Soulbound

Before I could make a peep, he covered my mouth with his hand. Murder was in his eyes as he backed me into the tree. Grayson's face was so close to mine, I could feel his breath on my cheeks. I wasn't sure if I was more happy or angry that he was here. He put a finger to his lips, a signal for me to stay quiet, then he moved his hand away from my mouth.

Arkon growled in my mind, more than a little bit tempted to throw Grayson into a tree. My eyes flashed to the bristling boulder between the trees. Don't, I warned him. You'll alert the soldiers.

He hated it, but he agreed and let it slide.

Grayson gripped my jacket and gave me a little shake, hissing angrily, "What the fuck do you think you're doing here, Eva?"

"Saving my brother?" All my confidence had dispersed after Arkon put holes in my plan, and now here Grayson was all up in my face like he was going to kill me, and I felt even more like a moron. If he could find me in this forest, what's to stop anyone else from finding me so easily?

He ground his teeth, jaw ticking. Despite his struggle to restrain his anger, his face softened--a tad--when his gaze moved from my eyes down to my mouth. "I told you I'd handle it."

"I am not going to sit and wait in Dragon Canyon while other people save my brother!" I hissed. "What do you think you're doing here all by yourself?"

He gave me a dry glare. "I woke up and found your tent empty. You think I wouldn’t follow you? Now," he added, peering around the forest, checking for any soldiers, "I don't suppose there is any chance of me convincing you to go back to the base, is there?"

I shook my head, no. If he wanted me to go back, he'd have to carry my unconscious body, which would hinder both of our plans of getting Jacob out of here as fast as possible.

He released an agitated breath. "Fine. Will you at least listen to me? Jacob didn't and it got us into this mess."

"Don't blame Jacob."

"I'm a hundred percent blaming him." His eyes were like steel when he glared at me. "He's an idiot and if we make it out of this alive, I'm going to kill him. Don't smile, you're on my list too. You're just as stupid. You're too important to be running around like-"

I shoved him, remembering I was angry with him--it was getting harder and harder to remember, especially when he was so close. "Don't call me stupid. You don't have the right to start calling me names after what you've done."

Snap!

A twig snapped not too far from us. Before the soldier could brandish his sword, I drew my bow and loosed an arrow into his heart. Grayson hurried over to him, dragging him to the foot of our tree. "Good shot."

"Best hunter in Brar, remember?" I quipped, scanning the forest for more soldiers.

There was another one coming this way, but he hadn't seen us, only looking for his partner. I readied my bow again, aiming for his heart. . . Grayson summoned an icicle from his water horn and threw it into his chest.

"Hey. He was mine."

"Too slow," he remarked, grabbing the soldier and bringing him over next to his comrade. "I think we found our way in the fort."

I regarded the armour. Both of the men were much bigger than me. I'd stick out like a sore thumb.

Grayson shook his head at me, taking the armour off one piece at a time. "Sylus is too cheap to have armour tailored for his men; the armour is adjustable." Then he started stripping down to his under armour. He wiggled himself into the black armour with an uncomfortable familiarity.

He was just grabbing his helmet and adjusting the straps inside when he realised I hadn't moved to do the same. I found I couldn't move. It was uncanny how much he looked like Prince Darius with that armour on. How could I have not seen the resemblance? I had to have been blind. The eyes, the hair, they even had the same jawline. He looked every bit a prince of Estrus as his brother.

He saw the fear in my eyes, and any signs of anger he possessed earlier vanished in the wind. The look he wore was the opposite, one of concern and sorrow. Moistening his lips, he took my hands in his; they held me gently with every thought of my comfort in mind, nothing like how Darius touched me.

"I just need a minute," I told him, a lump in my throat.

He's not Darius.

But damn, it sucked that he looked like him.

Taking deep breaths, I started picking the armor off the dead soldier. Just like he said, the armour was super adjustable and I managed to make it work. "Okay, how do I look?"

