Oh, he doubted that. He’d been ready and waiting for her for fourteen of her years. A mere smidgen of time in his world, but once he’d discovered she could actually see him, could touch him, each second she wasn’t totally his stretched into infinity.
He bent down, unable to resist the lure of her lush mouth, and kissed her, putting all the energy, the fevered rush she brought out in him into the kiss. She melted into him, her body pliant, soft, and willing. Gods, he’d never expected this with her.
Rook broke their kiss, both of them breathing hard, their hearts pounding against each other. “Very true,” he said. He’d been utterly unprepared for the all-out assault Cate waged on his good sense. He was not an animal or Illith fae, commanded by his basest needs. He had intellect. He had training. He had a sacred duty to serve his people. He could not simply throw it all out the window for a tumble with the most exotic, amazing creature he’d ever encountered. “But as a Seer, you’ve already discovered far more about us than most Uplanders will ever know. So it should be easy for you to adapt.”
He swung her up into the saddle, his resistance tested by the brush of her soft curls against his face and the feel of her curves beneath his hands. The sweet sensual fragrance of her skin clung to his clothes, reminding him of her with every inhalation. He had to rein himself in or this was going to be the longest day of his life.
Cate gathered the reigns in her hand. “Up!”
Her hips rolled with the motion as the big cat rose to all four paws, its tail sweeping back and forth, whiskers twitching. She learned fast. That pleased him. She’d need to if they were to face the Shadow Court together and declare her off-limits to all other fae.
Rook climbed into his own saddle and ordered the catamount to rise. “From here on, the catamounts will follow the mountain road leading to Seaneath. Bend low over your saddle and keep your arms in toward your side. It’ll make the run easier for the cat and less tiring for you.”
She gave him one quick nod, her face full of determination and focus. Gods, she was glorious. Rook gave a nudge to his catamount and forced himself to focus on the dangers ahead. “Forward!”
§
Cate nearly lost her breath as her catamount leapt forward, keeping pace with Rook’s animal at a ground-eating run. The forest became a blur, the air growing colder as afternoon wore on into evening. Grateful now for the heavy velvet-and-fur coat, Cate clamped her mouth shut and forced herself to breathe through her nose to keep the chill from knifing into her lungs.
Snow began to fall, casting everything in a whirl of white and a blanket of quiet. Rook slowed the catamounts to a walk. Well, really, it was more of a stalk. Their massive bodies were tense and ears flattened back as they moved slowly and deliberately through the trees.
“Where are we?” Cate whispered.
“The border with Wyldwood. It’s the fastest route to the capital but not the safest.”
Her body went rigid as she glanced around. What exactly did he mean? If the catamounts were used for transportation, then what the hell could be scarier that lurked in the woods?
Cate urged her big cat up closer to Rook’s, so that he was just a whisker’s breadth in front of her. She kept her mouth shut and her eyes open as her catamount stalked through the trees and snow on silent feet. Her nose was going numb and her cheeks stung. Rook maintained silence. The crack of the trees ricocheted through the area. A limb broke under the weight of the snow and it fell in a cascade of white. She jumped and her heart pounded in her ears, deafening in the silence of the woods.
Up ahead stood a pile of stones capped with snow. It wasn’t rubble, but neatly cut oblong black stones that stepped up into a mini pyramid. “What’s that?” she whispered.
“The border marker,” he replied in low tones meant only for her ears. “On this side of the stones we are in Shadowland. The trees beyond are Wyldwood.” Rook’s gaze penetrated the trees, his shoulders tense, one hand on the sword hilt sheathed at his waist.
Cate peered into the Shadowland side and saw an enormous evergreen, nearly as big across as the catamounts, with an ankh symbol the size of her hand carved into the trunk. She jerked her head. “Is that one of the portals?” Her words came out a mere breath of whitish mist in the cold air.
He merely nodded in response. But then his eyes went wide. “Go!” he shouted, his face contorted with anger. “Ride! Don’t stop until I come for you.”
Cate whipped around to catch a glimpse of what had startled him. Men clothed in long scarlet tunics were running toward them on foot from deep within the trees, weapons drawn.
She spun around, kicking her cat and yelling “Forward!” The catamount snarled and shied sideways. Two of the attackers came at her from either side of the road and tried to grab the reins.
The animal hissed and reared—swiping its great paws, armed with scythe-size claws—at the attackers. One fell, nearly cleaved in half. The other dodged out of the way and swung wildly at the cat with his sword.
That only pissed it off. The catamount let out a loud roar that shook Cate’s spine, then lurched forward and bit the man in two like an oversize rodent. Bile surged up in Cate’s throat as what was left of him toppled in a bloody mess against the snow. She sucked in great gulps of icy air, letting the sting of it in her lungs scour away the sick feeling.
Clutching the sides of the cat with her legs, she fought desperately to stay mounted as it wheeled around to slap at the attackers now coming at them from behind. “Get me out of here, you stupid cat!”
The catamount reared up on its haunches, nearly spilling her out of the saddle. Cate barely had time to register what was happening before she saw Rook leap from his big cat, taking on four men. The glint and clang of metal filled the cold air. His face seemed to change, his brows protruding, shifting, until they became felinelike, with long canines catching the dim forest light, but she couldn’t be sure. Perhaps she was seeing things. It was all happening too fast.
The cat twisted away from the noise and fury and started running, its whole body lunging as it sped down the trail. The trees quickly swallowed them up and while she could still hear the battle, she could no longer see it. Her catamount didn’t slow until the snow drifts lessened, then disappeared completely, its sides bellowing in and out, its breath hanging in great white misted clouds in the freezing air.
