Page 81 of Renegade Queen
As the river came into view, the wildlings started to slow their pace. We’d spent so long-running that I’d forgotten what it was like to move from one place to another at any other kind of speed. But we had to have cut at least a day out of our journey, and hopefully, that would give us the chance to put some much-needed distance between us and our enemies.
I wished they could take us all the way to the portal to get the hell out of this place, but I knew they couldn’t stray far from the forest that bore their name. It was the source of their power, and Fizzle had already explained how straying too far would have them dissolve into nothing but a pile of leaves.
“Thank you.” Alyssa stroked the muzzle of her wildling again, and it did that strange bow before turning and disappearing back into the trees.
I didn’t hesitate to stride to her side and pull her into my arms.
The river waters raged behind us and I could feel the damp spray of the water coat my cheeks as I clung to her all the tighter. Definitely not because I was dreading crossing that bridge again. Nope. I was totally okay with getting onto that rickety bridge that had definitely not been made to carry someone of my weight.
That wasn’t what I should be thinking about right now, though.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, tipping her head back, so I could look into her eyes.
Her blonde hair fell from her shoulders as she stared up at me with her beautiful eyes. I could see the sadness lingering in her gaze.
“No, but… Damon,” she started, her breath hitched at the mention of his name, her eyes moving to where the others stood quietly arguing behind us. “He’s with Arik,” she finally added.
“We can try again. Just because you couldn’t reach him this time doesn’t mean we can’t try something different. If we can get more information about the layout and the guard movements…”
“No, Tank. That’s not what I meant,” she interrupted. “Damon is… he tried to kill me. He stabbed Dean. He’s working with Arik.”
All I heard was that he’d tried to kill her, and the bear was there, flooding my mind. All I could hear was his roar of rage, and my body burned with the need to shift. To run back to that palace and tear apart any unfortunate soul that crossed my path.
She went there to save him, and he repaid her by trying to take her life. Now I wanted to break him out of there for entirely different reasons. He touched what was mine, and I’d make him pay.
Her soft hands cupping my cheeks brought my mind back to the present, and my eyes focused on her.
“Arik was waiting for us; he knew we were coming for Damon,” she told me. “He planned this.”
“If he knew we were coming for the human, we need to pull back to the portal. Leave Nymeria until we can come back stronger and more prepared. If we’re taking on an army, we need one of our own.”
It was the only option that made sense now. If we needed a force, then we’d find one. Arik had tormented this world for long enough, but his biggest mistake was targeting Alyssa. It was a mistake he’d never forget.
“We need to go back,” Ryder screamed.“You told me he was gone; he could have survived.”
“He did,” Alyssa cut in, and all the other men sagged in relief. “No one died in the collapse; I was able to just pull down the ceiling over the part of the cell we were in. It would have seemed more likely that we were the ones caught in the collapse.”
“That would explain why they didn’t immediately pursue us,” Maddox mumbled as we all turned to look the way we’d come.
Personally, I was relieved to see that The Endless weren’t anywhere behind us, at least for now. I didn’t much enjoy the feeling of being hunted.
I pulled her closer, sinking into the relief of having her in my arms to tame the raging bear inside.
Ryder was seething as he looked between the other two men. I couldn’t entirely fault him for it. They’d made him believe that Damon was dead, and even if I intended to cut him down the moment I saw him, it had been a dick move to pull on someone he loved.
“So we go back then,” Ryder reiterated.
“No.” Dean’s hand cut through the air as he silenced any argument with just one word. He looked like he was seconds away from passing out. “Damon has made his choice, and it wasn’t us. I’m not saying he’s lost to us. I’m hoping like fuck that there’s some reason behind this that has to make sense. But for now, running back in there does nothing but get one, or all of us, killed. We need to stop making stupid decisions because we’re acting with our hearts and not our heads.”
It wasn’t what I would have expected him to say. I’d have assumed it would be more shut up and listen than a reasoned explanation. Even more surprising was that the others listened and didn’t try to argue.
With a grunt, Dean’s legs finally gave out from under him, and he sagged to the ground. “If we’ve stopped fucking about for now, I might need a band aid or something.” And then his eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out.
Alyssa darted forward, dropping to her knees as she ripped open his shirt, rolling Dean onto his side to get a look at the deep wound there.
Fuck, I had no idea how he’d made it this far without receiving treatment. Blood oozed down his side, but I had a feeling that was more to do with blood loss than anything else.
“We need to pack this and get him somewhere safe,” Ryder told Alyssa, pulling supplies from his pack.