Listening, but making it clear that if I said the wrong thing, I’d be dead in seconds.
“I don’t want what Westman wants,” I continued, swallowing around the tight pinching lump that had formed in my throat. “And I don’t believe what he believes. People are people, and they’re worthy of something more than being distorted and changed.”
The monster stood stalwart, but I was still trembling from how close it had come to me. Tears rolled down my face, and my heart was wide open and full of emotions I had tried my entire life to keep pressed down. I never wanted to feel inferior but, more than that, I never wanted to feel sorry for myself for being inferior.
No wonder this thing… no, this person… wanted to kill us. He probably hadn’t seen anyone in decades who didn’t look upon him with horror and disgust.
“Listen to me,” I said, hesitating a little before placing my hand on his arm. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make this right for you. Whether you let us pass or not, I’m going to do everything I can. But it would really make things easier and speed things up if you let us through.”
The creature looked down at me, blinking back what looked to be tears of his own. His opened his mouth to speak, and I settled myself to listen, hoping I had gotten through to him and that his next move wouldn’t be to murder us both.
A shot of red energy drove into him from behind. Instantly, he exploded into a burst of guts and blood, and all that gore showered me. The force of the blow knocked me backward, and I slammed hard against Karr, sending him to the ground.
“Are you all right?” I asked, looking back at him.
“I’m fine if you are,” he answered. “But we’re in deep shit.”
Looking up, I saw another pair of Ramblers. They were headed right toward us, the same red energy which had just killed the creature glowing from their hands. They had another net with them. They had come to take me again.
I scrambled to my feet, grabbing Karr’s hand and pulling him up. “We need to go.”
“Follow me,” he said quickly. “I know these woods like I know myself.”
He took my hand and jerked me forward. As we ran through the woods, the Ramblers followed, the swish of leaves and thump of falling branches indicating their location as they tore through behind us.
I stayed close to Karr. Not because I wanted him to protect me, but because these people wanted me alive, and that meant they wouldn’t dare take a shot at Karr if it meant they might hit me in the process. After having seen a blast from them rip through a mountain of a man, I certainly didn’t want to see the same thing happen to Karr. So I practically plastered my body to his as we ran.
“What are we—” I sucked in another breath as I ran. “—going to do?”
“We’re not going to do anything,” Karr answered breathlessly. “You are.”
“What?” I asked, my heart jumping.
“You got into the Sphere, which meant you got by at least a few guards unseen. How’d you do that?”
“I made myself invisible.”
“Great,” he said. “Do that.”
“I can’t,” I answered. “That took a ton of atern. If I try that now, I’ll die.”
“You’ve got more than you think,” he said, taking a hard left and motioning to my arm.
I balked as I looked down. Karr had transferred the bulk of his remaining energy into my band, leaving me with nearly ninety percent atern… and himself with barely a sliver.
“No, Karr! Why—”
“Just do it,” he shouted. “Do it now!”
I twisted my free hand and cast the same spell I’d used getting into the Sphere. I felt it cover over us, rendering us invisible. But I wasn’t sure how long it would last since I was shielding us both. It hadn’t covered just me very long at the sphere as it was.
I pulled Karr to the right, and we tumbled down a sharp hill. It didn’t feel good, and it probably didn’t make much sense to him as we rolled over pointed rocks and hard ground until we reached the bottom, but we would lose them like this. The Ramblers wouldn’t think we’d throw ourselves down here, and they wouldn’t be able to see that we had. They’d be looking for us on the next level up, and that meant we could get away.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t our biggest issue.
“I can’t hold this,” I said as Karr and I came to a stop at the end of the hill. “It’ll take more atern than this to keep both of us hidden.”
“Then don’t keep us both hidden,” Karr said, standing and pulling me to my feet.
“No way,” I said, following his train of thought.
“I know we didn’t go through all this for nothing,” he said. “There’s bigger things at stake here. So if one of us has to die—”
“Then we both do,” I said. “Because I will not make that choice.”
Karr’s eyes bore into my own. “If I have to,” he said, “I’ll make the choice for you.”
Chapter 27
I wasn’t about to let Karr kill himself so we could save the faction. As much as I was able to understand that there was something bigger than either of us at stake here, this world had lost enough good people. There had to be another way, and I needed to find it—fast.
“Over there,” I blurted, before I’d ever gotten a good look at what I was suggesting.
Drilled into the foot of a mountain was a cave. I didn’t know yet if it was strong enough or big enough or safe enough, but it was enough to distract Karr from giving me the rest of his before I could stop him.
“Are you sure that will hold?” he asked.
“It better,” I muttered.
We scrambled over, and as soon as I was sure we were out of sight, I redirected the energy which shielded us onto the cave itself. We would remain invisible so long as we stayed within it, and since hiding living, moving things took much more atern than hiding an inanimate object, the spell would be able to last a little longer.
