Page 53 of Of Nine So Bold

14

GWYNEIRA

My mind was rattling every bit as hard as the rain pounding on the carriage roof.

Sitting on the slightly clammy seat of the carriage, I chewed my lip and stared past the sliver of an opening in the curtain-covered window. Lightning speared across the dark gray sky every few minutes, while thunder rumbled soon after, adding to the constant noise that left the carriage feeling like the interior of a drum. Dampness clung to everything from my clothes to my skin, and each blast of wind sent the carriage rocking on its wheels.

I felt terrible for my men riding outside, and for their horses too. But although the terrain was becoming hillier and we were leaving the prairie behind, there’d been nowhere to find shelter from this storm for hours.

And no resolution to the confusion tumbling inside me either.

Ozias’s hand came to rest on my knee, and I flinched, so lost in thought I hadn’t even felt him move.

“You’re going to rip that.” He nodded toward my lap.

I glanced down at the hem of my coat and the button I’d been absently picking at without realizing it. Releasing it, I folded my hands in my lap, but the urge to fidget returned immediately.

He put his arm around my shoulders. “Breathe, little mate.”

A shuddering breath entered my lungs, but my eyes darted to the side. Seated across from us, Casimir was watching out the opposite window, while Ruhl was curled like a pillow made of black smoke nearby. Even though the storm drowned many of the noises from outside, I could tell Casimir’s vampire hearing still picked up Ozias’s endearment for me.

But beyond the way his lips curled a bit, my vampire didn’t react, never turning away from the other window. Ruhl remained as he had been, his smoke tumbling slowly as he rested. And the emotions I could feel from Ozias via our connection weren’t disturbed by the idea Casimir or the shadow wolf might overhear.

He was willing to risk being himself around the others, just a bit, and that fact was wonderful.

I wished I could focus on it more.

Ozias’s arm tightened around me. “We’ll find Niko.”

I nodded, trying to believe that. But it was only the tip of the mountain of problems before us, and that mountain had only grown.

Apparently, I’d been unconscious fordays.Days in which Niko could have died. Days in which my stepmother could have done any number of horrible things, none of which I knew how to prepare for. At any moment, the road we traveled could be washed out by this monstrous storm, delaying us even longer.

And then there was whatever Byron had done to save me. What I’d seen from him. What he saw from me.

How it made me feel.

I hadn’t told the others about what had happened between us yet. Originally, I’d wanted to talk to him at camp about it, butthen we were all packing up because of the storm coming in and there wasn’t time. Not without saying something in front of the humans, anyway.

As understanding as Valeria had been about everything so far, I couldn’t be sure the others wouldn’t panic at the idea the Aneiran princess was somehow sharing memories with an Erenlian monk.

But beyond all of that, there was me. Even all these hours after waking from unconsciousness, I feltoddsomehow. Tingly, like the sensation of a limb waking up after being asleep, but in my veins and mind.

What if something went wrong in that strange darkness? What if I wasn’trightanymore?

“Your heart is pounding quite hard, princess.” Casimir turned from the window. “And I suspect your mate can feel whatever fear is gripping you right now. Would you care to tell us what has you so scared? Is it Niko or something else?”

I cast Ozias an apologetic look, but he only raised an eyebrow at me, his scarred face calm and curious. Comfort radiated through our connection.

Biting my lip, I tried to think how to respond without making them think there was cause to worry. “I-I just wonder, in the days I was unconscious, if something?—”

Shouts came from outside. The carriage suddenly lurched hard to the right, sending me toppling into Ozias.

And then tumbling farther as the carriage itself rolled onto its side.

I crashed into Ozias, trying to shift to avoid hurting him, but everything was moving too quickly. My head slammed into the wooden wall, pain blinding me for a moment. When I tried to move, my hands landed in mud, all of it squelching through the window as the carriage steadily sank into the muck.

More shouting penetrated the ringing in my ears. The clang of swords came from outside.

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