Grayson took me in slowly, slower than I was sure he'd look at any other soldier. I felt hot under his gaze--or was it the armour? It wasn't the most breathable, not like I was used to. He stepped for me, and the crazy, hormonal part of me thought he was going to kiss me when his hands went behind my head--but then he tied my hair back gently.

"Your hair will be a dead give away. Sylus likes his men's hair short--less stuff to grab in a fight." He touched my cheek with a strained smile, as if he was forcing himself not to enjoy touching me as much as he wanted to. "You're definitely the cutest soldier in this armour I've seen."

I snorted, to distract myself from the urge to kiss him again. He had a bad habit of making me want to do that. "Yeah, he definitely doesn't hire these people for their looks."

And then out of nowhere he kissed me. His fingers knotted in my hair and he pressed me into the tree. It was far beyond anything I could have fantasized about; it was rough and hot, but he held me so delicately, as if I would break under the pressure of his body against mine.

"Hey!" someone in the distance called.

Grayson broke away instantly to shove my helmet into my hands and quickly put his on. "Follow my lead," he ordered groughly.

There was no time to think about what had happened only a second ago, I merely put my helmet on and did everything he did, from the salute to the head shake when the soldiers asked us if we'd seen anything so far. How they hadn't seen us kissing against the tree was beyond me, but I was very glad for it. The leader, Jabe, told us to head back to the fort while he and Whiskers continued the patrol.

Heart pounding in my ears, I walked alongside Grayson in the opposite direction from the soldiers. He released an audible breath when we were out of range. "That was close," he murmured behind the masked helmet. "How are you doing, Eva?"

"This armour stinks," I grumbled. "Why do men never think they have to take a bath?"

I needed to complain about something--because there was nothing to complain about with that kiss. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. I had to keep my head clear if I was going to keep it on my shoulders by the end of the day.

He laughed; it was dangerously loud. And endearing.

Focus, Eva, I reminded myself sternly.

We came up to the fort. I tried to stop, to take in what used to be my home, but Grayson pulled me along. The perimeter of what used to be Brar was now lined with a twenty foot high wall of vertical logs with serrated edges. We walked underneath the gate, soldiers eyeing us from the watch tower as we entered. The stables ran along the right side of the wall, filled with horses, magical or not. On the opposite side, weapons hung on shelving, ready to be taken at a moment's notice.

My heart caught in my throat when my eyes fell on the large pole in the dead center of the fort. Jacob sat tied with his hands behind his back to the pole and beaten. Nevertheless, he glared at anyone who passed him, holding his head up high, proud to be the unfazeable Knight he was.

I wanted to run to him, tell him that everything would be okay, but Grayson tugged me passed him, not even giving him a second glance. We crossed the muddy courtyard for the hut opposite the gate, which I soon discovered was the mess hall. Despite the place bustling with soldiers armed to the teeth and ready for battle at a moment's notice, I took comfort in the scent of stew and fresh bread. It'd been months since I'd had a good beef stew and my mouth watered at the thought of eating something hearty.

Grayson, who hadn't once released his powerful grip on my arm since we arrived, led me to an empty table in the far corner, away from everyone else. As soon as we sat down, I let out a breath of relief. We'd made it this far without being caught. Grayson appeared less tense too--or at least relaxed enough to finally let go of me. He continued to scan the mess hall, a hard line set on his mouth, waiting for someone to recognise us, but with our helmets on, I wasn't too worried about it. My worry was how we were going to rescue Jacob with all of these soldiers around. I'd gotten better with my magic, but unless we had a storm, I could only stun them, which would be useful if it wasn't a single target attack.

"Gunthar!" a familiar voice boomed. I jumped and nearly fell out of my seat in the process. "Fred!" Prince Darius made his way over to us with a fat grin on his face. He wore riding pants and black chainmail, looking as casual as any other man in the hall; only his crown stood him out from the rest of them. And the aura that extruded power and malice. His men gave him his fair share of space as he crossed the room.

