Page 46 of Heir of the Autumn Queen

He nods, his eyes full of concern as he continues to hold my face in his strong hands. He kisses me with a sense of urgency I haven’t felt from him before, not seeming to care that my face is still covered in the Rovern’s blood. We press our mouths together roughly, reminding ourselves that we’re still breathing after the attempt on our lives. He pulls away and looks down at me again, relief flooding his features.

“Who would summon those things to attack us?” I ask, a sinking feeling in my stomach taking hold as I consider the possibility that my aunt knows I’m here.

“There are few with enough power or influence to do so…” Finn says, his body tense. Before he can share his theory with me, he notices me shaking and runs his hands up and down my arms.“There’s a stream a few hundred yards north. Let’s go wash off.”

I nod numbly as he leads me to the body of water, still reeling from the attack. Once at the stream, we scrub our bodies the best we can without actually getting into the water. I have a bar of soap in my bag even, and I scrub my skin to the point of rawness until I’m sure there’s not a trace of the foul stench of the Rovern’s blood left on me. I change into my spare pair of clothes by the stream while Finn does the same, then cleans our weapons. We're not exactly clean, but at least we're not covered in blood.

We walk for a few miles before my body decides to give out on me. I stumble on the road, but Finn catches me around the waist before I actually hit the ground. I look up at him, slightly embarrassed, before remembering that he’s a trained warrior with over a century of experience. The fact that I was even able to kill one of those creatures is something I should be proud of.

Without a word, Finn scoops me up into his arms and flies us the rest of the way, and we arrive in Dornwich just after dusk. We check into an inn there, which only has one room left for the night. In the past when we traveled together, we would either stay in separate rooms or in a shared room with multiple beds. This room, ironically, only has one.

The bed is big enough for two, but I’m not sure how much space his wings take up, so I might offer to sit up in the chair to give him more room. Despite the intimacy of what we did together yesterday, I still don’t know where our relationship stands.

We have dinner sent up to the room, both of us sitting in front of the fire as we eat the meat pie and split a bottle of wine that Finn purchased from gods-know-where, not even bothering with goblets. The warm fire and cozy room have created our own little cocoon of safety, separated from the outside world, and I start to relax as the wine takes hold in my veins, almost making me forget the afternoon we had with the Rovern.

“Do you miss Staghorn?” Finn asks me randomly as I finish my dinner.

“Yes,” I tell him honestly.“I miss my family, my friends. The simplicity of life there.”

“Tell me about it,” he says, the firelight reflecting off his dark eyes.

Needing some semblance of normalcy after the afternoon we had, I welcome the distraction.“It’s beautiful. The forest is brimming with life, and the people are kind. There’s no complicated politics or emotional games; everyone just says exactly what they mean. And there are definitely no Rovern.” I shiver at the memory of their huge, onyx eyes staring at me like I was a meal.

“Sounds boring," he teases, winking at me.

“For someone like you, I imagine it would be,” I fire back, smirking at him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that you don’t seem like the type that would want to settle down anytime soon.” I shrug.

“Maybe I just haven’t found the right partner yet.” His tone is sincere, unlike his usual playfulness.

“Have you had many partners?” I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.

He takes another swig from the bottle before answering me.“I had a partner once, a very long time ago.”

I always forget how old he is, but having existed for over two centuries on this earth, that could mean a number of things.“Will you tell me about her?” I try to sound casual, even as jealousy rips through me at the mention of the female who once captured his heart.

He sighs heavily and looks into the fire.“Maybe another time.”

“C’mon Finn,” I plead with him.“Please?”

He rolls his eyes but obliges me.“Her name was Yazmina. She was my best friend’s little sister.”

I lean forward in my chair, placing my chin in my hand.“Ooh, how scandalous.”

“Quite.” He smirks.“Our romance was fast and messy. We were kids, sneaking around to avoid our families finding out.”

“Your best friend’s little sister… that’s bold, even for you, Ravencrest.” I give him an impish grin.

“I was young.” He shrugs.“I thought more with my cock than with my head at that point.”

His brazen words make me blush.“So, what happened?”

“We were together in secret for months until my friend caught us together and lost his shit. He punched me so hard I blacked out.” Finn reaches up and rubs his jaw, as if he feels the pain of the blow even now.“When I came to, she was gone.”

“Gone?” I ask, my brows furrowing.

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