Page 94 of His Darkest Desire
Shade drifted a little closer, their core darker than usual. “These ones scouted ceaselessly during your recovery, magus. If aught else is to be found, it is beyond this one’s perception.”
“But these ones apologize,” Echo said, their ghostfire also dwindling. “Had these ones been vigilant enough, naught would have been missed. You would have been spared your wounds, your suffering.”
Vex frowned, studying the wisps. “None of this is any fault of yours. Indeed, your actions have spared me considerable suffering. Kinsley is safe. Naught else matters. You’ve done more than I could have asked of you, and yet…I must ask more still.”
“Anything, magus,” said Echo. “These ones are simply glad you have awoken.”
Vex smiled, but the expression quickly faded. “One of you remain with Kinsley. Watch over her in my absence. Should she rise before my return, inform me immediately. The others, with me.”
Shade tilted their fiery head. “Where are you going?”
“Firstly, to the kitchen. Then into the woods to ensure we’ve no other unexpected visitors.”
Echo’s ghostfire flared. “In your state, magus, is that—”
“It can be delayed no longer,” Vex said firmly. “I assure you that all due caution shall be exercised, but I must know that we are safe.”
That she is safe.
“Yes, magus,” said Echo.
Shade floated to Echo, touching their companion with a tendril of ghostfire. “Come, Echo. These two shall accompany the magus.”
Flare sketched a small salute. “This one shall watch.”
“Thank you.” Vex bowed his head before walking to the kitchen, where he drank deeply of cool, fresh water and ate the first food he could find—a few pieces of fruit and a chunk of bread that was only just beginning to harden.
When he stepped outside, the forest was peaceful beneath the shroud of night. He wrapped himself and the wisps in an invisibility illusion and took wing. Air rushed by as he swept along the ley lines, seeking any signs of more barghests. When he was satisfied that there were none, he laid rudimentary wards along the ley lines that would alert him should they be crossed.
The sky was cloudy, but the moon occasionally broke through, casting silver beams down to the earth. It felt good on his wings, which all too well recalled the sting of the sun. Yet the moon’s caress, however comforting, was not what he craved. He wanted his moonlight.
He wanted his mate.
Vex landed when something out of place caught his attention. A blanket, crumpled on the forest floor, and a clear box filled with colorful supplies nearby. This was where Kinsley had been that day. Where the barghest had attacked her.
He clenched a fist, pressing his claws into his palms, as he crouched. He spread the blanket out, and his expression twisted into a scowl. The blanket was damp and muddy, but the dark stain upon it was unmistakable. He would’ve known it by the smell even if it had been further diluted by the elements.
Human blood. Kinsley’s blood.
Images threatened to assault his mind—the metal carriage, broken glass, crimson glistening upon Kinsley’s too-pale skin.
“She was harmed,” Vex growled, clutching the blanket tightly enough to tear the fabric with his claws.
“She was not,” Echo replied hastily.
Vex glared at the wisp and held the bloody blanket up to their light.
“It is natural for humans,” said Shade. “Kinsley said it is part of the reproductive cycle.”
“The reproductive cycle…” Vex blinked and stared at the stained cloth. Was this a sign, then? A sign that she was ready to receive his seed?
That she was ready to receive him?
Flames stirred in his blood again, and he clamped his jaw against the surge of desire that welled up from his core. He lowered the blanket, drew in a steadying breath, and picked up her box.
The material—plastic, she’d called it—was spattered with mud and detritus after a week in the woods. He huffed through his nostrils as his desire shifted toward anger. If her belongings had been ruined, he would…
I’ll what? Find a means to restore the barghest’s life that I may kill it again?