Page 38 of Kingdom of Spirits

Her gaze tingled between his shoulder blades as he walked down the sloping, mossy ground toward the small creek. He had heard that once you choose your mate, you become incredibly sensitive to their presence. Shaking his head, he hoped he hadn’t doomed her. She should be with someone who wasn’t wrapped in a madwoman’s snare. Someone kind who laughed more than he did. She deserved joy. Not this mess. But jealous pangs hit him as he imagined such a pairing. No matter what, he wanted her for himself. Even while he hated himself for the emotion.

After washing his dirt-smeared hands and face, he did his best to wash the mud from his trousers. When he returned to their camp, he settled himself across the fire from Fara, and Tahlia took up a spot on the nearest log. She gave him a sweet smile as he stretched out on the sturdy old bedroll he always brought on missions.

“This roll smells like the disgusting sausages Titus loves,” Marius said.

Tahlia and Fara chuckled.

“Can’t wait to try one,” Tahlia said. “Do you think we will be called to attack soon?”

He knew she was attempting to help him imagine a future when they were past this experience.

“I do. Very soon.” Likely, they’d miss the first call. What would the other riders do when they realized Marius, Tahlia, and Fara were missing?

Gods, he hoped he’d see his friend Titus again and with his own mind intact and Tahlia on his arm. He drifted into musings, his thoughts floating away like sparks in the wind.

Chapter 16

Tahlia

Tahlia bolted upright on her bedroll and whipped her head toward where Marius had been sitting when she’d finally given up and fallen asleep. He was still there. Phew. She hated the idea of sleeping while he was up, but she and Fara had both been far too tired to stay awake.

“How are you feeling?” she asked Marius over Fara’s snoring.

The dawn was just over the horizon and the sky had begun to lighten.

Marius looked at the last dregs of the fire, the smoke rising around him like he’d been on fire too. “I’m fine.”

“Sure.”

He had the look of a man who’d been hit on the back of the head by something very heavy. Like someone who had memory issues from an injury.

“I am,” he insisted.

“No missing pieces from your watch? No lapses in memory?”

“Not that I can recall.”

He was hiding something. It was obvious in the way he wouldn’t look directly at her. “What’s bothering you, then? I mean, besides whatever is going on with your ability to tell me things and this whole dark adventure.”

“My hands are dirty.”

“Who cares? We are miles from anyone who might change their opinion of your tidy arse.”

“I washed them before sleeping. Now look at them.” He splayed his fingers and she walked closer to look.

Dirt lined the spaces between his large fingers and his nails held a line of mud too.

“Hmm. Well, it is muddy here. Maybe you just picked something up? Like your bedroll?” He had already packed it away apparently. “Perhaps you didn’t notice when it was full dark. Or you tried to write more in the mud when you were out of it? Anyway, I’m awake now, so if you want to return to the creek to wash up, it’s certainly fine with me.”

He turned and grabbed a parcel wrapped in waxed linen. “Eat this. You and Fara. I already had my share.”

When he lobbed the package, Tahlia caught it neatly and opened it up. A square of honeyed bread dotted with pieces of fig sat inside. Tahlia’s stomach growled.

Marius walked away, Ragewing trailing him.

“What is that?” Fara was suddenly sitting up and wide awake.

“Oh, just a little treat Marius has offered us.” Tahlia handed a corner of the bread over.