Page 95 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“You are not alone,” Sage assured me more gently when he saw that I was not panicking anymore and was genuinely considering what he was suggesting. “We will find a way together. You and me, and Rian and the Hunt.”

I found myself nodding distractedly as my mind tried to race with all the possibilities, but I would need to speak with theAutumn Prince to understand his position better. There was no use in trying to formulate a plan before I deduced exactly what he would want from me.

My eyes had drifted down to Sage’s chest while I was thinking, but he regained my attention when his fingers slipped from my neck back up to my jaw. He managed to look both stern and gentle when I met his eyes again.

“Are we in agreement? No running away. Iwillcome after you, and I will be very unhappy,” he warned me.

I gave a soft laugh, uncertain whether I wanted to hug him or cry.

“You don’t know what they are like,” I insisted.

“All I needed to know was that they hurt you, Summer. So promise me that we’ll do this together,” he insisted.

He was not budging, and I could not deny the part of me that wanted to lean into him and let him help me bear this terrible burden, so I finally nodded.

“I promise. No running,” I swore, and I felt the tension melting out of his hands as his thumbs brushed over my jawline in immense relief.

“Good. Now, we do not have much time before Rian is expecting us. I want to get some food,” he declared as he stepped around me to open a portal behind me.

Sage and I walked out of his portal with both vargr behind us and stepped into a large, humid tent. I was unsure what I’d been expecting of his home in the army encampment, but it was not the comfortable quarters around us.

It was night, so I could only see the plush furniture around me by the glow from the portal until it closed. Then I stood in the dark listening to Sage move through the room while I took in thefamiliar sweet and earthy medley of his scent. It was wonderfully strong, so I knew he had spent a lot of time in this tent.

After a moment, a lantern flared to life and relit the tent in a warm glow so I could better see where he had brought me. And it was immediately clear he did spend a lot more time in the encampment than he had in the yurt we had left behind in the village. There was an enormous rack of weapons that spanned nearly the entire wall on the left and was taller than Sage. A plush sitting area took up the middle of the room around the cold fire pit, and there were trunks stacked behind it against the rear wall. On the right was a table, the first I’d seen since the aes sídhe did not seem to have them in the village, and it was covered in maps, books, and scrolls. There was even an unopened bottle of what I hoped was wine.

“I thought your people didn’t write,” I said as I walked over to the table. I did not recognize the language of any of the books he had stacked at the corners of the maps and scrolls spread on the table.

“We do not, but other people in the Autumn Court do, and I’ve learned to read many different languages during our time in other courts,” Sage informed me. I could feel him watching as I wandered toward the curtain that was strung across the right side of the tent.

I brushed my hand through the dark material to find the opening and then pushed it aside to look into a private area where he clearly slept. The bed in the left corner was on the ground, similar to the one he’d allowed me to use in Aes Suri, but this one was much larger. It was draped in thinner silk sheets and pillows that were better suited to the humid air than wool blankets and heavy furs.

“Hmm,” I grunted, infusing my tone with intrigue as I tucked the curtain around the hook sewn onto the canvas wall of the tent to hold it open. “This must be where you bring your lovers.Silk sheets and everything,” I teased, and Sage snorted a laugh as I strode inside and dropped the bundle of clothes Asha had given me on the mattress. I’d been hoping for a bath, but I didn’t see a tub.

“I do not take lovers among the soldiers I command. Some of the other riders do, and it almost always ends up becoming messy,” Sage admitted. He snapped his fingers, using his fire magic to light a small lantern on the trunk that seemed to function as a table next to the bed.

“So you have never bedded anyone here?” I verified, sinking onto the edge of the mattress. I wanted to sprawl across it, but I was still dirty and covered in blood.

Sage leaned against the trunk and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at me with obvious skepticism.

“No, why does—”

“Good. I really don’t want to sleep anywhere that you have fucked someone,” I advised him, and his brows rose at me in a mixture of amusement and bewilderment.

“Are you kicking me out of my bed now?” he guessed incredulously.

“Of course not. I assumed we’d share it,” I admitted, taking him off guard, so I quickly averted my eyes.

“You want to share my bed?” he verified.

“Well, I thought that was what we were already doing. We have been sharing since before the Fuath attacked us,” I reminded him, making sure to keep my voice casual and confident whilst my heart started to pound nervously.

“We shared for just one night before the Fuath attacked and only because I fell asleep when you were having…”

He trailed off, having clued into the true reason for my request just a second too late to spare my dignity.

“Nightmares,” I finished for him quietly, keeping my eyes on the flames flickering in the lantern next to him. “After Ciaran…Your presence is soothing. So is it alright or will I be in the way if you do decide to fuck someone?”

“Romance is the last thing on my mind right now so you don’t need to worry about it,” Sage reassured me.

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