Page 22 of A Clash of Embers

I was taken aback. How dare she keep that from him. That wasn't her choice. I tensed and she saw my muscles clench together in anxiousness.

"What about me? What am I supposed to do in all of this?" I questioned her to avoid what I really wanted to say.

"You, my dear girl, are to continue this fight outside of the curse. You must go against your mate. You have to fight against him, to end this war once and for all."

I looked at my feet because I was anxious about the question, I wanted the answer to. I thought back to Susan, the innkeeper, and what she had told me.

“When I broke the curse, Theo told me he tied his life to Evander and Madok. I was pretty sure I killed them. That’s what broke the curse, so I’m not sure why...”

She held her hand up to me and smiled, “Oh, Clara. Do you really think Theo would do that? He is extremely smart and cunning. He knew the type of person you were. Therefore, he knew what would need to be done to get us out of the curse. To free his chains from Athiana.” She leaned in and whispered, “I think he was plotting that plan for a long time and I don’t think he did it alone.”

Chapter 9

The breeze knocked the hair off my shoulder and the tall grass tickled the inside of my thighs as I struck again towards Leo. He countered my move, blocking my sword strike, and laughed.

“Oh, come on, Clara. Is that all you got?”

I huffed out an aggravated breath as I lunged toward him again. This time disarming him and pressing the point of my sword at his throat.

As I stepped closer to him, I tilted my head to study his reaction. Slowly, I saw the heat in his eyes start to glow for me, and I smirked at how I made him react. I pressed the sword so tightly against his neck, nicking a part of his skin. A small trickle of blood fell down his throat. My head lifted higher to stare up into his gorgeous face.

“Looks like I win again, Leo.”

I saw the small smirk for an instant before he looked down at me with his amber eyes. Leaning down he grabbed the sword with his hand, pulling it away from his neck and throwing it on the ground.

Damn. That was hot.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Clara.” He took another step into me, pressing our chests against each other and placing his hands on my forearms. “Sure, you can win a battle.” I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him as his hand moved up my arm to grasp my chin, pulling my attention directly to him. “But just because you win a battle, doesn’t mean you win the war.”

That’s when his leg kicked mine out from under me causing me to fall onto my back in the tall valley grass. I laughed because he was right. I had to always be prepared for anything. He reached out his hand to me and I obliged him as I was pulled into view of his amused face.

“Alright, you can wipe the smugness off your face now,” I said to him.

The more I studied him, the more I became attracted to him. Yes, he was handsome but his gentle personality was the most stunning part of him.

A voice in the distance caught our attention as we turned to see Callan running through the valley towards us.

“You two out here fucking or what?”

I rolled my eyes and turned to look at a blushing Leo.

“Callan, you cannot come here saying those things. You should not speak of Clara in that manner.” Leo said with such propriety that I couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

Cal's smile crept over his features as he looked between the two of us and raised a brow. I knew Leo didn’t want to continue this conversation so I thought I’d end it.

I walked slowly towards Cal and his eyes beamed with anticipation. Walking directly toward him, I pressed my finger into his chest drawing soft, dainty swirls from shoulder to shoulder.

“You know. You should be careful about how you speak to me, Callan.” I edged closer to his face. “You never know what I might do.”

With a flick of my wrist, the grassy plant that grew in the valley rose up and wrapped around Callan’s ankles and wrists, causing him to panic. He’d never seen me use power like this before, and now he knew the power I held.

I rose up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Then, I heard the horn in the distance alerting us that it was almost time to board the ship to leave. I turned to face a surprised Leo and said, “We’d better go, don’t want to miss the ship.”

I heard a low chuckle leave Leo’s throat as we started to walk back towards the dock, leaving Callan tied by the plants in the field. In the distance I could hear a faint yell. “You guys are assholes! Blast the stars!”

We laughed as we boarded the same ship, we had arrived on over a week ago. Leo and I nestled into the stern of the ship once more and saw Callan running for his life to make the boat. He jumped off the dock, flapping his wings, and reached out to grab the rope tied off the stern of the ship. He held on and stared up at us.

Callan scoffed, “Seriously? Could one of you at least help me up before I drown?”

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