Page 114 of Reckless
Her voice is little more than a whisper. “And what is that?”
“A need.”
We stare at each other, both surprised by the words that pushed their way past my lips. Sunlight is streaming through her hair, making her glow like something far too heavenly for me.
“I thought you had found your courage,” she says softly.
I smile slightly. “Maybe I’m fine with being a fool. So long as it’s for you.”
She shakes her head, backing away from me. Her mouth opens to argue, and—
A twig snaps faintly to my right.
Instinct has me angling toward her, shielding her body as I clamp a hand over her mouth.
I whip my head toward the sound, searching for any sign of who I fear may have found us.
It’s only when piercing pain erupts in my shoulder that I know I was right.
Bandits.
CHAPTER 41Paedyn
Kai grunts against my ear, pain ripping the sound from his throat.
His hand slips from my mouth, unmuffling the sound of my scream.
“Kai!”
He slowly sinks to his knees, displaying the deep gash stretching across the length of his shoulder. I saw the flash of an arrow before it tore through his skin, splitting flesh in an instant. I drop down beside him, hands on his face and heart in my throat. “Are you okay?”
“Bandits,” he strains, ignoring my question. “I won’t be much help.” Another arrow wizzes past my head.
“I can see that,” I say, carefully pulling the bow from his back. He hisses through clamped teeth when I bump his wound. “We need to get out of the road. Now.” I nod to a cluster of stones no more than a few yards away. “Can you make it there?”
“It’s my arm, darling, not my leg,” he grits out.
“Perfect.” I stand to a crouch, pulling him up with me. “Then you should have no problem keeping up.”
We run toward the rocks, hearing arrows whistle past us. Kai pushes himself between me and the persistent arrows, blocking my body with his own. That’s why I gasp in surprise when the tip of an arrow manages to graze my calf.
It stings, sending searing pain shooting down my leg. I can feel the blood tickling my skin as we duck behind the rocks, stealing refuge from their size.
Ignoring my own wound, I turn to his far more worrying one. Blood stains his skin, engulfing the shoulder underneath. The sight has me suddenly swallowing my rage, seeing a shade of red that has nothing to do with the blood running down his skin.
He’s hurt. And I hate it.
That realization might just anger me more.
Because it is then that I understand just how terribly I will hurt anyone who dares hurt him.
My eyes trail back up to his, my stomach churning at the sight of so much blood—the blood that someone so carelessly spilled. The thought has me slipping on a mask of my own, smothering everything but the icy anger cooling my features.
I ignore the feel of his eyes, focusing only on the task at hand. I arrange the arrows so their feathered shafts can be easily grabbed from the pack before I sling it onto my shoulders.
The bow is hot in my clenched fist. My eyes drift back to his, finding something akin to awe on his face. My voice is even, my face cold. “I’ll be sure to make them pay.”
I watch him take a heavy breath. “Can’t stand to see me wounded?”
