Page 42 of Bounty Hunter

I put a hand softly on his arm. “You don’t have to be bound to me. I know we won’t ever be… like that. There should be another way.”

That muscle in his jaw clenches again, and he shakes his head. He takes the gold vial, muttering something bitterly under his breath that sounds a lot like, “special type of torture,” as he pops the lidoff.

With a gentleness that belies his anger a few moments ago, he steps closer to me, my shoulder against his upper arm, and takes my hand to turn it palm up in his larger one, the inside of my wrist facing the sky. I watch as ever so slowly he tips the vial, and a single drop clings to the rim until finally it lets go and falls to my wrist. It immediately soaks into my skin, forming a small, light-sparking circle. Before I have time to inspect it further, Ikar passes me the vial and turns his hand so his wrist is up. I cup my hand beneath his and tip the bottle, a single drop once again clings to the edge as if giving us one more moment to make sure this is what we want. I tip it a tiny bit further, and the drop falls, immediately melting into his skin the same as mine and leaving a matching sparking circle.

He takes the vial and pops the cap back on, dropping it in one of his many pockets before he once again takes my hand. We press our wrists together in a moment that is growing far too intimate for our spoken relationship status.Criminal and bounty hunter,I remind myself. The moment he secures the delicate gold chain around our wrists, it feels like the sparking circles meld together. The warmth grows between our wrists and spreads up our arms and through our bodies in a heady way, a rush of gold overwhelming my senses. Bright lights behind my eyes block me from my physical sight while our souls seem to connect in an impossible way. I feel complete. The feeling is beautiful, safe, warm. A high I didn’t know if I’d ever feel again. I soak it in for as long as it lasts. Gradually, the sparks lighten behind my eyes, and my vision clears, the warmth retracting back to our wrists. I find myself wrapped in Ikar’s free arm, pressed against his solid chest.When had that happened?We watch as the gold chain separates into two, and the ends meld together and seem to fizzle intoour skin as if they never existed. We are left with small, glimmering dots, the only visible proof of the bond.

We pull our hands apart, and I look up at Ikar and meet his eyes. His guard is down and there is something deep and intense smoldering there.

My logic tells me to tread carefully—this unguarded and somewhat new behavior from Ikar could be a result of the new bond I know nothing aboutthanks to him. But the side of me that has been fighting my feelings for him jumps at the opportunity, slamming the door in logic’s face. I only slightly lean toward him before he crosses the distance. I feel his lips a breath away, wanting. And then I hear a rustle and the quiet crack of brush nearby. We both snap out of whatever that moment almost was and stand straight, searching. I catch a tall shadow in my peripheral, but when I turn my head to get a better look, there’s nothing there. I’m beginning to wonder if something is seriously wrong with my vision. The odd shadowy shapes that keep appearing at the sides are becoming regular enough to be concerning.

“Do you see anything?” I ask.

“No. Sounded like an animal of some sort.” He leans down and grabs his pack. “We should go.” He avoids my eyes, and just like that, the moment is over. Rupi flutters to my shoulder, weaving her way through my hair and settling in for the walk back to the Shift Authority.

Chapter 27

Vera

We waste no time making our way through the odd city, stopping only once to replenish our supply of food and get something to eat before we arrive back at the Shift Authority Office. I make sure we skip the ornery cat’s place, and I’m hoping the pirate shifter’s shift has ended, but no such luck. He steps out, a blindingly white smile on his face. Being bonded to Ikar, apparently, doesn’t worry the man. He checks both our wrists.

“This istemporaryand will wear off in about six weeks.” He drops my hand. “Be out before then, or there’s a likely chance you’ll be forced to mate bond with a shifter and be stuck in that forest the rest of your lives. And most of ‘em aren’t as kind as I. Got it?”

I sure hope we aren’t in that forest for six weeks. I have dues to pay and a friend to save. I gulp.How horrible is it?He stalks toward the gate and unlocks it using a large skeleton key. It swings open on silent hinges. Ikar steps forward first, seemingly unfazed by the decrepit old bridge as he walks past the gate. He must sense my hesitation because he reaches a handback for mine and looks at me with anare you comingsort of look. I slip my hand into his strong grasp and step through the gate. It swings shut behind us and locks.

