KDBookOnline
Share Us
After a moment of quiet, she leaned over to pour herself a cup of water. “Do you always keep unoccupied tents stocked with blankets and ewers?”
“At every campsite.”
“Why?” she asked, taking a sip.
“For those like the McPorters, and those likeyou. This is our ritual—to make space for others, even those who aren't like us. As long as they accept us, we accept their allegiance. My tent will be ready in the morning, after tonight consider this one yours. That is … if you decide to stay.”
“Mine?” The offer may have sounded simple to him, but to her, it meant everything.
He nodded and stood, turning around to unbutton his tunic. When it fell, her traitorous eyes took inventory of every strip of muscle lining his spine.
Reining in her focus, she said, “Thank you for the place to rest.”
He looked over his shoulder. “To rest orstay?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not joining your army,General Whitfield.”
He spun around to face her. “I’m not asking you to join us.”
“Then what are you asking?” She took a big sip, officially confused.
“I’m asking you to lead them.”
Thessa's mouth burst, spitting her water across the tent.
“Thank you, for the shower,” he said, wiping his chest dry.
With the moonlight streaming in, her eyes couldn’t miss the ripples of his abdomen, gleaming with water droplets. Or, how realistic the scales of his tattoo were.
She stood, regaining her focus. “I’m no soldier, nor a leader.”
He angled his head. “I’d beg to differ.”
“Do me a colossal favor and beg not. What makes you think your rebellion can outmatch the Elemental Army anyway? Elemental populations have always surpassed the other branches of magic. They’re the superior line of magic.”
“And why do you think that is?” he asked the question like she was back in secondary school.
“I understand there’s a fetish for fire. Inbred or not, they’re powerful.”
His dark brow rose. “And what are you, Thessa?”
“Weak.” The pain in her hips and legs returning was an unpleasant reminder of just how frail she was.
He stepped closer to her. “This is where we disagree. You’re unequivocally powerful, you don’t complain despite what you carry, and you’re the most brutal, beautiful thing I’ve ever met.”
Thessa prayed he couldn’t see the heat flushing her cheeks. “Now it’s my turn to beg to differ.”
He leaned down, and the pinpoints of his eyes sucked her in. Her instincts told her to look away, that he was a predator, but she couldn’t.
“What are you doing?” she whispered.
He lifted the underside of her chin, beckoning her lips closer. “Kiss me, Thessa.”
She swallowed, holding his stare. “After you strung your beasts around my neck?”
Soren pulled back, ran fingers through his wind-blown hair, then poured himself some water. “You’re right.”
I know.