Page 41 of Vows Forged in Blood

I’d bent down so that we were eye to eye. She met my gaze, but flinched backwards ever so slightly when she beheld the absolute lethal fury in my eyes. They had planned to take what was mine. They killed my men. They nearly killed my fucking mate.

They would pay.

“Thank you for the invitation,” I’d said in a deadly cold voice. “I accept.” The defiance faltered, fear flashing in her red eyes.

The interrogation did not last long.

In the end,the Revenant confirmed what I’d suspected: that Kilgren’s plan was to kill my Consort, knowing that would be a blow to not only my ego, but to the faith put in me by everyone in Braxhelm. She died before she could tell me how they’d managed it, unfortunately.

Now, I stare at the map on the massive table in the war room. I haven’t been able to figure out where the Revenants had come from. There are still nests of Revenants throughout Braxhlem, of course, but never in the Northlands, at least not this near the camp. My army constantly sweeps the area for leagues upon leagues in training exercises. There’s no possible way there have been any Revenants in this area before the attack.

So, where the fuck had these been hiding? Or had they somehow gotten through the pass undetected? The thought unsettles me more than any other option. I’ve worked so hard these years to keep that from happening. I set up my camp here for that sole fucking purpose. They’ve never found their way through before, so how had they possibly managed it now? The idea of a doorway is still in the back of my mind, but I can’t quite make myself fully accept it as a real option. It could explain it though…

Then there’s the question of how, exactly, they’d known when Dahlia would be on that road, away from me…

I rub my temples and clench my jaw. An obvious answer surfaces but I refuse to accept it. There is not a spy within my camp. Perhaps someone in the village…A low growl ofannoyance rumbles through my chest. Not knowing is driving me mad. I’m going to attend the funerals for three of my men in just a few hours, and every time I think about how much worse it could have gone, what I could have lost…

“No,” I command myself. “Don’t think of it.”

“Don’t think of what? How much you love me?” Elias asks breezily from the doorway in his customary unflappable swagger. “That’s actually a physical impossibility.”

“Not in the mood, Elias,” I grind out. To my utter surprise, Elias sighs, a bit of the cocky ease draining out of him.

“I know. I know we are no strangers to death on the battlefield, but this feels different. And I can’t even imagine what you must have felt, what you must still be feeling. To have your mate in danger like that,hurtlike that…” He shakes his head, paling slightly. “I’m glad she’s alright.”

I sit heavily in one of the high-backed chairs surrounding the table and put my head in my hands, running my fingers roughly through my hair. Elias comes around beside me, leaning back against the table.

“Is she though? How could she possibly be?” I ask. Sure, she’d healedphysicallybecause of my blood, butmentally? I have no idea. Her Keeper informed me that she woke again several hours ago and seems…alright so far (she didn’t wake screaming this time, at least), but not knowing if she’strulyok is killing me. I could feel her terror when she woke the first few times, memories probably clawing at her like a rabid beast, and there was nothing I could do to help her. Fuckingnothing.

“She’ll come through this just fine, brother, I know it.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“And when she does?” Elias asks pointedly after a moment. “What are you going to do?”

“I…” I inhale deeply, letting it out slowly before answering. “I can’t stay away from her any longer. It’s…too hard,” I admitquietly, feeling weak and not appreciating the experience in the slightest. I drop my head into my hands. Elias smacks the back of my head, and I raise my chin slowly, staring at my oldest friend.

“Did you justsmackyour High General?” I ask slowly.

“I did. And I’ll do it again if you don’t stop being so stupid.” I arch a brow and Elias rolls his eyes. “She’s yourmate. You were literally made for each other by the hand of fate itself. Of course being apart from her is difficult. Painful even, I’d bet. It’s because you aren’tmeantto be away from her now that you’ve found her, you horse’s ass. You’re meant to be together, to complete and balance each other in every way.”

I think through his words, knowing that he’s right. I feel…whole when I’m near Dahlia. I feel right in a way I never have before. Only with her do I ever feel truly at ease and…happy. Yes, that’s the feeling I’ve had in the few brief moments I’ve allowed myself to be with her.True happiness.

“And you’re suddenly the mate expert?” I grumble.

“Ah you forget my parents. I’ve seen firsthand what mates mean to each other, what they can do for each other and be for each other.” His gaze shifts, looking across the room but I know he’s seeing far into the past, to a childhood surrounded by love and happiness. I’d known his parents as well—they were part of my father’s court and Elias had grown up in one of the manors on the Montclare property in Astoria’s Keep—and I still remember the waves of affection and loyalty and devotion that seemed to radiate from both of them, though of course I didn’t truly understand it at the time.

Elias focuses back on me again.

“So, yes, I’m a bit of an expert,” he says with a grin.

“Well, you’re partly right, I’ll admit. The draw to her is too much, so I won’t be keeping myself from her anymore. But…” Irub the back of my neck, “the urges that arise when she’s near are…strong. Too fucking strong.”

“So give into them,” Elias says with a shrug.

“I could fucking kill her! Easily. It would take one tiny mistake, one second of letting my control slip, and she’d be gone forever. She’s ahuman. There’s a reason that princes don’t bite or fuck humans! There’s a reason that mates are never humans.” I slam a fist down on the table, nearly splintering the great slab of oak.

“Yes, you could kill her, as easy as breathing,” he agrees easily, and I sputter.

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