Haven (War of the Princes) (43 page)

           
"From the fortress? You could see me?" I asked. I had only a trickle of energy in me, but now I was too compelled to want to close my eyes. The pain was present as ever. Since Rune was with me, it didn't hurt quite so much.

           
"You did something, Katelyn. I don't know how... but it was powerful," he looked like he wanted to say something more, but he was at a loss for words. "You lit up the hillside. I didn't know it was you at first. It was like lightning was pouring up from the ground. It had a shape... like a tree."

           
My lips parted. When it had happened, I had no idea what I'd done. To be honest, the logical part of me didn't even believe him. Then again, how could I argue what he'd seen with his own eyes?

           
 
A tree. I knew exactly which one. I could feel it. It was the tree in the storm.

           
"I rode as fast as I could to reach it," Rune said. "I got close, but it disappeared. When I arrived where the lightning was, I found you lying in a circle of ash, surrounded by a ring of flames. If it hadn't rained, the fire would have taken half this mountainside by now."

           
"
I
did this?" I asked, completely disbelieving. I'd created a tree out of lightning, large enough to see from the fortress
and
started a wild fire. It was difficult to swallow.

           
Rune nodded.

           
I was stunned. Bravely, I ventured to ask the most important of questions. "Stakes?"

           
"Dead," Rune confirmed, without any greater detail. My relief was so tremendous, the night itself seemed brighter. I exhaled a long and steady breath, letting the information sink in. He was dead. He couldn’t hurt me anymore. He couldn’t hurt my friends.

Inwardly, I wondered if he'd been reduced to a humanoid shape of charcoal but I didn't ask. I didn't really want to know. "I thought you were dead too. You weren't moving, and it looked like he tried to drain you,” Rune continued studying my face.

           
"He did," I agreed. It was my turn not to elaborate. Rune would probably assume that I meant he had
tried
to drain me, not that he
had
accomplished part of his goal. I was afraid that if I told Rune how far Stakes had gotten, he'd ask too many questions about it. I just wasn't ready for that. I wasn't sure if I'd ever be.

           
He didn’t press me for details, and I was grateful for that. I lifted a hand to my chest where the mechanism's teeth had sunk into my skin. I could feel a circle of freshly scabbed cuts, still raw to the touch.

           
"I thought you were dead when I removed it," Rune said. "But I saw you breathing, just barely. Whatever you did, it almost killed you. You had a fever. Hottest one I've ever felt. When you started mumbling, I could tell it was breaking. It happened so fast."

           
"I was mumbling? What did I say?" I asked, wondering if I should be embarrassed.

           
"Well, you called me an idiot twice," he told me.

           
A short laugh escaped me. "I'm sorry."

           
"It’s okay. I'm not arguing," he said, smiling at me.

           
"Did I say anything else?" I wondered, wincing.

           
"You called yourself a ghost," Rune said, looking amused.

           
I knew that he remembered calling me that very thing when we'd first met in a cave not so far away. At that point, he'd been the one with the fever.

           
"I guess you were right about me after all," I smiled, wondering how long our inside joke would bounce back and forth.

           
"They're going to come looking for you," Rune said, sobering.

           
The joke was over more quickly than I'd thought.

           
"I know," I said. The thought of Dragoon search parties hunting me down was daunting. I felt some of my meager energy drain away. I was so tired. Why couldn't they just leave me alone? "How long do we have?"

           
"A little time," he said. "For now, just gather your energy. Are you any warmer?"

           
"My back is," I said, wrapping my arms around my middle.

           
Without explanation, Rune stood and began to unfasten each piece of leather and steel armor. He placed every discarded bit in a neat pile that bespoke his military training. At first, I was worried that he was going to do the same thing with the black clothes he wore beneath. My concern was unfounded. He didn't undress. I was relieved, but somewhere, a part of me wondered what he looked like without a shirt on.

           
A blush rose to my cheeks and I hoped the firelight behind me was too dim for him to notice.

           
He sat down beside me, facing the fire, and reaching over, put his hand on my forearm. It was so warm I thought my skin would melt. Just the connection in that touch sent a sweet thrill through my body.

           
Gently, he pulled me around and positioned me so that my back was against his chest. He folded his arms protectively around me, his hands clasping my arms gently. My heart fluttered at what I thought must be an unnatural pace. I wondered if he could feel it.

           
He was so warm.

           
With the flames around us and Rune at my back, I felt the chill begin to surrender. I took in a deep breath and exhaled in relief. The pain I felt on the inside was receding too.

There were no words for how utterly good the moment felt as we just sat there, Rune and me, half encircled by flames on a night that we'd both nearly died.

Chapter 36: The Outside World

           
Stakes stood before me, grinning savagely.

           
"You're mine!" he screamed at me in slow motion. His jaw extended so far while he shouted that the last two strips of skin that crossed his jaw snapped apart.

