Page 61 of The Soul of the Dragon

“But as usual, she has gone missing when we need her.”

“That’s not exactly fair. She’s helped us plenty. Maybe if we wait here for her she will show up like she said.”

I had my doubts about the little brat, but what choice did we have. We needed a plan before we returned to the Faldikar realm. We both were in need of rest and some real food, and we had another pressure issue that wasn’t going to give us any peace.

“How far is that village? We need food.”

“An hour’s walk maybe?”

“Good. That means I can get us there in about five minutes.”

She backed away, lifting her hands. “Uh huh. No way. I’m not doing that again. If you’re in a hurry, I can stay here and wait for you.”

I frowned and narrowed my eyes. “No way in hell am I leaving you unprotected.”

“I’m fine to handle myself here. No one is coming after me in this realm.”

Yeah, until the wrong person caught her scent. Since I didn’t have a handy checklist of creatures that resided in this realm, I would be taking no chances.

“Not happening, Princess. You and I are sticking together like glue from here on out.”

ChapterTwenty-Four

Kitra

By the time we reached the closest village, I was beginning to regret not letting Isaac save us the trip. Despite traveling in the dark of night, the heat in this realm had taken its toll. I forgot how different the climate was on this side of the portal. My skin itched, and I was desperate for something to cool me down.

When the sun came up the next morning, we were both going to melt.

“We might have to find a place to camp for the night. From what I remember this village has no inn. It’s too small.”

His face scrunched up like he thought I was crazy. “Surely there’s a pub with a room or two. Even the smallest village has need for such a place.”

Since it had been many years,I wasn’t going to argue. “I guess anything is possible. It has been a long time since I’ve visited.”

“None of that will be necessary.”

I jumped and whirled at the sound of Ensley’s voice. “Are you kidding me?”

Isaac laughed. Or at least that’s what I guessed that rumble from his chest meant. He wasn’t smiling so I couldn’t be sure.

“What?” she asked.

“I’m starting to understand why Isaac is so annoyed with you. Why do you keep disappearing and reappearing? What is your deal? And why do you have to sneak up on us? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “If you don’t think you need my help, I could always leave.”

I stared at her for a few more seconds before I ultimately sighed and shook my head in defeat. This heat was making me behave irrationally. “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. It’s just odd how you appear and disappear. It’s unbalancing.”

“It’s fucking annoying,” Isaac said. “You don’t have to sugarcoat it.”

“You are a brute. It’s no wonder you keep getting poison darts to your ass,” she fired back at him. “The imps are right to do whatever it takes to keep you away from them.”

“Anyways,” I interrupted before this dissolved into her getting mad and disappearing again. I had a feeling we were going to need her when it came to getting back into the palace without getting caught. “Why would we not need to find a place to rest? We’re both exhausted, and if we’re going to cross back through the portal tomorrow, we need to be ready for whatever.”

She was already shaking her head, and I waited with bated breath to find out what the problem was.

“You can’t go back tomorrow. It’s too soon. You need to stay here and hide for a few days.”

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