Page 47 of Seduced
“We should get someone to take more food into the village,” I mutter to Aiden.
He gives me a small smile. “I’ll take care of it. You two go rest so you can take over for when Jack and I burn out.”
Ty and I peel off down the hall, away from the crowd. Now that the children are in their parents’ care again, my adrenaline comes crashing down hard. I sway on my feet and barely make it to Aiden’s bedroom, which has curiously been left untouched by the kids. Maybe they were too scared of rolling around in their clan leader’s bed. Whatever the case, I’m grateful for it. Ty and I set the alarm to wake us up in a couple of hours and collapse on the bed side by side, wrapped in each other’s arms.
Tired as I am, I expect to fall asleep immediately, but my mind is too wired to rest at first. Ty’s breathing slows, and his arm becomes heavier where it rests on my waist. In the darkened bedroom, I can barely make out the black crescents of his eyelashes and the straight, pointed slash of his nose.
My last thought before I slip into exhausted sleep is that I don’t want to leave. I don’t. I want to stay here forever and live with Aiden, Ty, and Jack in the Lodge, creating a big and unconventional family. But if my departure is the only way to keep them safe, I’ll do it.
Even if it will break my heart forever.
Twenty-One
Skye
Over the next day,I act as a ferryman between the village and the Lodge. Work has started on the ruined buildings, and since I’m neither a carpenter nor a muscular supernatural creature, I’m left with the task of waiting at the edge of the spell for anyone who might need to cross the enchanted barrier. The only people who can find the Lodge are the ones who were inside the salt circle when I cast the spell, and they all have more important tasks to do.
The job requires me to stand here for long stretches of time, waiting for the folks to show up. I brought a folding chair to sit on, but not moving soon proved to be a bad idea. The end of September in Alaska brings a change in the weather, and the last thing I want is to get hypothermic again. That’s why I’m wearing half my wardrobe, complete with double wool mittens and thermal long underwear beneath my jeans. It’s bulky, but it works.
I walk along the shimmering golden perimeter of the spell, jumping up and down to get the blood flowing. I might be a little bored, but this interlude has also meant I’ve had a minute tothink. And I’ve come to a decision. Tonight, I’ll speak with the guys about leaving. If I draw the witches away from the village, the dragons might have time to either relocate, at least temporarily, or shore up their defenses.
They won’t want me to go. For Ty especially, another loved one leaving him will be a blow, I know that. But I would rather break his heart than risk him becoming just another body washed up on the tide.
A shiver runs up my back, and I stop, then look over my shoulder. I have a nagging feeling that someone is watching me, and I try to shake it off. The break-in that happened a couple of weeks ago had shaken me badly, but I’d concluded it must have been Devlin Ward’s doing. He’d been hell-bent on finding proof against me, and he’d trashed my cabin as a result. But he’s dead. And the witches wouldn’t dare come this close to the village in broad daylight. Would they?
I stifle a frustrated growl. The sad fact is that I have no idea. I don’t even know how many people arrived in Alaska to hunt me down. The airfield security had seen two people skulking around the hangar, but what if they were only scouts? Maybe my coven thought me so dangerous that they sent a whole bunch of people.
Ugh. This kind of speculation won’t get me anywhere. The only hope I have is that the dragons would win the fight against the witches by sheer numbers, even though that’s not a game I would willingly play if other options were available. While dragons have their supernaturally strong and resilient forms, as well as the brute strength and fire-breathing power, they can only defend themselves at close range. Witches, on the other hand, excel at long-distance attacks and subterfuge, rarely engaging in one-on-one fights. The fires in the village, and, I suspect, the burning of the boats in the harbor, were excellent examples of their favorite kind of warfare.
I return to the path leading to the village and try to peer around the corner. No one is walking toward the village, though the sound of hammering floats over on a swift sea breeze. The ends of my hair tremble in the wind where they poke from under my knit hat. In a minute, I’ll have to go to the Lodge to use the toilet and grab a cup of tea from the kitchen.
Now that all the small children are staying at the Lodge—the teenagers were given simple tasks in the village under Juniper’s supervision in the hopes of keeping them out of mischief—Ty is back in his element, cooking up all his childhood favorites. He made pigs in a blanket for breakfast, only he used smoked herring instead of cocktail-sized hot dogs. I have to admit I’m not a fan. Lunch was seriously decadent mac-and-cheese, though, so I forgave him and pressed a kiss on his cheek, which prompted the little kids to squeak in outraged disgust, then burst out laughing.
I smile at the thought and step through the enchanted barrier. I’ll have a look down the track, see if anyone’s coming closer, then hurry back to the Lodge for that tea. Maybe we could put a bell of some sort at the point where the path meets the edge of the spell, so I could make myself useful in the Lodge instead of standing guard here.
A shimmer on my left is the only warning I get before a shape slams into me, knocking me to the ground. I cry out, but a clammy hand closes over my mouth, stifling my scream. Struggling, I manage to get my knee between my attacker’s legs, and I jam it up to bust his balls, but he rolls away before I can do anything to hurt him.
“Shh,” he says, his lips so close to my ear his warm breath brushes my skin.
I shudder and try to twist away, but he’s stronger than me, and heavier. It’s not that surprising, given my short frame, but the reality of it is terrifying.
Trying to think of a way out, I stop struggling for a moment. Maybe if I appear docile, like I’m cooperating, I’ll get a chance to escape.
The man, whose face I still haven’t seen, waits, then scrambles to his feet, releasing me. “Hurry. We don’t have much time.”
I gape up at him from my position on the ground. “Cameron?”
His hood half obscures his face, and he’s grown a russet little beard since the last time I saw him, but it’s definitely my ex-fiancé in the flesh. How he hid from me, I have no idea—maybe some sort of glamor? I didn’t know he was this powerful, though. There was no hint of him anywhere before he sprang on me.
He holds out a hand to me. “Comeon, Skye! Anyone could come by. We need to move before they realize you’re gone.”
“But—” I say.
Cameron grabs my wrist and pulls me roughly to my feet. Then he drags me off the path and into the forest, our footsteps muffled by the layer of needles beneath the towering, dark fir trees. Already, it’s gloomy in here, the color leached out of the world by an early dusk.
“Cameron, stop,” I pant. I dig my heels in and try to halt his progress. “You have tolistento me.”
“No time,” he mutters. “We can talk once we’re far away from here.”
