Page 27 of Shadows of Ruin

Warning bells triggered inside of me. Another powerful Fae at Kade’s side, and this one had mind magic.

“Why do you think I had anything to do with your disgusting mind magic?” I hissed. She didn’t necessarily deserve the spite thrown her way, but I couldn’t stop it from spewing out of me.

She narrowed her eyes, studying me.

“Could it have been the king?” Kade asked her.

She kept her gaze fixed on me and shook her head. “It has something to do with her.” She pointed. “I only escaped when the man said, ‘Tell Lana I’ll find her.’”

I sucked in a breath. Ian. It had to be Ian.

She said the man had been in the dungeons?

I wobbled, and Kade’s shadows immediately circled around me, steadying me before his arm wrapped around me.

“Was he hurt? How do you know he was in a dungeon?” I asked. When my legs steadied, I took a step toward her, but she moved into a defensive position.

“I don’t know. I felt it. He’s badly injured.”

Without meaning to, I let out a whimper. Kade sucked in a breath.

“Can you talk to him? Can you get back into his head?” I grabbed her and she swung a fist at me, attacking.

Kade pulled me back before she hit more than just my arm. I thrashed, fighting him as his grip around my waist tightened. “This is all your fault.”

He didn’t let go. I only stopped my battle with him when I noticed Storm standing near Jax. Lunging from Kade’s arms, I ran toward his friend, shoving him as soon as I stood close enough. “It’s your fault too. You left him defenseless. They have him in the dungeon. If something happens to him, I’ll kill you.”

I slammed my fist into the side of Storm’s face but wasn’texpecting the pain to radiate up my wrist.Tits and daggers, how the hell did he have such a rock-solid jaw?

Storm didn’t fight back. “I’m sorry. Lana, I’m sorry.” He held up his hands.

“Take me back,” I said, some of the fight leaving my voice now that I’d gotten a solid punch in.

Storm glanced over my shoulder, toward where I knew Kade stood. When I looked to the man in charge, his mournful expression did nothing but keep my wrath simmering. “Take. Me. Back.”

“We can’t,” Kade said. “Not yet.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. “The sooner we get to Mount Legion, the sooner everything will become clear. Then I’ll return you home.”

“Ian might not have that long,” I argued.

“Ian isn’t my problem right now. Our two kingdoms are.” He didn’t spare me another glance, instead barking orders to the others to clean up the camp.

Storm leaned toward me, ignoring Kade’s directives as I stood, lost in this stupid place. “Ride with me?”

I glared at him. “I don’t know which is worse, you, him, or the other two I don’t know.”

“Well, Raya would throw you off the horse. Kade would kill Jax because he’d use you to tease him.” He pulled the top half of his dark shoulder-length hair back into a bun. “Your choice is me or Kade.”

Kade tensed, pausing as he loaded his pack. He wanted me to ride with him. I knew it from the possessive way he hadn’t given me a choice yesterday. Which made my choice easy, even if I hated Storm right now too. “You.”

“Lana.” Storm touched my arm. “When we have what we need, I will come with you and ensure Ian’s safety. He’s strong and unbreakable. I’ll make sure you get to him.”

My jaw clenched. “I’ll hold you to that.”

We traveled for almost an hour in silence, except for Kade and Raya, whispering to each other. That didnotbother me.

At all.

Even if it did, I worked to destroy those feelings immediately. Because I didn’t give a damn about the man. My heart would catch up to my mind eventually, seeing as it had already been ripped to shreds thanks to him.

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