Page 56 of A Sky of Storms
Noah ran off to find his clothes whilst Ace grumbled under his breath. He ripped the sleeves from his jumpsuit, revealing his tattooed arms as he handed them to me to dress my wounds.
“Thanks.” I wiped the blood from my face then stuffed the sleeves down my jumpsuit, pressing them to my wounded side. It would do until I could get a proper clean up and some of the meds we’d stolen from Kayden’s camp.
Ace didn’t reply, instead striding towards the monster. He drew the sword from the monster’s neck and came back to hand the bloody thing to me.
“I’ve got a knife,” Ace said, as though he needed a reason for giving me my sword back.
“Okay, tough guy,” I replied, grinning at him.
Ace’s dark brows drew together, his eyes flashing menacingly. “I don’t like that look.”
“What look?” I said, staring at him adoringly. My saviour and inked knight. My grumpy little drake.
“That one,” he said, scowling, though I knew he secretly loved it. “Stop it.”
“There’s no stopping it,” Noah said, coming to stand beside me. “Accept it. You’re never going to get rid of him now.”
Ace punched me in the arm then strode into the woods. “Not fucking happening.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied, following with Noah by my side.
It was a lie, of course, because I knew exactly what was happening. The waves of destiny were calling the three of us, drawing us to her shores of friendship. Noah wasn’t making a fuss and Ace would eventually stop fighting it. Nothing formed friendship better than defeating a hideous monster. Ace may have been a badass gangster from the Drakes, but even he couldn’t fight fate.
Theprincesswascoveredin blood when we found her and Kendra.
I shouldn’t have been shocked to see Fallon like that. I knew she could take care of herself but seeing her splattered with a corpse laying by a tree had me fucking pause. I was no stranger to violence and gore but this was different somehow.
“What happened, Starfish?” Zane asked, rushing to her and cupping her face in his hands. “Are you both okay?”
“Well, we’re alive. Kendra’s just unconscious.” She started untying her friend’s bonds. “After I’d lost the monster an even sicker one found me. He was holding Kendra hostage.”
“Is that Mark?” Noah asked, grimacing at the body. I guessed he wouldn’t be getting any answers now. Kinda felt sorry for him.
“Yeah,” she replied, an edge to her voice. She stood and gripped Zane’s wrists. “He thought he could force me… he threatened Kendra’s life just to get me on my knees.”
I narrowed my eyes at what she was alluding to. Hearing about Mark forcing himself on her had my gut twisting with rage. Shit like that was the lowest of the low. No one deserved the invasion of their body. If she hadn’t already killed him, I would have, and slowly too.
“Shit,” Noah growled, looking how I felt. Even happy-go-lucky Zane had murder in his eyes.
“He can’t hurt anyone now,” Fallon said with a small shake of her head, releasing Zane and stepping back. Her gaze ran the length of him. “What happened to you guys?”
“Merman had a bath in the blood of a different kind of monster,” I said, folding my arms over my chest.
She snapped her eyes to me as if only just noticing my existence, but quickly turned her attention to the bloody man in front of her. “The same one I tried to lead away?”
“Yeah,” Zane replied with a grin. “But our little dream team—minus our fearless starfish, of course—took care of it.” His smile dropped. “You shouldn’t go running off on your own.”
“Zane’s right,” Noah said. “As much as fighting for our lives is fun and all, we need to stick together. Not just for the monsters running around the place either. We can’t be complacent with other Potentials around. If we want to get through the trial, the best way to do that is as a group.”
Look at Noah, proving his worth. I wanted to get the Jupiter ring and here he was, leading me straight to the owner. Princess’s copper eyes were back on me, dialled up to a full glare. Getting her to hand over that little piece of jewellery was going to be hard work. She was never gonna like me, so I’d have to get her to at least trust me somehow. A job that seemed fucking impossible, but luckily, I was like a dog with a bone when I set my mind to something.
“We need to find shelter,” Noah added, his brown eyes narrowed on the darkening horizon.
Soon more creatures from everyone’s nightmares would begin prowling the forest for dinner. I wasn’t going to be anyone’s meal.
“We could go back to our shelter?” Zane suggested, looking around at us all with puppy dog eyes. “It got a bit beat up, but it would do for the night.”
“Is he really coming with us?” Princess asked, narrowing her eyes at me.
