It took Esha three tries to find her voice. When she did, it still sounded breathless and…needy. “It’s fine.” But it wasn’t. Not when wanton desire scorched through her so urgently.
“Are Rangers celibate?”
Conversation. That was exactly what she needed to help turn her mind away from such lustful thoughts. She forced a smile until his words penetrated. This wasn’t what she wanted to discuss. Esha cleared her throat. “We have sex as often as we want. The caveat being that we never have the same partner more than once. Not as long as we’re Rangers. We serve as Rangers first and foremost. There can never be any entanglements.”
“What happens if you fall in love?”
“It’s rare that it happens, but if and when it does, the elf leaves the Rangers.”
Kendrick raked a hand through his still-wet hair. “That’s a wee bit harsh.”
“That rule is there for a reason. We spend years out here. We can’t be thinking about a family or anything that could divide our attention.”
“What if two Rangers fall in love?”
She shrugged. “It has happened. Both were relieved of duty. We take steps so the chances of that are minimal. While we’re not forbidden from taking a fellow Ranger as a lover, it can’t be someone on our same team. Being a Ranger is serious business. Too many count on us. We have to be utterly devoted to our mission.”
“I can understand and appreciate that.”
But she felt the need to elaborate. “Most join the Rangers because they’ve devoted their lives to it. There are those who stay for a short while and then leave, those who stay for a long while before they depart, and those who remain until they die.”
His green eyes held hers. “Which are you?”
“The Rangers are my life. I will be one until I die.”
Kendrick smiled as he nodded, accepting her words. “Where would you like to start today?”
She was grateful for the change of subject. She didn’t understand why she was suddenly angry. He had done nothing to warrant it, and she wasn’t even sure if she was irritated at him. Maybe it was more directed at herself. After all, he had been all she could think about since they’d met. Then seeing him this morning…well, that was something she’d thought she could handle. Turned out she couldn’t.
Esha wanted him. She shut her mind to those thoughts and looked away from his prying eyes. “We could return to where we found you yesterday.”
“I didna see anything there that might lead us in a direction. Did you?”
Esha shook her head. “I could take you to the last place it struck here.”
“Let’s start by you telling me all the places it has attacked and when.”
“To see how far apart the assaults were?”
He grinned. “Exactly. I’d also like to see if any of the areas or those hit have anything in common. Did everyone die?”
“Sadly, yes. No one could tell us how they were struck or exactly when.”
“Do you have a map?”
Esha’s lips curved in excitement. “I do.”
She rubbed her hands together, warming them as her magic shifted through her. Then she drew her palms apart as they faced each other. Golden ribbons of magic wove around her hands and arms as a three-dimensional map of the plateau began to weave itself together. The wider she spread her hands, the larger the map grew.
Kendrick moved closer, his gaze intent on the image. “The plateau is larger than I thought.”
“It’s significant in size,” she agreed. Her gaze moved around the edges, following Kendrick’s as he noted the shape of it.
The transparent, gold-hued map hovered in the air between them. Esha pointed to the first place the entity had attacked. As she touched the illustration, a dark mark appeared there to indicate the position. She proceeded to do that with four other locations.
Kendrick crossed his arms over his chest, his brow furrowed as he studied the map intently. “Where are we?”
She marked it. “And we found you here,” she said, adding another mark near the border.
“It has struck near cities, water, forests, and out in the open. I can see nothing that determines a pattern.”
She nodded in agreement. “We also got word last week that a group of Mountain Elves battled something in their region. They lost four of their people.”
“It doesn’t seem to have a preference for where it attacks. Is it merely opportunity motivated?”
“If that were the case, why hasn’t it struck us?”
Kendrick raised his gaze to meet hers. “Good point. Could it be looking for something?”
“I suppose. What about with the attacks on dragons? What did it do?”
His lips flattened in a line for a moment. “Until you told me about the deaths here, we were sure it was after us specifically. It killed several dragons at once no’ so long ago, and in a way, that seemed entirely too easy. Then it went after Eurwen.”
The sound of the woman’s name made Esha’s heart skip a beat. She had never asked if Kendrick had someone in his life. Just because he was here alone didn’t mean his heart didn’t belong to someone. Her throat felt thick as she asked, “Is that your wife?”
“She’s one of the twins who rules the dragons. Eurwen is a Dragon Queen, while Brandr is a King.”
Esha’s eyebrows rose with interest. “There are Queens, then?”
Kendrick grinned. “Aye, lass.” But that smile vanished in the next breath. “It took hold of Eurwen, keeping her locked inside her mind. At least that’s how she described it. She couldna move until she broke free of that. I wondered how that was possible, but I felt it yesterday. The difference was, it seemed to want more from Eurwen. When the entity came after Brandr, her twin, it was a swift attack. Same with Cullen and Shaw, my fellow Kings. It knocked them from the sky as it did me. All of us were in dragon form at the time, and the magic it hit us with caused us to return to this form.”
“That doesn’t sound feasible.”
“I wish it wasna. When Cullen fought it, he said a wildcat appeared and seemed to be able to see the being. Once the cat attacked, the thing vanished. You doona happen to have any wildcats here, do you?”
Esha shook her head. “No, but I do like that you found something that was able to see it. Maybe other animals can.”
“Potentially. I’d really like to know why we can no’.”
“Agreed. It’s hard to battle something you can’t see coming at you. You said you felt its magic, but you didn’t have any injuries.”
Distaste colored his expression. “I hope you never feel it. Because while it might no’ leave a mark, the damage is extensive.”
“No elf is left who could describe it. I’d like to know everything. Tell me more, please.”
“What I feel may no’ be what you feel.”
She shrugged and grinned. “It’s better to know something.”
Chapter Eleven
Kendrick ran his hand over his lower jaw. Elves might look similar to humans, but that was probably where the parallels ended. If the being that attacked him could dole out such devastating hits to him, then Esha needed to be prepared.