Karr knelt onto the floor of the cave and looked out at the opening. The Ramblers were out there somewhere. Hopefully soon, that somewhere would be far away from this somewhere, because I’d already fallen below half of an atern bar to get us here.
“You should take some of this back,” I told him, holding my atern bracelet out.
He shook his head. “Not yet. We don’t know how long you’ll need to keep the spell up, or how much energy you’ll use.”
“But you’re nearly at zero,” I said, persisting. “That’s the equivalent of being on the brink of death where a sneeze could kill you.”
Karr waved me off. “We’ll reassess later.”
Shortly after that, Karr began building a fire with two sticks and a handful of brush that an old storm must have blown into the cave.
He rubbed the sticks together furiously, while I wished for a spark and fantasized about how nice it would be to be able to use atern for something like this.
I stared outside the mouth of the cave, looking for any sign of the Ramblers. I hadn’t been here nearly as long as Karr had, all things considered. Still, I felt as though I knew enough to know he wasn’t as worried as he should be. The spell didn’t keep anyone out. It only kept those on the outside from seeing what was on the inside.
If these people decided to come into this cave, we were in trouble. To make matters worse, we had only enough atern to keep ourselves alive for a couple days at the most, and that didn’t factor in the slow bleed of atern being used for the invisibility spell.
If we didn’t get to the safe house before time ran out, we’d be corpses on the forest floor.
“Maybe we can finally get some sleep,” he said as though there weren’t a million different reasons to worry, a million different reasons to stave off sleep.
“How can you even be thinking about that at a time like this?” I asked, shaking my head but not turning to him.
“It’s not really up to me, is it?” he asked, still hard at work on the would-be fire. “My body tells me when to sleep, and right now it�
��s telling me I should have slept days ago.”
“You know what my body is telling me?” I asked, finally turning to him.
“That you need to get out of those wet clothes?” he asked, his eyebrows darting upward.
A wave of heat ran through my cheeks at the idea of disrobing in front of him. “What?” I clenched my teeth. “No. It’s telling me I need to keep vigilant, that I need to think of a way out of this.”
“And how are you going to do that if you’re falling asleep standing up?” he asked, a spark finally lighting up the brush. It spread quickly, creating a little fire all our own. “There we go,” he said, smiling and standing up.
“I’m not falling asleep,” I muttered. It was a weak rebuttal. I was as exhausted as I had ever been.
“Not yet,” he said, shrugging. “But soon enough, and you’ll get sick if you don’t get out of those clothes.”
Raising his hands over his head, he peeled off his shirt, revealing a smooth, toned, and sopping wet chest. His body glistened against the firelight, and I spun around quickly, hoping my face wasn’t displaying what my mind was thinking.
“Why do you think I started the fire?” he asked.
To seduce me? I thought, but of course, I didn’t say that.
“To keep us warm while our clothes dried. Don’t worry,” he continued. “I won’t look.”
But as I turned around, it became very clear that I was the one who was going to have trouble with not looking. Karr was down to his underwear, which were wet as well and clinging to his body. He was a vision standing there, glowing every bit as brightly as the fire. His gaze slid over to me and locked on my own. Inside his eyes was something I wasn’t sure I had ever seen in him before. Even when he told me he loved me, I hadn’t noticed this carnal thing, this barely masked hunger dancing across his face.
“I’ll turn around,” he said, but he just stood there. Still looking at me. Still watching me, probably because I was still staring at him.
“No, that’s okay,” I said, more desperation in my voice than I imagined would ever be there. “I mean, don’t bother. What does it matter? We’re going to be in this place together all night anyway. We’re going to have to look at each other eventually.”
He laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair. His arm arched up, shaping up into a mouthwatering bicep. He grinned, then turned around anyway.
Mortified, my cheeks burned. What did I think he was going to do? Had I just basically invited him to watch me strip? How weird was that?
Hurriedly, I peeled my clothes off, too, save for my bra and panties. They were every bit as wet as my outerwear, but I intended to preserve a little modesty, even if he wasn’t looking. I set my clothes by the fire, then sat down on the ground, knees tucked to my chest.
“I’m done,” I said. “I mean, it’s not like we have anything dry to change into.”
Karr scratched the back of his head, then slowly turned around. “Right. I just didn’t want to—”
“No, it’s okay.”
He sat across from me, on the other side of the fire. The hunger that’d been barely masked before was now not hidden at all. He swallowed hard, his chest heaving upward and his lips disappearing into a thin pale line on his face.
“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he finished.
My cheeks were on fire, and not from the heat of the flames. “You know, we used to go swimming dressed pretty much the same. When we were kids.”
“When we were kids,” he echoed.
“Are you okay?” I asked, looking at him and gauging his reaction.
“I’m fine,” he answered breathlessly. “What about you?”
“Fine,” I assured him. “A little cold.”
