Page 21 of Blood and Fate

A wave of exhaustion washed over her. She’d awoken that morning in her bed and now she was in a tent in the enemy’s camp, surrounded by soldiers, with no idea what sort of morals any of her captors had. But she was so tired.

She lay down on her side, head on the pillow, feet still hanging off the bed and, in spite of her situations and surroundings, slept.

Hands. One holding her down, the other pawing at the laces of her dressing gown. A mouth moved over hers, preventing her from screaming. Her heart thudded and her breath would not come as she wrestled to be free of the weight of the man on top of her. She freed one of her arms and brought her curled fingers up, digging her nails into his face.

His head snapped to the side but his gaze quickly returned to hers, his look glaring at first and then morphing into something more sinister as he repinned her arms above her head.

He leaned in, his lips brushing her cheek as he snarled into her ear, “When will you learn that you can’t fight me?”

His hand moved below her line of sight, resting on her hip, pinching the skin there until it hurt.

“Get off me!” she cried, fighting and flailing, but he only laughed. She screamed again. “Get off me!”

Nothing. He didn’t budge and he didn’t stop. She whipped her head from side to side, trying to move her arms, her legs—anything.

“Get off! Get off! Get off!”

And then the words were lost in a scream.

CHPTER NINE

KAIS

Hands pulled at his clothes. Eyes glared. A female voice screamed, “Get off me!”

Kais’ eyes snapped open, already half sitting up before he realized he’d been dreaming. Had the voice that had woken him been real? He inclined his head, holding his breath, listening. No sounds greeted him.

Something in his chest squeezed, cutting off his air for a moment before he could pull it back and refill his lungs. Satori. He threw the blanket off, and, grabbing his pants from the chair, dove into them. He snatched his whip from the desk and flew from the tent, not bothering with a shirt.

He raced through the camp, the few men still awake or keeping watch looking on, alarm filling their eyes. He didn’t pause to explain. Again his chest seized with panic as fear hit him. Was it his fear? Hers? He skidded to a stop outside her tent. Quiet. All was quiet. What in Helias?

“Kais?” Teague jumped to his feet from where he had been lounging just outside the entrance to the tent.

He was guarding her. Kais hadn’t told him to do that. He gave a quick shake of his head; he would think about that later. “Where is she?”

Teague’s eyes were wide, swirling with confusion. “The Princess?” He glanced from the tent flap to Kais. “Sleeping.”

No. Kais’ breaths heaved. She couldn’t be alone, there was too much panic. As if to punctuate his thoughts, a pained moan filled the silence, followed by a piercing shriek.

Kais’ eyes went wide as he dove into the small tent and skidded to a stop. Asleep. She was asleep and clearly having a nightmare. He stepped closer, and before he realized what he was doing, he had laid his hand on her shoulder. That same jolting spark from when they’d danced together shot up his arm, and he froze, waiting, but instead of waking, she stilled.

He lowered himself to his knees, studying her face. Her brow was pinched, and pieces of her golden blonde hair were pasted to her forehead with perspiration. Her heart thudded, and it took him a moment to realize how he knew that. He felt it. The thudding of her heart reverberated in his own chest. His forehead creased. What was she doing to him? How was this even possible? And what had caused her so much anxiety? What did a Princess have to fear as she slept?

As he watched, studying her, trying to understand, her pinched brow smoothed, and her breathing, which had been erratic and labored when he’d entered the tent, returned to normal.

He stood, finally removing his hand from her shoulder. A shudder or a shiver worked its way through her. He lifted her feet onto the cot and carefully shook out the blanket folded at the bottom of the bed to cover her.

There was no way to ignore the strange connection they had. It was most definitely not his imagination. It was real and odd and unexplainable, at least by him.

He rose and turned to find Teague standing at the open flap, a confused, questioning look on his face. “How did you know?”

Kais met his friend’s gaze. With a slight shake of his head, keeping his voice lowered, he said, “It woke me up.”

“What did?”

Kais pulled his lip between his teeth before releasing it. “I think I was having the same dream she was.”

He pointed his chin toward the entrance, and Teague stepped through. Kais followed, allowing the flap to fall closed heavily behind him.

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