Page 51 of Power of Draken

“Aye.” He offers me his canteen, his attention still on the mountain. Crags and crevices scar the cliff we are scaling and promise bone-shattering ends to anyone who dares disrespect them.

I make the error of looking down and instantly regret it. The sheer drop seems to pull at me, making my head spin. I press myself back against the solid stone behind me, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“You had a choice of which waypoints our squad was assigned, and the ones we now have the personal pleasure of visiting?” I clarify, trying hardto keep the tremble out of my voice and focus on the conversation.

“Aye. One of the few privileges of being in charge.”

“Then for the love of gods, did you purposely pick the ones most likely to kill us, or is this a happy coincidence?”

Kyrian turns back toward me, genuine confusion on his too beautiful face. “Of course I picked these perils on purpose,” he says as if the answer is obvious. “I do know how to read a map. Why would you think otherwise?”

“Because for a moment there I thought you were sane,” I press the back of my head against the stone rising at my back. “My mistake.”

Kyrian tisks and checks the makeshift harness he’s made for me from the rope. “I chose to pit us against nature to minimize the chances of pitting us against enraged civilians. Unless you were looking forward to killing the very people you were running a secret clinic to help?”

Oh.

I’m still mulling over Kyrian’s foresight when we crest a final ridge and emerge onto a small plateau nestled amongst the craggy peaks. And there, perched on a boulder at the far edge of the summit is the damn metal box we’ve just risked our lives to reach. I hope the thing appreciates our effort.

The rope between us pulls taut as Kyrian strides forward, his long legs eating up the distance while I stumble after him shakily, my muscles burning from the grueling climb.

“Can you wait -” my words die in my throat as I finally raise my head high enough to take in what Kyrian has already marked. It’s not just the box that’s waiting for us here, it’s also Logan and Kai.

And they look anything but at ease.

Chapter 25

Rowan

“There you two are,” Kai's ice blue eyes sweep over us like glacial shards. He is dressed as he always is, in a black uniform with knives sheathed all along his lithe body, the dust and grime of the outdoors somehow making him look even more primal and attractive than usual. A few paces from him, Logan stands with his hands in his pockets, his forever unruly raven hair whipping in the wind. He won’t meet my gaze.

“Ainsley, are you alright?” Kai asks curtly. Unlike Logan, he is surveying every inch of me with uncomfortable scrutiny. If I look half as exhausted and aching as I feel, then he’s probably seen drowned rats in better form.

“Define alright,” I reply.

“Alive with four functioning limbs.”

“I’m alright.”

“Good.”

“Glad to know your criteria.”

Kai turns to Kyrian, who is slicking a strand of sweat soaked hair off his face. We are both still hot from the climb, but the cutting wind promises to steal the warmth from us shortly. Kai jerks his head toward the downwind side of the summit. “We need to talk. Untie your leash.”

“I take it I’m not invited?” I say, trying to hide the tinge of hurt behind summoned bravado. Despite all evidence to the contrary—not to mention common sense—I had somehow deluded myself into thinking they considered me one of them now.

“Not unless you became a squad leader while I wasn’t watching,” says Kai. I guess it’s not really a normal day without Grayson reminding me that he’s an ass.

Kyrian finishes untying the rope that connects him to my harness then sweeps me in with his arm, pulling me against his side possessively. “You should go enjoy your reward for getting up here,” he says against my hair then dips his face lower. His tongue dances along the seam of my lips until I part them with a soft gasp. Kyrian’s kiss is soft and teasing, and sensual enough to make my toes curl in my boots. When he finally pulls back, our breaths still mingling in the mountain air, he grins mischievously. “And by reward I mean the other view.”

Taking my shoulders, he turns me to look out from the summit, which opens toward a truly breathtaking panorama that I’ve not been able to enjoy while scrambling up the stone for my life. Rugged snow-capped peaks stretch endlessly into the distance, the valleys between them carpeted in evergreen forests and threaded with icy blue rivers that catch the sun like strands of diamonds. Sheer granite cliffs drop away mere feet from where I stand, plunging hundreds of feet to the valley floor below.

I take a sensible step back away from that.

“Kyrian,” Kai orders.

Giving my shoulder a tight squeeze, Kyrian steps away to talk with our commanding officer, leaving Logan and me in uncomfortable silence.

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