“Done.” He started running once more.
In a lower voice, she said at his ear, “You suspect Iona? She despises the warlocks, and she warned us to take cover.” What if the nymphs had been hurt in the attack?
“The warning might be a ruse,” he pointed out. “If she did inform on us, then mayhap she dinna do it by choice. Remember, I was sold out by a nymph who was my friend.”
“Shouldn’t we suspect Desh before Iona? He must ally with other demons, and you said he couriered the clipping this morning.” As soon as Ren uttered the words, she wanted to take them back. Desh had been kind.
“I’ve trusted him with my life in the past. Hell, if I go there, I’d have to also turn my gaze to Loa. She warned me no’ to trust her.”
“Loa definitely didn’t do it.”
“How can you sound so sure?”
Because she and I plot to take out Dorada. Ren had first contacted the priestess a couple of days ago, during one of the few times Munro had slept.
“. . . Ren! What can I help you with?”
“I think it’s I who can help you.”
“And will this mysterious favor have strings attached?”
“I’m a carnie. Count on many strings. . . .”
Before Ren had confided her secret mission, she’d bound Loa in vows to the Lore, making her swear not to reveal a hint in word or deed to Munro or anyone else.
Now Ren told him, “Loa wouldn’t betray us because she knows the bounty is a sham.”
He nodded. “Aye, then. I dinna want to suspect her.”
As miles passed, fog moved in to bathe the trees, the Cursed Forest looking spectral and forbidding. She and Munro were on the run, cut off from allies and with limited gear—one hexed knife, a pair of cloaking cuffs, and two magic stamps. She wondered what else Dream Duds could conjure. If she imagined wearing a canteen or a sleeping bag, would they appear?
Munro continually scanned for threats, but he always returned his penetrating gaze to her. Just as he’d done days ago—or a century ago—he carried Ren as he would his most treasured possession, never putting so much as a bruise on her.
After reading Jacob’s obituary, Ren now knew that Munro’s frenzied jaunt to the past had indeed saved her. Immortals had taken much from her, yet this Lykae had given her back her very life. He’d risked his own to journey through time for her.
Almost as important as saving her, he’d trusted her earlier, going along with her plan against the demons. For a woman like Ren, his trust meant the world.
And now it was his turn to take the lead in their escape. He stuck to streams and planted deceptive scent trails, a capable partner. As he put more distance behind them, she allowed herself to relax in Munro’s arms and let him protect her.
Her senses registered each contraction of his working muscles. The warmth of his skin. His pounding heart. Desire for him spiked, despite all the danger surrounding them—or maybe in part because of it.
When the waterfall came into view, vertigo swept over Ren. It felt like lifetimes ago since they’d been here.
Past. Present. Fate. Maybe she was meant to be in this place at this moment—with this male.
The memory of that lightning-struck tree flashed in her mind. No matter how much the tree might have wished to continue on with its usual existence, it’d been forever changed by that bolt.
I’ve been changed by Munro.
There was no going back.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Now what the hell do we do? Munro wondered as he set about starting a fire.
He found no sign of his and Kereny’s last visit to this cave, nor anyone else’s presence. The water was higher, and more wood had washed in, but their secret place had remained so all this time.
As he sourced logs once more, he’d given her his phone to use for light—at least that feature worked. While he broke and stacked wood, he sensed her gaze on him but must’ve misread the heat in her eyes. She’d just found out her husband had married another, and then demons had attacked her!
“That was good work covering our tracks.” She removed her waterlogged boots and stockings. “Do you think we’ll be hidden here for a time?”
“Aye, but we’re no’ out of these woods yet.” None of this would have happened if the Dacians had shown up when promised. He’d put in another call to Loa two days ago, but the priestess hadn’t heard back from Lothaire as of early this morning.
Munro had also spoken a couple more times with Lachlain, getting more background on the Enemy of Old to try to figure out why their ride was late.
Lachlain’s best guess? “Because Lothaire is a dick?”
As Munro’s kindling caught fire, he stared at the growing flames and replayed how close that one demon blast had been. The strike wouldn’t have killed an immortal like him, but Kereny would have perished. Again. The Lore is no place for a mortal.
He dug his claws into his palms, fighting to steady himself. He’d already been in turmoil even before the attack. Kereny’s reaction to that obituary had made him feel like the vast chasm between them only continued to grow. She loved another. Her heart had been given.
What if my mate will never be . . . mine?
Ren watched Munro coax the flames higher, her gaze roaming over the soaked shirt that clung to his torso. Being back in this cavern with him intensified her every feeling. Foremost among them was desire.
Yet whenever Munro glanced her way, his eyes were wary. Finally he said, “I’ve got something for you.” He rose and offered her . . . a charred envelope.
The clipping! She’d set it on the table before the attack. How had he saved it? Then she noticed that his hand was blistered. “You snatched this out of the flames?”
He shrugged.
She drew out the paper once more. The waxed envelope had protected it, even through the waterfall. “Why?”
He rubbed his burned hand over his face. “Because it could be the last tie you’ll have to the husband you love.”
Munro had just shown her yet another facet of himself. Selfless man.
“I do love Jacob—as my dearest friend. I grieved when I thought he’d died young, but he got almost seven more decades of life and a family.”
“Friend? I feared I’d taken you from a love-match marriage.”
She shook her head. “I think Esther was his soul mate. Munro, you took me from certain death. You saved me.”
He eased closer. “I was born to protect you, Kereny. Will do anything to keep you safe.” He held her gaze, spellbinding her.