Torrents (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 3) (31 page)

     “If that’s settled,” Elik cleared his throat, “then you two had better report to the armory. We leave at dawn.”

     Without another word, Patrick turned on his heel and grabbed my hand before we reached the door. I was surprised to feel his hand twitch in mine.

     “Oh and Patrick,” Tunder said, just before we reached the door. He stopped and turned back to look at the king. “She’s your responsibility, make sure Morven doesn’t get to her.”

     “Then there’s no reason to worry.” Patrick spoke easily and even as the doubt of my own abilities crept in my mind, I knew I would be safe if he was by my side. The past had proved him more than capable of being able to protect me.

     “Good.” Tunder said and returned to the maps on the table.

     Supposedly dismissed, we left the room quickly and stepped into the hall. For the first time since Tunder had begun speaking, I felt myself take a real breath.

     “To the armory?” he asked.

     “To the armory.”   

_______________

Finding the armory was easy. Activity was buzzing just outside the room, as merfolk filtered through the doorway carrying heavy belts filled with daggers. Inside was a similar scene of soldiers, holding up weapons to what little light they could find in order to inspect the sharpness of each blade. Though the murmurings of the soldiers created a constant thrum, I felt I could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

     There was a vast variety of weapons, laden on the table. Some daggers were smaller, no bigger than my thumb, others as long as my forearm. I swallowed heavily, taking in their sight, and hung behind Patrick as he scoured the tables. Shifting around some Lathmorian soldiers, we passed one merman in the corner of the room. He sat with a dagger across his knee, sharpening it with a wetting stone. The long strips of grating made the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention.

     Patrick moved toward a dark table loaded with unclaimed daggers. He hadn’t let go of my hand since leaving the king’s chamber, and I couldn’t help but notice how his fingers had stilled upon entering the armory. This place was familiar to him. Even when he had been human, weapons were part of his world.

     Some of the Lathmorians shifted, giving us a wide berth, as small groups left the room. Others stayed and kept their conversations to a meager volume. I picked up a few of their words, well aware of the things they were saying about us. It was clear Gendra and Voon weren’t the only ones afraid of our accompaniment to Hyvar. The fear lay more upon my shoulders than Patrick’s; these soldiers had seen what he could do while in action and they would want his presence in light of the ensuing battle. My presence was something they couldn’t understand.

     “Here,” Patrick broke into my thoughts, holding a heavy looking belt out to me.

     “I have one.” My hands patted the flat pack strapped beneath my shirt. I had grown so used to it, I often forgot it was even there.

     “You’ll need this.” Without waiting for my response, he stepped closer and reached around me to secure the belt around my hips. Yanking on the strap, I was jerked onto the balls of my feet as he worked with deft hands to cinch it tighter.

     His movements were stiffer than they had been this morning, his mouth dipping at the corners and his brow furrowed. Strands of his golden hair hung into his eyes, and he kept his face turned away from me. When I reached out to touch his arm, he didn’t look my way, but shook it off as he continued to search through the daggers. He selected a few, and when he sheathed them, I held out my hand to place them in the belt. Ignoring my proffered fingers, he carefully shoved each blade into a particular holster, sometimes readjusting them.

     With each additional dagger, I felt the weight of the belt tug on my hips. The added weight seemed to only confirm my worries for what we were heading into. More than anything, I knew Morven would come for me if he could. He wanted me and would do whatever was necessary to get to me. I could only hope my voice combined with Patrick’s abilities would be enough to get us through. 

     He shifted beside me, fingers still twitching while he perused the daggers. It was only when he handled the blades, his hands calmed. Every now and again, he shot a frustrated glare over at the merman in the corner. The shrill scrape of the rock on metal ringing throughout the room.

     “Hey,” I said and reached out to touch his arm again. He was lifting the knives and balancing them on the tip of his finger. If they didn’t withstand the test, he let them clatter to the table in no particular order. He ignored my touch, but this time, he didn’t shake it off.

     Waiting patiently, he finally turned my way after he had selected eight blades. His mouth curved at the corner and when his eyes finally lifted to mine, I saw something I never would have expected.

     I had come to know him as Zale, he was power and control, confidence bordering and often crossing over into arrogance. He had never known what it was to lose. He had been beaten, torn apart, but he had never lost. Patrick had. And I could see it now, the fear hidden deep down inside of him. He was frightened, whether for me, or for what was coming.

     “Hey.” I said the word again, knowing it really had no meaning. I placed my hand along his cheek, willing him to look at me. He closed his eyes, only to open them a moment later.

     “This is new,” he said with a soft chuckle.

     “What is?” We were both whispering, even though most of the soldiers had left the room.

     “Me, worrying.” He admitted, and I had to smile.

     “I like you more because of it,” I said and bit my lip. He glanced down at me, his head cocked to the side and I leaned in closer. “You used to be a little reckless.”

     “You mean stupid,” he chuckled with breathless mirth.

     “Maybe just a little bit,” I held up my fingers a few inches apart. “But I feel safer with you like this.”

     He sighed, “That helps.”

     “I mean it,” I shrugged.

     “I know you do.” He turned away from me again, fingers grazing over the tops of the daggers until he found what he was looking for. Selecting one final blade, he crossed the room to grab a shirt from a pile of clothing and left the room only to return moments later, dressed in the Lathmorian soldier’s garb.

     I had seen him fight dozens of times, seen him wield daggers as though they were an extension of his own arm, and yet, this image of him frightened me more than anything I had seen. He was intimidating. The size of his chest, thick and strong beneath broad shoulders, was overwhelming. After seeing him in a loose shirt for so long, the black fabric clung to each muscle, curving and molding around his body in a way that made my throat go dry. I pulled my eyes away from him as the heat flooded my cheeks.

