Page 107 of Of Fate So Dark

Or slowing down at all.

A grunt came from behind me. Ozias’s horse suddenly galloped him beyond me only to slow when the large man hauled on the reins.

I was far from the only one whose mount was reacting poorly to its rider. The massive chestnut-colored horse he rode tried to bolt nearly as often as my own, which was strange indeed. But it hadn’t taken long for me to see that he, like most of his companions, were unfamiliar with riding. Chances were, they’d probably never sat astride a horse before. After all, the equestrian arts likely weren’t common in Erenelle, considering most giants were so huge they would crush even the largest horse. With the exception of Dex who’d trained as a soldier and Niko who seemed able to soothe the animals with a touch, the men perched atop their horses rigidly, clutching the reins with white-knuckled fists and tensing at every change of pace as if expecting the beasts to lunge into a stampede.

It made for infuriatingly sluggish progress.

I adjusted my seat, waiting to make space for Ozias to steer his horse back to the others.

He made no such move, sitting instead like the stone that was his power, motionless but for short breaths that made his shoulders rise and fall quickly.

My eyes narrowed. He hadn’t seemed this afraid of the creature’s skittish reactions before.

Adjusting my posture and leg tension, I urged my mount speed up until I reached his side.

Ozias’s eyes were locked on the horizon. His expression was tight and his nostrils flared. Yet again, it reminded me of my shadow wolves when they sensed something in the distance.

A spasm went through his upper lip, as if it was on the verge of peeling back into a growl. But as quickly as it had come, the reaction faded. His eyes squeezed shut for a moment, and then a huff left him that sounded more like an animal than a man.

His posture eased. He opened his eyes, glancing at me and then locking his gaze on the rolling grasslands ahead, though his irritation at my proximity was like a pressure on the air, silently insisting I should go away.

I didn’t retreat, etiquette and my desire to maintain a cordial relationship with these men be damned. I was uncertain what just occurred, but it had not been my imagination that he reminded me of my wolves. No, the reason for that was becoming as plain as if he had sprouted fur in front of me.

And given the way he’d behaved around Gwyneira when the two of them returned earlier…

A growl gathered at the back of my throat.

Quickly, I swallowed the reaction down. The wilder parts of me were certain I was facing a fellow predator, but it was not for nothing that I had survived for three decades as a vampire without losing control. “What do you sense of her?” I murmured, my lips barely moving and my voice so low, anyone more than an inch away from me would struggle to hear.

Ozias’s eyes snapped to me all the same.

“It is not your gift with the earth that tells you she’s ahead,” I pressed. “You possess a mate bond to her, do you not? Because you’re at least part shifter, and you bonded her. So, what does your connection tell you? Is she injured? Has that creature harmed her?”

Rage flared in his gaze, and yes, oh yes, a hefty tinge of fear. For him to be able to keep the others in the dark this long—which I suspected he’d done quite well considering none of them were asking the kinds of questions they should if they knew about the link he and Gwyneira likely shared—he must ordinarily be meticulous about his reactions.

Thus he was truly on edge to have reacted to my words at all.

Hoofbeats accelerated toward us. I glanced back to see Dex riding closer. “What is it?” he asked. “Why’d you rush ahead?”

“Did the earth tell you something, Oz?” Clay called from behind us.

The bearded giant didn’t turn. “No.”

“What?” Niko asked, confusion in his voice. “You’ve never reacted like that if it’s nothing.”

“Horse bolted.” Ozias’s voice was tight, but he made it sound like that was the extent of it.

All without technically ever saying as much.

The men cast wary glances at each other. They trusted the bearded giant, that much was obvious. But they had also trusted Roan and now the princess was gone.

Were any of them now wondering who else might not be what they seemed?

A shriek rose in the distance.

“Fuck.” Clay twisted on his horse’s back, searching for the source of the sound.

Lars did the same. “You all see anything?”

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