Rise of Fire (Reign of Shadows #2)(66)

Fowler leaned back slightly to shrug out of his doublet. “Don’t worry about me.” His arms came back to wrap around me, and we were kissing again. Hard, deep, soul-bending kisses. Fowler’s bigger body curled over mine, taking us down. Dried bits of grass crackled under the blanket cushioning us as we kissed until I could hardly catch my breath. “You’re all I need.”

I framed his face in my hands and reveled in the texture of his skin, the silk of his hair, the delicious weight of him over me. I traced his features, soaking him up, absorbing all of him. “I love you, Fowler,” I whispered, following his instructions and living in the now. Not worrying. Not thinking. Only feeling.

I listened to the strong and even cadence of Fowler’s heart beneath my ear. His chest rose and fell in slow draws. If he wasn’t asleep, he was very relaxed. I smiled softly. He needed rest.

My ears pricked and I lifted my head from the pillow of Fowler’s chest. A bark sounded in the distance. I lifted my head. “Did you hear that?”

“What?” Fowler asked, his voice alert and wide awake.

I rose to my feet. “It sounded like a . . . bark.”

“Your wolf?”

“No.” I wished it was Digger, but that wasn’t his bark. Digger rarely even barked. He was all stealth. “A dog, I think.” I angled my head to the side, listening harder.

Fowler moved to stand by my side, pulling his shirt over his head. I faced the direction of the sound. “There. I heard it again.”

“That’s south. Not the direction of Ainswind.”

I turned to face him. “That’s good, right?”

“I don’t know.” He hesitated a moment, listening by my side. A dog barked again. “I heard it,” he confirmed. It was a distinctive bark, low and hoarse. This time closer.

Fowler jumped into action, sliding back into his doublet, gathering up our things as one bark turned into two, then three. I joined him in packing up our belongings, our breaths fast and choppy with anxiety.

The barks overlapped now. There was more than one dog out there, and they were on the trail of something. Something like us.

Fowler turned in the direction of the barks again and froze.

“What is it? What’s happening?” I demanded, dread building as I tracked Fowler where he stood so still.

“My father used trained dogs. Whenever a group left Relhok City, the hounds would accompany them. He never traveled without them. They can track. They can detect dwellers long before us. They can also fight, attack on command, if necessary.”

“Your father?” I shook my head, bewildered. “He came himself?”

“Yes. My father. Cullan.” He paused. “He’s come for us, Luna. He’s come for you.”

I shook my head. “No. That can’t be—”

Fowler grabbed my hand and tossed me atop my horse. “It’s him,” he declared as he mounted his own horse.

We rode hard side by side, no longer concerned with the amount of sound we made. Alerting the dwellers to our presence was the least of our worries. We moved at breakneck speed, running away from a greater threat than those monsters.

I followed Fowler, keeping pace. If there was even a chance he was correct, then we needed to move. The barking grew closer, right on our heels, but we kept pushing. An arrow hissed on the air and my horse cried out, tumbling out from under me and sending me flying. I landed hard, all the air escaping me in a pained whoosh. I lay on the ground for a stunned moment.

“Luna!” Fowler’s shout rose over the thunder of hooves.

I blinked, chasing away the shock of my fall. Hands grabbed me, hauling me to my feet. I whipped my head around, trying to process the flurry of voices, horses, men, and scurrying dogs. It was an overwhelming din. Even the air tasted musky and sweat-laced. Bitter with fear. My fear.

“Luna! Luna! Are you hurt? Let her go! Let her go, you bastards!”

I shook my head, searching for my voice, trying to filter through the chaos of sensations bombarding me.

“Fowler.” A gruff, scratchy voice rose over all other sounds. “You look well, if not a little rough at the edges. Don’t tell me that King Tebald was not hospitable to you.”

My skin shivered with an innate, gut-deep knowledge. My voice welled up, a thick, jumbled lump of words in my throat. This was Cullan. The man who had murdered my parents. Untold, innumerable lives had died at his command. I’d waited my entire life to confront him. True, I’d hoped to have more leverage when that day arrived, but here I was.

My chance was now.





THIRTY-THREE


Fowler


I FACED MY father. I wasn’t certain the last time I had seen him. Days weren’t something one counted in this life. There were no seasons to mark the passing of time. No birthdays to celebrate—but it felt as if I’d lived a lifetime since the last time I stood before him.

He traveled with over a score of soldiers, all armed to the teeth. A dozen dogs circled the group impatiently, excited over their recent chase. I should have known if anything would rouse my father from the protection of Relhok City, news of Luna would do it.

He looked the same. The years had been good to him. Only faint lines fanned out from his face. His well-trimmed beard was lightly peppered with gray. He still wore his hair long, pulled back in a single plait. I had hoped that age and disease might take hold of him and spare the world, but that clearly wasn’t the case. I reached inside myself, searching for the familiar hate, but there was only dispassion—emptiness when I stared at this man who had failed me in every way.