Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(60)
“You’re losing your glamour, Ariella,” Merrick growled impatiently, shaking me by the shoulders. “Dammit, wake up. I won’t be able to fight them for you.” I heard him getting angrier and cussing as my chasers dismounted their horses and took slow, curious steps toward me. The pain in my head pounded harder, but if these were minions of the dark sorcerer I was going to take them out no matter what.
Taking a few deep breaths, I grasped the handle of the dagger and slowly pulled it out of its sheath. It wasn’t until I heard one of the riders speak that I realized who they were. My glamour was gone, and even from a distance I knew they would be able to tell who I was. Relaxing my hold on the dagger, I breathed a sigh of relief and let my head rest lightly on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Merrick hissed.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “I know who they are. They aren’t going to hurt me.”
“Who are they?”
I couldn’t reply because in the next instant, a pair of midnight blue eyes and stark, white blond hair came into my field of vision. The man above me had changed since the last time I saw him, but his angelic face had stayed the same. The hair that used to hang low down his back was now cut shorter and tousled in messy spikes on top of his head. It didn’t take away from the ethereal beauty of his race; it made him more handsome.
He scooped me up off the ground and sighed heavily. “Holy hell, Your Highness, please forgive me. My eyes must have deceived me because I could have sworn I was chasing a warrior.”
“You were,” I told him groggily. I was exhausted and in pain, and I didn’t want to lose consciousness … not yet.
Carrying me in his arms, he managed to mount his horse by pulling up on the saddle with one hand and keeping me balanced with the other. “Are you hurt?” he asked softly.
He touched the back of my head and I winced. “Just right there where you touched. My horse knocked me off when you shot her. I think you owe me big time after this.”
“I don’t know if I can ever make up for hurting you, Ariella. I was told you had gone missing so we’ve been trying to track you down. We need to get you home where you’ll be safe. We were on our way there in hopes we could intercept you when one of my men scouted you out. He thought you were a traitor headed toward the Black Forest.”
“You can’t take me home,” I pleaded, my eyes wide. “I will do whatever you want me to just please don’t take me back. Everything I’ve done would be for nothing. Please, Bastian …”
Bastian groaned and closed his eyes. “You do realize how this will complicate things if Bayleon finds out I found you and didn’t bring you back. Not only will I have his wrath, but your lover’s as well. I think I need something in return for this favor,” he decided.
“What happened to owing me?” I muttered incredulously.
“What happened to doing whatever I want just so I wouldn’t take you back?” he countered mockingly.
Merrick smirked. “This guy is good. I guess with being what he is he perfected the art of manipulation over the years.”
Narrowing my gaze, I huffed and pursed my lips at Bastian, ignoring Merrick’s comment. “Fine, what do you want?”
Smiling, he pulled on the reins and we set off deeper into the woods. “I only want one night with you, Ariella. Now that you are queen, I know I will never get a night like this for as long as I live.”
“What do you mean by one night with me, Bastian? You know I can’t give you what you want,” I murmured warily.
He sighed and rolled his eyes. “I know that and I would never ask that of you unless you came to me willingly. I can feel it in your soul how much you love your king and I know you would never betray that bond.”
“Then what is it that you want?”
Bastian gazed up at the dark sky and then down to me. I was still clutched in his arms as we rode through the blackness of the Mystical Forest. “There are only a couple of hours left until dawn. All I want is for you to talk to me like you had before, like I was someone who was worthy of your time.”
“But you are worthy, Bastian. You can’t help the way you were born. I just wish there was a way I could break the curse on your people. I do want to see you happy,” I uttered wholeheartedly.
He smiled and held me tighter. “Being with you tonight will make me happy. You have no idea how much. I promise to let you go at dawn.”
“Thank you, Bastian. It means a lot,” I said.
“Anything for you.”
BASTIAN AND KRILL, the other Tyvar who had helped chase me down, built a small camp under the canopy of trees on the outskirts of the Mystical Forest. Merrick stayed with me the entire time, sitting in the corner of the little hut that Bastian and Krill made as our makeshift shelter. For the past couple of hours, I talked to him about many things … normal things, and also the fact that I could see my sister’s dead guardian and that he was accompanying us. I wasn’t too sure if he believed me or not since I took a hard hit to the head.
Bastian wasn’t accustomed to having a female around that could talk to him without wanting to rip his clothes off. You would think that would be any guy’s dream to have naked women around you all the time, but I was wrong. I felt how lonely and sad he was not knowing what it would be like to have a normal life. He got a taste for it with Meliantha when she kissed him, and I could see it in his eyes that he wanted to feel it again.