There’s this tiny part of me that instinctively wants to turn and grasp the solid iron bars of that gate and scream for someone to let me back out, but I throw water on that emotional fire and squeeze Ikar’s hand a little tighter. I keep it to myself, but I’d choose sticking with Ikar even traversing a creepy shifter forest over staying behind without him. The bridge is only wide enough for us to walk one at a time. I fully expect Ikar to continue this thing where he voluntarily goes first and leads the way, but this time he steps back and motions me forward.

“You first.”

I narrow my eyes at him, “You want me to see if it’s safe? Fine,” I say with teasing in my voice to keep the throat-tightening fear from crawling out in a wild scream, but I know he does it to make sure I get across.

All he does is give me an encouraging look with a lift of his eyebrows.

With a deep breath, I grasp both sides of the bridge. Before I take a step, Rupi takes flight, her tiny wings flapping furiously and I watch nervously as she bounces around with the gusts of wind, fighting and struggling her way across. She makes it, and now it’s my turn.

The sides are made of a thick, twisted rope that’s rough against my hands. It feels so worn and spiky that I’m worried I’ll end the crossing with rope slivers galore, but I’d rather that than fall… down there. My gaze drops to a deeply shadowed, foggy crevice. An especially forceful gust of wind blows through, violently shaking the bridge and forcibly lightening the fog for a small moment, revealing a muddy river far, far below. Then the fog recovers its density, and all I can hear is the distant rush of the water. I feel dizzy, and my hands are white from gripping so hard, and I haven’t even stepped on the bridge yet. I stretch my fingers out, then grasp it again and take a cautious step forward.

I’m three steps in, and the worn planks feel thinner the further I go. This was a horrible idea. How can a city that seems so well-kept, whose citizens apparently use this bridge often to cross to the forest named after their kind, have a bridge as neglected and worn as this? It’s absurd. The prickly rope continues to poke at my hands as I slide them across, and I wonder how they test the safety of this thing—or if they even do.

“You think they’ve got regulations for things like this?” I call over my shoulder, trying to keep my voice light, masking the fact that I’m scared out of my blazing mind.

I hear Ikar laugh a little, and it lightens my anxiety a smidge. “Doubt it.”

He mutters something I can’t hear over the wind in my ears, then steps on, and I feel the bridge bounce a little beneath me with his weight. I wait until it settles again, as much as it does with the wind blowing through it, then I step ever so carefully, one foot after another. I try to go faster, and I think I’m doing really great until I chance a look behind me to search for Ikar and the vertigo attacks. I’m left spinning and nauseous with my eyes shut, pretending I’manywhereelse. The wind picks up the further out we get, and near the middle, it feels like a hurricane. And then I slip because the holey, warped planks turn damp and slippery toward the middle, too. Don’t know how they stay wet with these kind of winds keeping them company, but they are. Strings of loose, weakened rope whip in the wind, along with my hair. The bridge creaks and sways, andI see another tiny piece of rope break. I start walking faster, but the bridge shakes so hard with another gust that when I take a step too large, I’m knocked to a knee and feel like I’m about to slide through the gaping sides.

“Hold on!” Ikar shouts. The wind blows so hard it’s difficult to even control the expression on my face, and I’m sure I look like a dog happily riding in a speeding wagon, tongue hanging out and all. But that doesn’t matter when the bridge begins to tilt.

“Both hands on one side!” he yells again. I wouldn’t be able to hear him if he didn’t. But I quickly obey, even though it’s terrifying to let go of one side for even a second. The bridge flips and sways roughly, and I scream as my arms jerk against my tightly gripped hands around the rope. Ikar and I dangle above the muddy abyss, and I freeze.

Chapter 28

Ikar

“Hand over hand,” I yell when she doesn’t move. We have a ways to go, and I don’t know how long she can hold on with this wind.

She finally starts moving, sliding her hands rather than releasing one, but I don’t care, as long as we’re making progress. We’re currently hanging from the most violently swinging portion of the bridge—its center. The sooner we move toward the other end, the better. It’s a good thing the shifter is behind a locked gate and a flipped bridge, or I’d be on my way back to finish whatever game he plays. There’ll be time for that later, after I’ve restored my kingdom. Also, this bridge will be covered at the next King’s Council.

We are three fourths of the way across when Vera stops again.

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