Page 117 of Bound to the Shadow Prince

Iwake up to the sound of thunder crackling overhead and what sounds like rocks smashing against our flimsy shelter. Hail, I realize as I see a sprinkling of icy-looking pebbles outside. Beside me, Nemeth sits up, tense and uneasy. His wing is spread over me protectively, keeping me safe from the drips of rain that leak in through our shelter. “Good morning,” I say, rising slightly. My face feels hot and tight, thanks to the sunburn. “I see we have great weather for our travel.”

“The goddess has sent an angry storm to greet us,” Nemeth says, and when he jerks at a faint crack of thunder, I feel a wave of sympathy for him.

He didn’t like storms even in the protected halls of the tower. I can only imagine how loud and terrifying this must be.I reach over and touch his arm. “If this is the worst the goddess has for us, I’ll consider us lucky.”

“Mmm,” is all he says, and I can tell he’s unnerved by the ferocity of the storm. It does seem a little stronger than expected, but I also don’t spend a lot of time outside in storms myself. This barn isn’t much of a shelter, either. The entire thing sways with a strong breeze. “We should wait the storm out,” Nemeth tells me. “Hopefully it will not last too long.”

“I’m fine with waiting. It’s not as if I want to go traipsing about in the mud anyhow.” I hug one of the blankets tighter around my shoulders, watching the storm—and my lover. Nemeth had been in a good mood last night after our fooling around. He’d given me my medicine and then we’d snuggled in the blankets together. This morning he seems on edge. I nudge him. “Don’t think that a storm means you’re getting out of flying. I want to see you in the skies.”

The look he gives me is downright cranky.

I ignore it and drape his arm over my shoulders.

He gives in, tucking me under his arm, rubbing my back.“Ask your knife if this storm will last all day. We do not have enough of your medicine to linger in one place for long.”

Right. We have a week of medicine. After that, I’m out, and I don’t know how long it’s going to take us to get back to the capital of Lios and the palace itself. “If it keeps raining, we can just walk in the rain.” But I pull out my knife, reminded that we’re on limited time. I pull it from its sheath that I’ve kept tucked tight in my cleavage, and hold it in my hand. “Hello, knife. Is this storm going to last all day?”

The knife is still.

I give Nemeth a smug look. “See? The knife wants you to fly too.”

His expression remains grave. “Ask it if the weather is because of the goddess. If she’s angry.”

I bite my lip, because I hate the big questions. I’m never ready for the answers. I hold the knife, squeezing my eyes shut. “Is the goddess angry at us?”

Cringing, I wait for the knife to shudder. It does nothing.

I gasp and look over at Nemeth, delighted. “That’s a no, right?”

“It’s not a yes. That’s all.” He still looks pensive, his mouth hard. “I don’t understand. We disobeyed. Shouldn’t the goddess be furious at us?”

But I’m giddy, my heart fluttering with relief. “I’ll change the wording, then.” I concentrate on the knife. “Is the goddess angry?”

Shiver.Yes.

My stomach plummets again. “The goddess is angry, but not at us?”

Again, a shiver of affirmation.

I look over at Nemeth. “She’s angry all right. Maybe she’s furious that they forgot us and we were forced to leave?”

He doesn’t look convinced. “I don’t know. I don’t have the answers for any of this.”

Me either. I think for a moment longer, then ask, “Does anyone know we’ve left the tower?”

No shiver.

I suppose that’s a good thing. “Will we get to Lios in under seven days at the rate we’re traveling?”

No shiver.

Oh. I fight back panic, because there’s no sense in it. We knew I was low on medicine. I look over at Nemeth. “I guess we need to speed up.”

My mate nods. He gets to his feet and shakes his wings out. “I don’t mind walking in the rain.”

Me either. I need to walk for as long as I can, for as far as I can, and then hope that Nemeth can carry me. “Once the hail stops, we can go.”

It’s a miserable journey.My face is hot with sunburn and hurts despite the constant rain, as do my hands and my scalp. Even the wet weather isn’t all that soothing, as it soaks our clothes and turns the road into mud. I scrub at my dress as we walk, trying to get the worst of the cum stains out using the rain. I suppose that the good news is that when it dries, it’ll be so wrinkled and unsightly that no one will notice a few stains.

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