Page 202 of Forcing Fate

I slipped into my blanket, pulling my cloak over me and up to my chin. I sighed and studied General Rafe’s sleeping form. After a few breaths, he rolled to his back and looked at me, firelight dancing in his eye. He gave me a smirk before facing the sky and closing his eyes.

I drifted off to sleep with the biggest grin on my face.

The next morning, we woke before the sun. We ate a quick meal and packed up camp. By the time the sun’s first rays peeked over the horizon, we were mounted and ready to go.

We made our way north, Rafe urging us faster. Thunderbolt kept up with the longer legged horses easily, not even breathing hard when we would stop for small breaks.

Rafe grew more and more withdrawn, and I began to worry. I watched the others. They would look at him, frown, then avert their eyes. They seemed content to let him be the one that stressed and worried.

He sent Dane on endless scouting missions, having him trade horses with Zephath when his own mount tired. Rafe kept us in open territory, but as evening fell, he angled us toward a rocky outcropping.

We set up camp a little later, forced to eat dried rations as Dane was exhausted. He slipped under his blanket before the sun even went down, right after he filled his belly. I watched him with a frown, and my eyes darted to Rafe. He had climbed a boulder and stood on top of it, scanning the sky.

A somber blanket weighed on us all. Even Tegan didn’t spare a joke. As the sun sank, we all retired to our blankets. As I laid there listening to the sounds of the night, more than just the cold tried to chill my bones. My watch was right after Rafe’s tonight. I was determined to speak with him and, at the very least, try to offer him comfort or empathy.

It didn’t take long before I drifted into a fitful sleep filled with night terrors. Black dragons snapping at me, things I couldn’t see chasing me, headless Victyr. I fought and screamed, trying to be free of them.

I was jerked awake, my mouth smothered by a large, calloused palm. My eyes shot open to meet Rafe’s dark glare. He glanced at the others and pulled his hand off, tapping my lips.

Groggy, I nodded and rose as he stalked away from the camp. I glanced at Jam, seeing his chest rise and fall with his sleeping breaths, and wondered if he was truly asleep. What if I had woken him and now he knew I was slipping off with Rafe? What would he assume?

My teeth chattered as I pulled my cloak about me. What he thought didn’t matter. What mattered was that nothing was going to happen between us. I simply wanted to talk.

I headed in the direction Rafe had set off in and found him leaning against a boulder in a thin line of evergreens. He watched the night, alert for anything that might bespeak danger. I stopped beside him and leaned my cloak-covered shoulder against his bare one.

He heaved a sigh. “The purpose of a watch… is to watch.”

“So watch.” I shrugged, innocently staring out over the landscape.

He grunted in amusement. “It’s impossible to focus with you around,” he muttered, leaning forward to rest his corded arms against the boulder.

I stepped behind him and boldly ran my hands up his biceps and to his shoulders. He moaned and bowed his head. He wore his longsword at his side, and I took the opportunity to rub at his tense muscles.

“What is bothering you, General?” I asked quietly.

He hissed as I worked out a knot and looked up, surveying the land. “It’s closer than we thought,” he muttered.

“The Shadow?” My fingers continued kneading his shoulders. I refused to falter in the meager care I could give him.

“Perhaps. It’s a dragon, and that’s all we know for sure. It left fresh signs in the area.”

I blinked in puzzlement. “If it were a Shadow’s Hunter, would it not stay close to its master?” I questioned.

“Some can travel far, but to retain control of a dragon, they would need to be close. The connection fades over distance.” He hung his head as my hand moved up his neck, massaging the base of his skull.

He spun and grabbed my wrists, tugging me against him. He looked down at me and I recognized that fire in his eye.

“I don’t know what we’re doing here,” he rasped.

“Investigating a dragon.” I hummed as he caressed my cheek.

He smirked. “Is that what you tell yourself?”

“No,” I whispered, turning my head to nip at his fingers. “I’ve come to help my General.”

“Oh?” He trailed his thumb over my lips.

Exhilaration coursed through me. This was addictive—this feeling that he caused. The heat that flooded my body, the knowledge that I had some amount of power over this man.

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