“Cora –”
“We have to go!”
“Cora –”
“Now!” I shrieked and his mouth came down on mine hard.
This time, his tongue didn’t sweep into my mouth. This time, my bones didn’t turn to water. This kiss was meant to silence me. It worked because it was hard but at the same time also freakishly tender in a way I liked.
Therefore, my body melted under his and when he felt it, he lifted his head an inch.
“Are you calm?” he asked softly after his blue eyes caught mine.
“Calm…ish,” I answered breathlessly.
“Orlando is leading the rescue mission to find your sister,” he explained. “He has at his command my father’s entire army and my warriors, all of them but my personal guard who are at my castle, on alert should you and I need them.”
I stared up at him. “You have warriors?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain that later.”
Okay, I decided to let that go.
“Is, um… Orlando good at that kind of thing? You know, leading a rescue mission?”
“Yes, if he wasn’t, I’d be with him but he also has my men with him and if he wasn’t good, they are.”
“So, they’ll find her.”
He nodded and stated firmly, “They’ll find her.”
This made me feel better.
Then I asked, “Dash isn’t with them?” He shook his head and I continued, “Why not?”
“Because Dash is in danger, like you and like me. The full curse starts when both the females are collected but Minerva switches tactics frequently, generation upon generation, she conjures something new, growing frustrated at her torment being thwarted. She could attempt to take Dash or me. He needs to stay safe and we all need to be cautious. There’s no telling what she’ll do.”
“Oh,” I whispered, thinking an unpredictable enemy who had the power of a god was not a good thing.
“And furthermore, he’s Dash,” Noctorno carried on
I felt my brows knit. “He’s Dash?”
“My brother is a lot of things, nearly all of them good, what he is not is a soldier and something else he definitely is not is a warrior.”
“Like you,” I guessed quietly. “Being a warrior, I mean.”
“Indeed, love, like me.”
And I knew this to be true the way he sat astride a horse and beat back an army of vickrants wielding a sword.
Not to mention, all his scars.
“And,” he started and I focused on him to see his eyes lit with something I’d never seen before, “apparently like my wife.”