The Wind's Call (The Broken Lands #4) - T.A. White Page 0,111
have a good view of yourself," he said, realization in his tone.
Eva glared. She didn't need his pity. "I know what I'm worth, but it's not the cost of your life."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that," he declared.
He yanked her toward him. It was move with him, or fall. His arms closed around her, his lips touching hers as they branded her with the force of his soul.
The danger of the situation fed into the kiss, heightening it. Parts of Eva tingled, attuning themselves to him. Then it was over, and he drew back.
"You know nothing." He pressed his forehead against hers. "Your life is more important than a hundred others."
Eva didn't know what to say. The kiss the other night could be attributed to heightened emotions and the danger of the situation. Same here, if not for that first kiss or what he’d just said.
She tried not to get her hopes up. He could still consider her a duty and was using this to keep her in line.
The fox landed on the top of the wagon, yipping as its tails writhed around it.
"Look at that—it seems I'm right after all," Eva said, grateful for the distraction as she drew back. Her eyes flitted to Caden and away before returning like they were drawn.
He gave her a sidelong look that did nothing to dull the dark, carnal edge in his gaze, one he'd carefully concealed from her until now. Good thing, too. If he'd stared at her like that at the beginning of the journey, she would have climbed on Sebastian's back and let him carry her off much sooner.
"We're not out of the mist yet."
"It's progress," she insisted stubbornly.
Sometimes that's all you could ask for; all you could hold onto as the dark closed around and tried to suck your will from you.
"Optimist."
"Pessimist."
"Then we're a matched pair," he said softly.
She ignored the statement and the feelings engendered by the kiss, deciding to wait until she could safely take them out and examine them further. She didn't know how she felt about either, but now wasn't the time to delve.
The fox leapt from the mist, seeming to glide in midair. Eva caught him, her arms full of fur and tails as he licked her chin in happiness. She got a flash of contentment and the warmth of a bonfire before he wiggled free, hopping over to Caden and subjecting the man to the same enthusiastic greeting.
A head poked out of the back of the wagon. "Allo out there."
"We're here," Eva called in relief.
With the mist you never knew what you'd get. She might have grabbed hold of the wagon only to find its occupants gone.
"Is that Eva?" Ollie shouted from inside.
"It is."
"Lass, tell me you didn't dive headfirst into this soup without the aid of a pathfinder," Ollie said.
Eva winced. He wasn't going to like the answer.
"That's exactly what she did," Caden returned with a smirk. It seemed he wasn't going to let this go.
"Wait until I tell Hardwick. He is not going to be pleased to hear this," Olli muttered.
"We could always keep it to ourselves," Eva offered.
There was a snort. "Not bloody likely."
Ah, well, she'd tried, and maybe Ollie's memory would be blunted by the time they met up with the main body. That, or maybe they wouldn't make it out at all. Eva wasn't sure which she'd prefer more, considering the sharp edge of the herd master's tongue.
"No pathfinder?" someone asked in a hushed voice. "What were they thinking? How are we going to survive now?"
"Stop relying on them for everything," Ollie barked. "We're Trateri. We adapt; we evolve. We don't give in."
Eva glanced at the wagon’s front where the horses shifted impatiently, their ears flicking. They didn't seem too distressed. What was more concerning was the fact there was no one in the driver's seat, as if those sitting there had never been—or had abandoned it as soon as the mist descended.
"Where did they go?" Eva asked softly.
Caden's hand slid down to grasp hers, his expression grim when she glanced up at him.
Their thoughts echoed one another's, both thinking the same thing. The drivers should have been there. Connected to the wagon, they would have traveled with it to wherever the mist took them. It's why the occupants inside it were still present.
That they weren't meant either they had abandoned the driver's seat—for what asinine purpose, Eva didn't know—or they'd been taken by something in the mist.