           
Dylan betrayed me, Rune was gone, and Stakes was taking everything from me. He'd have Haven soon, but first he'd kill me. I didn't want it to be real. It couldn't be happening. I was just a normal girl. Desperately, I wished to be safe at home.

           
In unison, wrought iron bars came to life, stabbing me through my arm and side, while Stakes jabbed the needle end of the draining tube into his chest. The machine locked down just under my collarbone, heated up and blasted me with a shockwave that tore my soul straight out of my body.

*
         
*
         
*

           
I woke up with a shout, jerking up to a sitting position, ready to find myself in the clutches of my enemy.

           
"You're alright," Rune reassured me soothingly.
 
"You're safe."

           
Reality sunk in, but slowly. He was alive and hadn't moved a muscle since I'd fallen asleep against him. My relief that it had only been a nightmare was immeasurable.

           
Sighing, I relaxed against him, trying to calm down and shake off the horrible lingering feeling of my nightmare.

           
"I'm sorry," I said.

           
"There’s no reason to be," he answered softly.

           
His arms were still around me, protecting me from the chill night air. The fire flicked around us, but it was just a bit lower than it had been. How long had I been asleep? I didn't hear any intrusive sounds in the brush. It seemed like we were still safe, for the moment.

           
I found myself looking up at Rune, admiring everything about him. It was involuntary... I couldn't help it. The shape of his face, the rich color of his brown skin, and of course those sharp blue eyes. There was something so perfect about him.
      

           
"Your face," I said, my eyes running over the deep gash on his cheek. "Will it heal?"

           
"I won't lose the mark if that’s what you mean," he replied. I marveled at the feeling of my back against his chest and the way I could feel it rumble when he spoke.

           
"I'm sorry," I said feeling heavy with empathy. It was bad enough he had to endure that pain, but now it would mark his face forever, a constant reminder of what he’d been through for me.

           
"You keep saying that," he said, neutrally.

           
"I can't help it."

           
"This scar... it doesn't matter. There's no reason for a Dragoon to be pretty," Rune said. He was right, according to the cruel laws of his world.

           
"Don't worry Dragoon, you'll always be pretty to me," I said with a teasing smile.

           
He was sad. It shone in his eyes. Maybe he didn't believe me.

           
"Are you feeling better?"

           
"Yes," I replied. I was tired and still felt a sharp, focused pain in many parts of my body. Anyone who has experienced true agony realizes that there can be several levels of pain, and after feeling the worst of it, nothing else is quite as bad. That was how it seemed to me anyway. I was feeling awful, but, oddly enough, it was an improvement. It felt good to be so warm. Even that smallest comfort made me smile. Knowing Rune was here with me contributed to it all the more. I just wanted to hug him, dance around and shout up to the stars that we were alive.

           
Rallying my strength, I sat up, pulling away from him. He let go of me gently. He was so careful, the way he touched me. It was like I was a girl made of paper and any gesture too strong might dent my surface.

           
Following my lead, he rose to his feet, never complaining about holding my weight as I'd slept. Even if he didn't say it, I was sure he must have pins and needles in his legs. I did.

           
Rune offered me a hand and helped me to stand.

           
"We should leave now, shouldn't we?" I asked, still feeling wobbly.

           
He nodded. "We stayed longer than we should have, but under the circumstances, it seemed necessary."

           
While Rune stepped away to replace his armor, I checked the makeshift bandage Dylan had applied to my arm.

           
"He was with Stakes you know," I told Rune. "Dylan."

           
He looked up as he gingerly clasped the armor closest to his wounded shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said awkwardly. I know he wasn't broken hearted about the turn of events, but he wasn't cold either.

           
"He was a Commander," I added, looking at the scorched ground around the fire. It still hurt, thinking about how he'd turned on me. The memory was as fresh and painful as my injuries. "Did you know?"

           
"He was the person watching over you. Do you really think I wouldn't have told you if I knew?" he asked, incredulous.

           
"I don't think I need to remind you that you didn't tell me
anything
for a very long time," I retorted, shooting him a sour look.

           
Frustrated, he fastened the remaining pieces of armor with more force. "I couldn't. I thought you were safe." He paused. "I didn't know about Dylan. I didn't know that there would be a coup d’état either. It’s a massive breach of protocol to drain without authority, let alone to create an unauthorized Commander. Offenders are sent to the Prince’s trial. I've never heard of any returning. If Stakes had no fear of the law, he could have done it at any time. He couldn't have recruited so many Dragoons overnight either."

           
I nodded. There was no way for me to know how long Dylan was under Stakes' power. It could have been long before we'd met.

           
"Stakes was going to kill him, too. Drain him and take the power for himself. Dylan is out here somewhere, tied up in metal, if he's still alive," I said, not completely sure how I felt about any of it.

           
"Someone will find him and he'll be brought to justice. Lord Axton will be enraged to find out that his brother was fighting on the wrong side," Rune said. I remembered Dylan telling me that Brendon Axton had once been a friend of Rune's, before he was enlisted. I couldn’t imagine becoming so detached from Ruby or Kyle.