     He came up beside me once more and hurried to strap a belt around his waist. Each dagger slid into the sheaths with a perfect whisper of steel. He adjusted a few, to place the handles within easiest reach. Looking down at my own heavy belt, a tinge of warmth passed through me, he had made them more efficient for me as well.

     “I’ve never carried this many daggers before.” I fingered one of the handles.

     “You’ve never been to battle before.” He pointed out.

     “True,” I said and shimmied my hips, hoping to bring the light back into his eyes. “But I have seen one and—“

     “Will you stop?” his voice suddenly boomed toward the corner of the room, making me jump. His eyes were on the merman sharpening his knife. The incessant scraping halted, and the resulting silence was wonderfully peaceful. The Lathmorian soldier didn’t seem at all pleased, but after giving Patrick a once over, he left the room without rebuttal.

     “Thanks,” I whispered.

     “No problem.” He shrugged. “I might as well use their fear of me to my advantage.” He winked, but the lightness in his eyes disappeared all too quickly.

     “We’ll be okay.” My mouth said the words, but I didn’t feel them in my heart.

     With each passing moment, the tension mounted in my body. I wondered if my muscles would be loose enough to do the work needed for survival. I wasn’t sure if the moves the Lathmorians, and in particular Patrick, had taught me would be helpful. My instinct was to run, and run fast. I hoped I would have the courage to stay and fight.

     “I’m not worried about me,” he said the words so gently I almost missed their meaning. Hadn’t he just told Tunder I was more capable than anyone gave me credit?

     “I’ll try,” I said, and the words came out more bitter than I thought they would. “I have my voice.”

     “True, but I don’t think you should use it.”

     “Why? It’s my best weapon. You told me it’s getting stronger.”

     “But your voice makes you a target.” He ran a hand through his hair. “As soon as you use it, they will all turn toward you.”

     “They already know who I am, what I look like. Won’t they come after me anyway?”

     “No,” he shook his head. “They’re waiting for something. I just don’t know what.” He looked ready to smash his hand into the table, but stilled it in the air. “I don’t want you to attract attention to yourself. You have to lay low, keep them from hearing your voice.”

     “Okay,” was all I said.

     “Promise me something.” He turned to me, his lips parting. He grasped the sides of my arms and looked deep into my eyes. “Promise me you’ll stay where I can see you. Don’t leave my side.”

     I nodded immediately, “I promise.”

     I couldn’t imagine moving away from him in a battle. He was the only one I truly trusted to keep me safe, and I would do what I could to help him. Thinking of his earlier words, I realized just what he was sacrificing. If I used my voice and the Hyven rallied to capture me, he would be by my side. He would face whatever the Hyven tried to throw my way—and we could both be taken in an instant.

     “I mean it,” he shook my shoulders slightly, holding them a little tighter. When he swallowed heavily, my brow furrowed wondering where all of this was coming from. “I can’t help feeling I will lose you again.”

     The confession seemed to take everything he had, and when his head hung lower than usual, I leaned in to whisper to him.

     “You never lost me.” It was true, I had always been his.

     “I thought I did.” His voice reached a new depth and the deep rumble stirred something inside my chest. “It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt.”

     “I know,” I said, having thought the same of him. There was nothing I could think of to compare to the gut wrenching horror and endless expanse of darkness, when I thought he was gone forever.

     “I’ve returned to Hyvar many times, but this is the first time I’m a little afraid.” He smiled sheepishly. I wondered if it was lighter in the room, would I see him blush.

     “Me too,” I confessed, and his grin grew.

     “You don’t know what he’s capable of,” he squinted off to the side, straightening back to his full height. The small glimpse into his fears disappeared.

     “I won’t let him near you,” I whispered and stepped closer to him. Slipping my fingers around the weapon belt he wore, I tugged him to me. Pulling his head down to mine, we let our fears and worries drown in the passion of our lips meeting one another. When we broke apart, our chests were heaving and he caressed my face with his thumbs, gazing into my eyes.

     “I won’t either,” he said, his breath wafting around my lips.

     He pulled me to the edge of the room and sat down with his back against the wall. On instinct, I moved before him, my back leaning against his chest and he wrapped his arms around me. I sighed heavily, closing my eyes when he ran his fingers through my hair.

     “You know what you never told me?” he spoke, his voice rolling gently over my ears.

     “What’s that?”

     “When you fell in love with me.”

     “Oh,” I pursed my lips as though I had to think hard about it. “Let me think, probably when you found out who I really was and stormed off Lathmor, or maybe it was when you showed up at my house and stared at Jillian for so long, she nearly fainted.” He squeezed me and I giggled.

     “Be nice,” he said.

     “Oh, all right,” I patted his arm, suddenly growing more serious. “I don’t really know when it happened. It might have been when I first told you about my family.” I shrugged. “All I really know is when you found out what I was and left Lathmor, I was hurt. I was as surprised by my feelings as you were that day.”

     He was silent for a moment. “And what about when I couldn’t remember?”

     “I was in danger the first time I saw you. But I didn’t realize how much I cared, until I thought you had betrayed me.” I ducked my head. “When I came back to the truck that night and you were missing, I thought you had set a trap. I felt stupid and foolish for having ever trusted you. More than anything, I was terrified because I was blinded by what I felt toward you.”

     He placed a kiss along my cheek, and I leaned into it. “Do you want to know mine?” he asked, and I murmured my agreement. “Well, the first time was almost immediate. Somehow  when I saw you on the cliff, I just knew. It’s why I was so mad to find out Morven got to you first. And the second time,” he pursed his lips and I nearly laughed, “I would have to say when I was driving your brother’s truck.”