“Come over here,” he said, his voice a little clipped the way he got whenever he was trying to hide some emotion or another. Those little details about him were something I’d learned over the years, even if I’d never been able to figure out which emotions he’d been holding back
I did as he asked, bridging the gap between us and settling right beside him. As warm as the fire was, it was nothing compared to the heat coming off Karr in waves. His arm came around my shoulders, a bit quickly. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. Like maybe he was worried he’d lose his nerve.
“Is that better?” he asked, his eyes drilling into me, stripping away all my defenses like they were my last layer of clothing. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to melt into him, to press myself against his chest, let him wrap me up in strong arms, and forget the rest of the world.
In some ways, that had been all I had ever wanted. Since I was young, back in House One, all I’d wanted was for him to make me his, to see me for the woman I was, and to treat me like it. Now that it seemed I was so close to making that yearning a reality, I couldn’t so much as string words together.
“Better,” I repeated, my heart racing and my skin tingling, waiting for his touch.
He moved near me, his hand coming to rest on my arm. Sparks flew inside of me, and I panicked as my heart leapt.
Turning away, I said the first thing that came to mind, the thing I absolutely shouldn’t have said, the thing I didn’t want him to know.
“Westman said he was my father.”
“What?” Karr asked. He turned me back toward him, but I couldn’t look him in the eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Tears started behind my eyes, and I shook my head. “Westman,” I said. “When you and I were separated, he took control of the woman’s body. He spoke to me. He said the reason he wanted me here was because we were family, because he imbued my dad with his energy and that’s what gave birth to me. He said it was why my eyes were this color, why I had to come here. He said I was his, that I was just like him.”
I couldn’t help it. Tears started pouring down my face.
“Hey,” Karr said, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “You stop that right now.”
“What if he’s right?” I asked, unearthing the fear I’d held to myself for so long now. “What if he is my father? What if the energy he has is responsible for me?”
“Then he did one good thing in his damned life,” Karr said, letting go of my hand, taking my face in his hands and lifting it up to meet his gaze. “It doesn’t matter who your father is. It doesn’t matter who your mother is. You’re you, Lara. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever known. Don’t let someone who doesn’t know you tell you different.”
I shook my head. “I don’t… I don’t know.”
“Well, I do,” he said, cupping my chin and holding my face still. “Do you think I’d fall in love with anyone other than the best person the faction has to offer?”
I didn’t. But then, that was why I hadn’t thought I had a shot with him. Maybe that insecurity came from being an orphan, a girl no one had ever wanted before.
“I know you,” Karr continued. “I love you. And trust me, believe me, Westman doesn’t matter. Only you do.”
Unable to hold back anymore, I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my lips to his.
Then, as I had been dreaming of doing since as far back as I could remember, I melted into him.
Chapter 28
I dove into Karr, pressing my lips against his, my muscles tensing as I felt him under me. We were in a cave. Aside from the fire, the place was dark and empty. It certainly wasn’t the setting in which I saw this happening. In fact, I hadn’t really imagined it happening at all for a long time. We had been so distant. Before I realized what had gone on, I’d hated him so much.
I didn’t hate him now, though. Not even a little. As I pushed myself forward, pressing up against his body until he leaned back to rest against the floor of the cave, there was no doubt left in my mind about the way I felt about him.
As I always had and very likely always would, I loved this man with every beat of my orphaned heart. With every breath I took, with every thought that rushed through my head or intention that colored my actions, I yearn
ed for him.
His arms wrapped around me, large hands settling at the small of my back. This place was so warm, so different from the chill that existed in the faction. None of it was hot as his touch, though, as warm and inviting as his lips against mine.
My hands were in his hair, rifling around as I soaked him in. A not-too-small piece of me was afraid. I had never been this naked in front of a man before, and I certainly had never done what it seemed like we were about to do. I didn’t know about Karr, of course. Our relationship hadn’t been the sort that involved us speaking freely about things like sex.
Still, I had my suspicions that he was like me: untrained in all of this and brand new to the road we were about to venture down. It made me feel good to think that, and not only because I enjoyed the idea of him being just as afraid of all of this as I was. I also wanted us to experience this for the first time together. I wanted him to be my first, but I wanted to be his first, too. And I wanted to be his only.
A low growl left his lips as he pressed them harder against mine. His hands traveled down the small of my back, resting at my backside and squeezing.
Sparks shot through me as I felt his chest heave against mine. A sharp intake of breath followed, and I began to feel flush and lightheaded in the best possible way.
I felt every piece of him rise in response, and my body ached to take him in.
His lips pulled away from mine and moved to my neck. Small, insanely titillating nibbles followed, and I moaned without really meaning to. I’d never been overcome this way before, where I felt so out of control and enjoyed it so much at the same time.
My fingernails dug into his flesh, but he didn’t seem to mind. On the contrary, he pushed forward, giving renewed vigor to his actions as his nibbles on my neck intensified and his hands fumbled with the clasp of my bra.
“Push and then pull,” I said, giving him instructions on how to rid me of the damn thing.
Harvest: Faction 1: (The Isa Fae Collection) Page 14
