Page 71 of Seized to Sacrifice
He let out a groan at her teasing. ‘Except for that,’ he said. ‘I mean … it’s hard to explain, but its—’
‘A feeling,’ she said. ‘I know. I feel it too.’ She lowered her voice as she glanced at Thorne, hoping he wouldn’t hear. ‘For all of you.’
They ate their dinners in companionable silence, tired from the long day on the road. Thorne lay out their bedrolls around the fire, but, when he’d finished, Rye put his and Nyx’s together with hers, ignoring Thorne’s look of disdain.
He muttered something under his breath about them forgetting the past so easily, but she didn't hear it properly as she left the clearing to see to her needs. As she returned, Thorne came towards her, blocking her way.
‘You haven't told the others about the Beast,’ he said quietly so his Brothers nearby wouldn’t hear.
He almost sounded angry that she hadn’t, as if he wanted her to be the malevolent creature that he’d painted her as in every way.
‘No,’ she said simply.
‘Why? Do you not understand how dangerous this is? How dangerousheis?’
‘I understand perfectly,’ she said. ‘YourfriendKade warned me as well.’
‘You spoke to Kade?’ His gaze dipped to her neck where the bruise still was though the collar of her tunic was in the way at the moment. ‘Did he do that to your neck?’ he asked in a menacing voice.
‘No.’ She looked away. ‘You should speak to Nyx about that.’
His expression turned thunderous.
‘I don’t mean that Nyx did it either,’ she said hastily. ‘Kade told me that you and the Beast should be able to hear each other's thoughts. He can shift at will as well. He showed me.’
Thorne let out a snarl. ‘He's showed you his other side?’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘and he was beautiful.’Just like you.‘You and your other side need to reconcile.’
He stepped forward with a snarl, crowding her, forcing her to take a step back. He poked her hard in the chest.
‘Why don't you mind your own fucking business?’ He ground out, looking so furious that she thought he might strike her.
Instead of cowering as she would have even yesterday, however, she drew herself up and looked him in the eye.
‘Whyhaven'tyou told the others?’ he asked, changing tack.
Elle snorted. ‘You said it yourself. It's not my fucking business.’
Not giving him another chance to speak, she moved around him to walk back to the clearing and he let her go, though she felt his eyes on her all the way and resolved not to go near him for the rest of the night.
‘I’m going to cast a circle for the night,’ Rye announced, and Elle saw Thorne’s brow furrow from the edge of the clearing.
‘Do you have the power for such a conjure, Brother?’
Rye nodded. ‘My magick has been returning of late,’ he said, staring at Elle as if gauging her reaction, intimating that he had her to thank somehow.
She looked at him blankly but didn’t ask what his magick had to do with her.
She lay in her bedroll and the others came to lie next to her, taking her in their arms between them as they had the night before. They both made her feel so safe whereas Thorne made her feel the opposite at the moment, she thought as she began to doze.
Her eyes opened and,for a moment, she wasn’t sure what had woken her. Nyx stirred next to her, and she sat up, looking around the clearing still lit by the firelight.
That same feeling, that fear burrowing into her very being, made her want to run. She could see nothing, but it was the same sensation that she’d had at both the keeps. Whatever it was had found her again.
Nyx pushed at Rye. ‘Get up,’ he growled.
‘What is it,’ Rye asked, his voice thick with sleep.
