Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Dravic gestured for her to keep moving.
Adira remained as she was, realizing this could no longer continue. Not now. Not when the secret she’d been protecting could place them both in danger.
Dravic’s expression hardened with impatience. He pointed ahead and then motioned for her to follow.
Adira caught his hand before he could finish.
He scowled. “We cannot—”
She rushed to touch her ear.
Dravic shook his head. “We have no time for—”
Adira pointed to him and touched her ear, repeating the gesture over and over.
His brow creased and he shook his head. “It’s not possible.”
She nodded rapidly.
Dravic’s eyes widened. “You can hear me?”
Adira nodded.
He didn’t move or speak. His eyes remained fixed on hers as shock gave way to a dozen questions, she could see gathering behind his stare.
“How long?”
She wished there was time for her to explain, wished she hadn’t needed to tell him here and now, but she had had no choice. Not if they were to escape.
She shook her head and pointed urgently behind them.
Dravic heard it then, voices carried faintly through the forest.
His head snapped toward the sound. Whatever he wanted to ask would have to wait.
He gripped her hand. “Run.”
This time, Adira didn’t need a gesture. She ran.
The trees swallowed them quickly.
Dravic kept Adira close as they ran, choosing no path and trusting the thick forest to conceal them. Branches clawed at his cloak and uneven ground threatened their footing, but he refused to slow until the voices behind them had faded.
Only then did he pull Adira behind the broad trunk of an ancient tree and hold one finger to his lips.
The gesture was unnecessary. That realization struck him hard.
Adira knew what was coming before he spoke.
“You heard me last night.”
Her heart jumped. Of all the questions she expected, that was not the first.
Dravic’s gaze remained fixed on hers. “When I told you I loved you.”
There was no anger in his voice. Only certainty as something that had puzzled him finally made sense.
Her reaction. The tears. The way she had clung to him.
Adira nodded.
He reached for her, his hand settling against the side of her face. “You heard me.”
She nodded again, smiling this time.
Dravic kissed her.
It was brief, fierce, and completely unsuited to two people being hunted through a forest, but he didn’t give a damn.
When he lifted his head, Adira touched his chest, then rested her hand over her own heart.
Dravic understood. “You love me.”
She nodded.
The pleasure that struck him was fierce enough to make him want to drag her back into his arms, but distant voices reminded him they had no time for what he wanted.
“Later,” he said firmly. “You are going to tell me everything you can about when this started.”
Adira nodded.
“And everything you’ve heard.”
Her smile faded slightly.
Dravic’s eyes narrowed. “That much?”
She gave him an innocent look that fooled him not at all.
“Bloody hell.”
Adira nearly smiled again.
Dravic caught her hand. “Come. We need to put more distance between us and the village.”
They had barely started forward when Fiora darted through the trees.
“They know you’re gone.”
“How many are following?”
“Enough.”
Fiora flew ahead as Dravic and Adira continued through the forest.
They moved quickly, though Dravic no longer had to divide his attention between watching for danger and making certain Adira understood every command. He could simply speak to her.
“Stay close.”
She did.
“Watch the ground.”
She stepped around a fallen limb.
“Stop.”
Adira stopped instantly when he heard something ahead.
He raised his hand, signaling Fiora to remain where she was, then listened. Nothing followed. After another moment, he started forward again.
Adira suddenly tightened her grip on his hand.
“What is it?” he asked, and listened, thinking he missed a sound.
She pointed toward a tree several feet away.
Dravic followed her gesture.
A symbol had been carved deeply into its trunk. One of the same markings Seger’s men had begun noticing days ago… markings of the Morvane Clan.
He went to it. The carving was old, the edges weathered and darkened with age. Another symbol marked a tree farther ahead, and beyond that he could make out yet another. There were more here than he had seen anywhere along their journey.
Dravic recalled the message from the High Council warning that Morvane carvings were appearing farther into Driochmor. But these markings were old, not freshly made, and that could mean only one thing.
“We are well inside the land these symbols mark.”
Adira continued staring at the nearest one. Something about it troubled her. Then her eyes widened. She released Dravic’s hand and reached into the pocket of her skirt.
He watched her pull out a small pouch, open it, and remove something wrapped inside.
A necklace.
She held it out to him.
His attention went first to her face and then to the object resting on her palm. The necklace Feena had managed to briefly mention that Adira had shown her just before her abduction. He had forgotten all about it.
Adira pointed toward the carving on the tree and back at the necklace.