Page 18 of Victoria's Embrace

Nodding, she gave Sindri’s arm a gentle squeeze then turned to Vi’kail. “You ready, babe?”

The plan was for him and his group to go first, make sure the coast was clear, follow the side wall back to the rear entrance, then make a call to signal for her group to follow.

Victoria felt his smile against her mouth when he leaned down to kiss her. “I’m always ready, little flower.”

The double meaning wasn’t lost on her and she felt her cheeks warm. She huffed a quiet laugh and kissed him again, feeling some of the tightness in her chest ease at his playfulness.

Chapter 12

That tightness returned with a vengeance the moment Vi’kail and his group left. Reaching up absentmindedly, Victoria fidgeted with her hair. Thorn caught her hand before she could fully knot her fingers in the curls, holding it in his and rubbing gentle circles on her back with the other.

The minutes passed excruciatingly slow while they waited for the trill signaling it was clear and they could follow after. With each one, worst case scenarios played out in her mind, and her anxiety mounted, only held at bay by the solid, reassuring presence of her giants at her sides and the knowledge that Vi’kail was an absolute badass.

She didn’t even hear it when it finally came, wouldn’t have known it came at all if Ishra, one of the people they’d saved, hadn’t alerted her to it. Quickly laying a hand on his plated shoulder in thanks, Victoria turned to the opposite side of the alley in which they’d entered, Thegan and Thorn beside and slightly in front of her as they paused at the exit then turned right, taking a different route to the back entrance of the market than Vi’kail to avoid drawing attention.

Unlike the street they’d come from, this one was, thankfully, almost completely devoid of traffic and pedestrians, and those that were present seemed to be either intoxicated or walking quickly with their heads down so no one was paying any attention to her and her group. Even still, she kept her steps purposeful but unhurried, maintaining her cold, slaver persona.

When they reached a crossroad, Victoria paused long enough to check for oncoming traffic, using a sideways glance to peek at the street behind them to ensure no one was watching, then crossed. Instead of turning to follow the road, she kept going straight, stepping off onto the hard-packed sand.

Her steps faltered as the sensation of eyes on her tightened the skin between her shoulder blades.

Looking back again, she searched for anyone looking in their direction but found nothing. And, yet, the sensation didn’t go away.

“Are we clear?” she whispered from the corner of her mouth.

A short pause was followed by Thorn’s low voice. “Yes.”

“I—”

Glancing quickly at Ishra when he started to speak, she caught the tightness of his features. “You feel it, too, don’t you?”

He nodded. “But I don’t hear anything out of place.”

“What is it?” Thegan whispered.

“I feel like someone’s watching us. Follow my lead.”

Instead of continuing forward to the wall, she turned smoothly to the right, toward the main entrance of the market, and walked along the road until the buildings lining the street they’d come from blocked them from view.

As soon as they were out of sight, the feeling vanished. Victoria released a slow breath and abruptly veered left. Within three strides, she was swallowed by the deep shadows cast by the market wall.

Slowing her steps to almost a crawl as they backtracked, she scanned the street they’d come from but still didn’t see anyone that appeared to be looking for them or even in their direction.

A quiet trill sounded from the darkness ahead. Blowing out a shaky breath, Victoria quickened her steps. When she spotted Vi’kail and his group, she did a quick headcount then stopped at his side.

“Ishra and I both felt like someone was watching us. Did you feel anything?”

She felt more than saw him tense. “No, but you’ve got good instincts. If you felt somethin’, there was somethin’ to feel.”

Hearing that helped alleviate the worry she was just being paranoid and Ishra was only reacting to it, but it doubled the anxiety twisting her stomach into knots.

“We need to get off the streets and into the market,” she whispered quickly. “Y’all cut the ropes and get ready.”

They waited long enough for everyone to slice the ropes tethering them together, pocketing the lengths so they weren’t leaving evidence behind, then continued on, each of them drawing their guns or clutching their knives.

Rykar led the way forward, following the curving wall for a couple hundred feet. Thankfully, it curved away from the busy area of the city in which they’d been and toward a section that was dark and quiet.

The door blended so well with the wall that she didn’t notice it at all, wouldn’t have known it was there even if she’d been staring right at it had Rykar not stopped.

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