Page 8 of The Dead Saint

The plains beyond were as full of the dead as the city had been. Bodies were piled into burning heaps, the earth churned into a muddy, bloody soup, with any and all crops and vegetation trampled.

The siege engines that had breached the Citadel walls burned, black smoke flowing down. It moved in a strange way, thick and creeping along the ground, spreading out to blanket the earth.

The mutilated dead were everywhere.

Her stomach seized, clenching as saliva filled her mouth. Sour bile burned as it climbed up her throat. Sorcha threw her leg over the saddle and slid from the horse, folding over as she gave in and purged her stomach.

Chapter Four

The woman vomited in the road, hands on her knees, bent over and shuddering.

He watched without commenting, waiting for her to finish. It had been a long time since sights like those around them had bothered him. He’d stopped seeing carnage a long time ago—even embraced it as the Wolf.

Adrian stepped forward, not sure what he intended to do, a coil of something soft unraveling inside him. The urge surprised him as much as the death around him didn’t.

“Don’t touch me!” she hissed, jerking away and narrowly missing her vomit.

He turned to the small saddlebag and pulled a leather waterskin from it. Water sloshed inside—barely enough for a swallow—but he opened it and held it out to her.

She watched him as if he were a snake poised to attack.

“It’s not poisoned,” he said, keeping his voice neutral. “The prince wants you alive.”

She hesitated only a moment before snatching it from his hands and sniffing the contents. Keeping her eyes on him, she took a small sip, swishing it around before spitting it out. Then she swallowed what remained.

All that was left. The last of the water, and he hadn’t even considered it for himself. He’d handed it to her without a thought—an instinct. Somewhere beneath his armor and blood, past muscle and into bone, had been a ripple of pleasure when she’d taken it from his hand—an offering, a sacrifice to the beautiful defiance all over her face.

Handing it back, she kept her eyes locked on his face, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Soot and sweat smudged her face and body, the terror of the day stamped across her features.

He knew it would stay with her. And maybe she would learn to live with it. Or maybe she wouldn’t.

He nodded, putting the waterskin back in his pack, mind racing. His reaction to her surprised him—disturbing and unexpected.

She was nothing. Could be nothing. He couldn’t forget that.

“We have several miles to go,” he said, turning to her, watching her as she watched him.

She looked ready to run, ready to sprint across the fields until it was all well behind her and nothing but memory.

“Run and I’ll hunt you down.”

Her face paled, expression falling. It had been all over her, obvious for anyone to see.

“You’ll ride,” he said, gesturing to his horse. “Come here.”

“Your horse will bite me,” she said, keeping back.

Nox twisted his head to look at the woman, the whites of his eyes showing, his ears laid back. Nox might bite her. He tried to bite everyone, including the horsemen, and other horses. Adrian was the only exception.

“Get on,” Adrian said. “Or I’ll put you on.”

When she didn’t move, he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. He was done playing nice. The prince had insisted she was to be treated well—as a guest and not a prisoner. But Adrian wasn’t going to waste time with her in the middle of the road.

The woman lurched in his grasp, twisting away from Nox as he swung his head around and nipped at her.

Adrian moved between them and swung her up into the saddle in a smooth motion, keeping the horse from achieving his desire. She was small and delicate, weighing almost nothing, and gripped the saddle so tightly her knuckles turned white. The horse dwarfed her, and she made a noise as the animal sidestepped, muscles quivering.

He made a shushing sound, smoothing a hand along Nox’s neck, and the animal settled. Then he took the reins and began to walk, considering the best route to take.

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