Grayson gripped the dinner knife in his hand, knuckles going white. Unfortunately, I had nothing to grip to help control my anger as he slapped his hands on our backs. "How did the patrol go? Did you see her? Well? Speak up! You know I'm dying for good news." He made it sound like that if we didn't give him good news, he wouldn't be the one dying.

Grayson wasn't saying anything, so, to my complete surprise, I stood up, facing him, looking him right in those menacing gray eyes through my visor, and said, "Nothing to report."

He cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes on me; it looked like he was debating on how he was going to dismember me.

"My prince," I added hastily.

His smile came back. "That's better. You know, I remember you having a deeper voice, Fred."

"Allergies," I blurted. You can help at anytime, Grayson. It was hard enough not to use the dagger strapped to my back to stab this fucker, let alone come up with casual conversation.

Grayson stood up. "The change in the weather has always been hard on Fred, Your Highness. Remember raiding the northern villages in Estrus? Half the army was sick by the time we'd finished the plunder."

Darius slapped Grayson's back again, rolling his eyes in delight. "Oh, I remember those days. I don't remember you being there, though."

"I was in Prince Dex's charge-"

Darius' grip tightened on both of our uniforms, chest heaving. His face twisted into something dark and merciless. I held my breath, waiting for him to kill us right then and there. "Don't mention that traitor's name again, Gunthar, not if you want to go home to your family. You've disappointed me enough as it is, not returning with the little storm rider girl."

"She's hardly little," I retorted before I could stop myself. Grayson didn't need to glare at me, I was already mentally kicking myself and my big mouth. "I mean," I added, "she did that to your nose, right?" I gestured to the very obvious warp on his nose where I'd broken it during our first encounter. If I couldn't do anything else to him, at least he had a permanent reminder of what I'd done to him.

Growling, he grabbed me with both of his hands, shoving me onto the table. He unsheathed a broadsword from his hip. It wasn't any broadsword--it was the one my grandfather had wielded when he was a soldier. My father treasured it more than anything. . . he was going to give it to Jacob as a wedding present if he ever got married. . .

"Careful what you say next, boy." He noticed me staring at the sword; with a sick smile, he raised it to his face and licked the steel. "You like it?"

I wanted more than anything to wipe the stupid smirk off his face.

"I took it from the little storm dragon rider then I killed her father with it. I keep it right here," he patted his hip, "waiting for the day I see her again. I'm gonna kill her brother with it. I'm gonna slice little pieces of her dainty skin with it. Every time she sees it, she's gonna think of me. I'm going to tear her soul apart until she's nothing but a husk left and make her destroy everything she used to care about."

I suddenly felt very ill. The words rang through my head. That demented smile would forever be plastered in my mind. Where had his life gone so wrong for him to be so horrible?

"Well," Grayson said, pulling me away from Darius, completely ignoring his brother's irate glower as he did so, "you have to catch her first."

Prince Darius whipped around, striking Grayson on the side of the head. He staggered but held his ground, fists clenched at his sides. His eyes burned with rage I've never seen Grayson feel before and all I could do was hope he didn't start a fight.

"She'll come for her brother," Darius snarled. "I know she will. There was once a time when I would have done anything for my brothers." He spat at Grayson's feet; it was like he knew he was speaking to his own blood. "She'll come. And then she's mine."

His eyes scoured the mess hall; it had fallen silent since he threw me onto the table. He met every single soldier's gaze, making it clear that no one was to touch me when I revealed myself. Chest heaving, he stormed out of the mess hall. Everyone resumed their dinners as if nothing happened.

A thick nausea weighed in my stomach; I did everything I could to keep my lunch down.

Grayson fell into the chair beside me, trembling. He'd made it seem so easy to go undercover in an army he once knew well, but I see now that it was eating at him, reminding him of the person he used to be, of the family he once had.

I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing to be out of this nightmare as much as he did. "Let's free Jacob when it's dark and get the hell out of here, yeah?"

"Good plan."