Cate was not only scared out of her mind, but totally lost. She didn’t know if she was still in Shadowland or had cantered off into Wyldwood. It all looked the freakin’ same to her.
She considered scratching the big cat behind the ears as she’d seen Rook do, but it was simply too daunting. “We’d better wait for Rook here,” she said quietly to the cat, hoping it would see fit to agree.
Little faces, some of them wreathed in leaves nearly camouflaging them in the foliage, pointedly stared at her. Cate shifted in her saddle, uncomfortable at being the center of their attention, especially when she was all alone. Twilight was coming quickly, casting long shadows along her path and turning the thick forest behind her formidable and dark. The hours were ticking down quickly and if time passed the same here as it did at home, Cate was certain she had only four or five hours left until midnight.
Even without the snow piled on the ground, the icy air sliced into the exposed skin of her cheeks and hands. She clutched her coat more tightly around her. The last thing she wanted was to be alone in the fae woods by herself.
The earth trembled slightly. Beneath her the catamount tensed, a low rumbling growl vibrating its body. Around the turn in the trail came Rook and his catamount.
Cate heaved out a sigh of relief and gave him a brilliant smile. She’d never been so glad to see him in all her life.
“Are you unharmed?” he called out to her.
“I’m fine, what about...” Her words drifted away as she saw the bright scarlet color saturating his sleeve. “You’re hurt! Settle!” The cat hunkered down and she slipped off. Cate jogged over to him, and he dismounted with a grunt. Up close Cate could see the tight lines of pain bracketing his eyes and the grayish cast beneath his skin that she didn’t think was normal, not even for a fae.
“Sit down and let me look at that.”
He didn’t argue.
The sleeve of his coat was nearly sliced through and hanging open, exposing his tattered and blood-soaked shirt. She swallowed hard, uncomfortable with the sight of his blood—well, really anyone’s blood besides her own.
“Let’s just see.” She tried to pull back his jacket and he grunted and glared at her. Cate licked her lips. “Okay, how about we try this.” She pulled down on the hanging sleeve, and the fabric gave a ripping sound. He cursed beneath his breath.
“You are a lousy caregiver,” he muttered.
“And you suck as a patient,” she snapped back as she peeled the sticky, blood-soaked fabric away from the raw wound.
He sucked in a breath between his clenched teeth. So did she. “Oh, that’s just nasty.”
He chuckled, but it was not cheerful. “Have you ever stitched up someone before?”
Cate shook her head. “That’s what we have urgent care for.”
He frowned. “Then just bind it. I’ll have the healers look at it when we get to Seaneath.”
“This is going to take more than a Band-Aid.”
His frown deepened, merging his brows into one solid line of disapproval over his intense brown eyes. “There are bandages in one of my saddle packs.”
Her knees felt a bit rubbery as she pulled the packs down off his catamount and started digging through them. There were the bandages. And there was the traveling key coin he’d shown her. Her heart gave a little flip inside her chest. After what she’d just been through, maybe a little insurance she could get home was necessary. There was no guarantee she’d find Maya in time in this strange world. Anything could happen when they reached the capital, and if she got separated from Rook, she’d be totally screwed.
Cate took them both, surreptitiously sliding the coin into the pocket of her coat. She felt a twinge of guilt at taking it, after he’d nearly had his arm cut off to protect her, but she had to be practical. If she didn’t find Maya before the solstice came, she’d need it to operate a portal to get them out.
“You mean this roll of gauzy stuff, right?” she said, waving it slightly.
“Yes.”
He patiently explained how to cut away the remainder of his sleeve and how to properly wrap his wound. Doing just as he asked, she wrapped and overlapped the fabric around his huge arm until the blood no longer seemed to be seeping through, then tucked the end beneath the wrapping to secure it. Rook glanced down at her handiwork.
“You did a good job,” he said softly, his warm breath ruffling the hair at her temple.
A little bubble of pride welled up in Cate’s chest. “Thanks. Never had to do triage before.”
His gaze caught hers, the soft brown color sucking her in and absorbing her full attention like rich dark chocolate to a hungry dieter. “You have a healer’s touch. Gentle, but just firm enough.”
A fizzy warm sensation bubbled up inside her. “Hope this doesn’t put you out of commission long. We didn’t have a chance to finish what we started at the palace.”
In an instant his soft gaze turned searing hot. “You speak as if we don’t have time.”
Cate pulled back from his mesmerizing touch. “We don’t. I have to get Maya back to my world.”
I
, she thought with a pinch in her heart,
have to get back to my world
.
His hand dropped to his side and his gaze turned away from her. “Ah yes. Your friend.” When he looked at her again the burning intensity was smothered behind a guarded look. “I will keep my promise to help you find her. And you are right. If we want to reach Seaneath by tonight, we must not tarry here.”
Cate frowned and nibbled at her bottom lip. “Who were those men, anyway? Are you sure we won’t be followed? What about—”
Rook put up a hand to stop her. “They were scouts from Wyldwood seeking to infiltrate our borders.”
“But why attack us?”
He quirked a brow upward. “We’re at war,” he answered, as if that should explain everything.
“Oh. Is that who you’re planning on invading?”
He stared at her, his eyes hard, but he didn’t answer.
“But what about them following—”
He placed a finger on her lips. “They won’t follow. Ancor and I made sure they couldn’t.” He glanced at his big catamount and it blinked back at him.