Page 52 of Conflicted Fate
“But—”
My hand clamped over his mouth. “No buts. Everyone tells me I have to let my guilt over Lanna’s death go. Including you. So, you don’t get to be a hypocrite here, understand?”
Kiel cocked his head to the left, indicating he wanted to speak. I pulled my hand away.
“So,haveyou forgiven yourself for that?”
“Not yet,” I said. “But I’m working hard to not blame myself for it. So, you have to do the same.”
“What I did caused much more damage than that,” he countered.
“And you’ve been at itmuch freaking longer, may I point out?” I said, stabbing a finger into his chest. “That evens it up. Got it?”
Kiel looked at me, his eyes as piercing as the cool blue waters of the river. For a long time, he didn’t say anything. I assumed he was building himself up to defy me anyway, despite my argument. So, I balled up a fist and prepared myself to club him over the head until he saw reason.
I would probably need both fists.
His hand came up, fingers first holding, then caressing my jaw and cheek, gently stroking the skin.
“You really are a remarkable woman, Jada,” he said with unexpected tenderness to match his touch.
It was a good thing I was already sitting on him because between how he was looking at me and the touch of his fingers on my face, my knees were feeling more than a little wobbly. Kiel didn’t often turn on his charm, but when he did, I fell for it faster than I’d gone down the mountainside.
“Thank you,” I managed to eke out. “But you still aren’t going in there alone, mister. Got it?”
My finger bounced off his rock-hard chest.
“No,” he said quietly, a smile tugging his lips upward. “I suppose I’m not alone anymore, am I?”
I smiled widely at his tacit acknowledgment. It was no longer he or I, butwe.
“Together,” I said, the word containing several meanings.
His face finally gave in and, despite the looming darkness just a few miles off, a broad smile split his face.
“Together,” he agreed, standing up.
I slipped off him but stayed at his side as water streamed off our naked bodies and we looked at the City of Hammers in the distance.
“Together, we go in, and we hit the forge. Forget Lycaonus. Just destroy the forge.”
“Move fast. Strike hard,” I agreed, taking deep breath, a familiar surge of defiance boiling up from somewhere deep within.
Kiel snarled, fur sprouting across his body. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The horse-drawn cart clattered along the road, and my heart beat in time with each bump of the wheels.
“Easy,” Kiel rumbled from where he sat beside me on the single plank that served as seats for the ore-hauler. His hand landed on my upper thigh, sending a shock through me so strong I nearly jumped in the air. “Whoa.”
I exhaled slowly through soot-stained lips, resisting the urge to swipe at the grimy covering we’d rubbed into our skin to better blend in as we approached the black steel gates of Nycitum.
“Sorry,” I said at last, trying to gather the frazzled pieces of my nerves. “I’m not sure why I’m so on edge.”
“Better to get it out now,” Kiel said, his head and back bowed forward still, playing the part of the downtrodden, depressed miner to the fullest.
I did my best to copy the posture, but it was hard. We were so close to achieving a major win. And my inner demons screamed at me that it would go horribly, horribly wrong.
