To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2)(76)

The Omaja stone glowed in Jiandra’s left palm. She hid its light under her cloak and placed her right hand over the mutilated ear. Seconds later, when she removed her hand, the ear was restored to one piece. Tears of relief ran down Graciella’s cheeks, and Yavi caressed her jaw gratefully.

“Where else are you hurt, sister?” Jiandra whispered.

Yavi answered for her. “Terijin clawed her arm, here.” He pulled Graciella’s ripped, bloody sleeve aside to reveal the wound.

Jiandra placed her hand over the angry claw wounds, healing them as well. “Anything else, sweet girl?”

Graciella shook her head. “No, I don’t think so,” she whispered. “But I’m scared. Let’s go soon!”

“Yavi, do you need healing first?” Jiandra asked.

“No. Let’s get out of here.” Yavi glanced over his shoulder. “Where are your horses?”

“In the woods there, not far.” Yajna pointed south. “But where should we go, brother? They will look for us at the palace. We’ll need to gather our forces before we go back there.”

“What good will forces do against creatures that can’t be killed?” Yavi swore under his breath. “Let’s head northwest, to the monastery. Volkan will know what to do.”

Yajna nodded, grasping Jiandra’s hand. “We’ll try to follow your route, but if we can’t catch up with you, we’ll meet you at the monastery. Godspeed, brother.”

Yavi grabbed his brother’s wrist in a handshake, then removed his cloak and placed it around Graciella’s shoulders. He mounted Sikar, reaching down to pull her up behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he guided the horse through the darkened woods, heading north. He wanted to go around the far side of Faril before heading west, to put as much distance as he could between their scent and the Vyrkune army gathering at the tower.

§

Graciella clung nervously to Yavi’s strong waist as they galloped along a forest road that was little more than a trail, shivering in the chilly night air despite wearing his cloak. They rode hard for what seemed like hours before Yavi eventually stopped to rest Sikar. He halted the horse in the cover of the trees, then reached up to grasp her waist and set her on her feet. He took her hand and pulled her with him as he led the horse to a creek nearby.

While Sikar drank, Yavi crouched to tear a strip of fabric from the hem of Graciella’s ruined skirt. He soaked it in the creek, then made her face him, lifting her hair out of the way so he could clean the blood from her ear and neck with the cold, wet rag. “Are you all right, Sheir-zin?” he asked as he worked.

She nodded and drew his cloak tighter around her torso, shivering as she peered gratefully up at his face in the moonlight. “I can’t believe you gave up the emperor’s ruby…for me.”

He wiped the dried blood off her arm, then stroked her cheek. “What good is that ruby to me without you, Graciella?”

She gazed up at his exotic silvery eyes, loving him more than ever. “But does this mean you aren’t emperor now?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

“You don’t?”

“I never asked to rule Nandala. The Black Armies hailed us as emperors when we killed Thakur, but neither Yajna nor I were fighting him so we could gain power for ourselves. We just wanted to help Nandala be free from his tyranny.” He rubbed the pad of his thumb gently around the corner of her mouth. “For my part, I could be happy as a peasant farmer living in a little cottage with you for the rest of my days.”

Graciella swallowed, staring up at his handsome face.

“When I got back to your room earlier tonight to find you gone, I went crazy, Sheir-zin.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t use the sword techniques you’ve been teaching me. When Uman and Terijin broke my door down, I just stood there gaping at them like a fool.”

“How could you be expected to fight off two Vyrkune by yourself, my love? If I had known what we were dealing with, I would have stayed there to protect you.” He leaned down to press a soft kiss to her lips, caressing her waist. “Sweet, beautiful Graciella. Thank Tejeshwar I found you in time.”

She pressed herself closer to him. “How are we going to kill those things?”

“I don’t know.” He tightened his embrace, cradling her head against his chest. “But I will not let them near you again, even if I have to keep killing them over and over throughout eternity.”

“Gods forbid.”

He kissed the top of her hair. “Volkan will know what to do. I’m sure of it.”

Graciella pictured the old monk’s kind face. “I am looking forward to seeing him again. I felt so drawn to him when we were at the monastery. This is probably silly of me, but I wanted him to be my grandfather.”

“He was drawn to you as well.”

“He said I would bring hope to Nandala, but I think all I’ve brought to this land is trouble.”

“No,” Yavi protested, stroking her hair. “He meant me. You’ve brought hope to me, Graciella.”

She looked up at him. “I have?”

He touched her cheek. “I feel alive again, free. I’ve been like a dead man for six years, a prisoner in that palace. I had resigned myself to isolation and bitterness.”