Page 17 of Destroyer

She needed a plan now. Direction. Answers. This blindness and whatever had caused it, her nakedness, the disappearance of the dig site. She wanted to be home, surrounded by those who were safest to her. Gwyneth, Archie, her books. There, things would make sense. There, she could rest.

“May I take your hand?”

The words caught Ru off guard. “Why?”

“So I can lead you to the horse without you falling again.”

She held out a hand in acquiescence.

His fingers were rough but gentle, warm to the touch. She thought he might take her fingers lightly in his, but his grip was strong, his hand engulfing hers. He led her slowly, carefully forward. There were no obstacles, nothing for her to trip over, but his care was obvious. She felt herself relaxing slightly, his very presence putting her at ease.

“I need you to bring me to the Cornelian Tower,” she said, her hand still clasped tightly in his. She had to get home, somewhere safe, so she could think. She was still frightened. When she tried to wrack her brain, to remember what had happened after she touched the artifact, it was like an imaginary wall stood in her way. No thoughts could penetrate.

“Stand here,” said Fen, stopping suddenly, and dropping her hand. “We’ll discuss plans later.”

“Fine,” she said. “As if I have a choice.”

A puff of air left Fen’s nose; it sounded like laughter. There was a jangle and the squeak of leather against metal, and Ru guessed that Fen was astride the horse. A hand tapped her shoulder from above.

“Come closer,” he said, “and hold tight.”

Ru inched toward his voice, apprehensive. Then his strong arm wrapped around her, and almost as if she were weightless, he swept her up and settled her on the saddle. The breath left her lungs for a moment. And then she was relaxing into firm leather, the steady warmth of the horse beneath her, and Fen’s broad chest at her back. His thighs pressed against hers. His breath was close to her ear, and his arms encircled her as he pulled on the reins, urging the horse forward.

She tamped down a restless heat, a thrill at Fen’s proximity. Ru wasn’t a prude. She had tumbled into the beds of other academics at the Tower, not just Archie’s. But Fen was a stranger, unseen, unknown. The mystery of it set Ru’s heart racing. She was glad for the distraction.

“Comfortable?” asked Fen, flicking the reins. They sped to an easy amble.

“Comfortable might be an overstatement,” Ru said, reaching blindly for the edge of the saddle to steady herself. “I’m not used to riding.”

Fen’s hand found hers, guiding it to the saddle’s pommel. “Hold this,” he said. “The blindness will pass and your balance will improve.”

How could he know that Ru’s sight would return? He sounded so sure. His reassurance gave her a small comfort; it was enough to settle her nerves.

They rode in silence at first. And while Ru was eager to learn more about this man, to discover who he was and where he had come from, why he was at the Shattered City of all places, she wasn’t sure what to say. Her mind was still mostly a haze of confusion, of recent memories she’d rather ignore.

“Youwilltake me to the Tower, though,” Ru said after a while. “I need to get back. To make sense of…” she trailed off.

“You need answers,” said Fen. “I understand. A strange man sees you wandering naked in the desert, carrying a shiny rock, and sweeps you away on his horse. Not a normal day for anyone.”

Ru stiffened at the mention of the artifact. But Fen’s tone was unconcerned, lacking interest. If he wanted the stone, he would have taken it and left her for dead. But curiosity pulled at her, goaded her.

“Why are you here?” she asked. “At the Shattered City. You said you’d explain once we were safe.”

“We're not safe yet, not in this place.”

“Can’t you explain while we ride?” Ru said, impatient. This man, who had so cavalierly ridden into forbidden territory, could be taking her anywhere. And despite her inexplicable trust in him, she couldn’t help but imagine all the things a strange man could do to a young woman, alone in the wilds, blind and helpless. If she was going to trust Fen, then she deserved answers.

“I told you,” he said, voice low and rough. “Not yet. This place is cursed. What happened to you…”

Ru gripped the saddle, fighting back a wave of nausea. There was a sharpness to his words, edged in regret. Her worst, darkest fears… Lady Maryn’s cry of horror. The artifact… the darkness… Ru shoved the memory into a dark corner of her mind, gritting her teeth.

“You think it could happen again.”

“I can’t rule it out,” he said. “I’d like to put as many miles between us and that crater as possible before we stop; before I explain. We won’t stop to camp until we reach the main road. This place… feels wrong.”

Perhaps under normal circumstances, Ru would have dismissed the statement as superstition. But the events of the past two days had painted a new perspective; changed the categories. Belief in magic was one thing, but coming face to face with the unexplainable… it was a different thing altogether.

And though she was doing her best to pretend otherwise, to ignore it, the artifact agreed with Fen. She felt that it wanted to leave, it wanted to get away from the place where it had waited under the soil. It was an urgency, an insistence at her core, the same insistence that had called to her before.

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