read in Morwin's tome so far, but couldn't recall a single passage revealing the location of such a device. Still, she hadn't quite finished reading it yet, so had he mentioned it at the end of the book?
Either way, Dalris was thankfully more levelheaded in that moment, suggesting, “I doubt someone would put the lock on top of the door, otherwise they'd fall in when it opened. So let's check around the edges of the platform.”
Fated Fortunes Page 21