Page 31 of The Demon God's Desire
I hear a rustling noise and immediately leap up, expecting to have to face more of my men. I face the intruder and find...it’s Bridget.
My tears dry and I feel my heart beat faster. I never thought I would see her again. Happiness wells up inside me as well as a kind of strange relief. How did she find me? Why did she come after me?
I’m almost ecstatic, papillions fluttering in my belly. “Bridget!” I call out. But her face registers none of the happiness I feel. She looks downright furious, eyes slanted in anger, fists clenched, jaw shut so tightly that there’s a tick in the muscle.
She’s stalking towards me and I can’t help but feel like I’m about to get into trouble. But at the same time, I can’t say that I’m surprised. I did run out on her.
I deserve whatever is coming my way.
16
BRIDGET
I’m horrified as I watch Guilri face off against his own men. The fact that they would so easily betray him like that makes me sick to my stomach. These men that he led, that he trusted—that they could just turn on him like that is awful.
Even as he fights, he begs them to put their weapons down. I want to go to him, to stand with him against these cruel soldiers who could flip on their leader at the drop of a hat.
My stomach rolls when he has to kill them one by one until he’s only facing off against the one who rose against him in the first place.Please, I think to myself. But I’m not sure what I’m pleading for.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have followed him out here. Now I have to witness this fight and all the pain that Guilri is enduring. I want to go comfort him but I’m angry that he left to begin with. What if his men hadn’t turned on him? Would he have rallied them to come back and attack us?
My emotions are all over the place and when I look back up I see that the fight is over and Guilri has his head in his hands and looks lost.
I move without thinking, instinctively going to him to give him comfort but the second he’s actually in front of me, all my anger surges forward again. “You ass!” I yell. He scrambles up, facing me and I punch him in the chest as hard as I can.
Of course, I’m a human and he’s a dark elf and a warrior at that, so my punch isn’t nearly strong enough to do any real damage but he does stumble back a little. “Did you want to die?” I yell. “Did you want to perish? Because you sure made a damn good try wandering out into the desert by yourself!”
“Didn’t you learn your lesson the first time?” I demand. “When you almost died from exposure and your injuries? And ofcourseyou’re keeping someinsanemagical abilities from me? What the glacies is wrong with you?”
To my surprise, Guilri doesn’t get angry or lash out. Instead, he rubs his chest where I socked him and gives me a smirk. “Gods I’ve missed you.”
It stops me dead in my tracks. My anger is still lingering but all my other emotions are fighting for the forefront as well, including more than a little thrill of desire. It’s confusing. I’m still so mad at him though.
“We made a deal,” I tell him. “And you reneged on it. You dishonor your name by not sticking to your deal!”
“You’re right,” he bows his head, looking down. My eyes widen. He’s agreeing?
I can’t deal with this anymore. I start to leave, not even caring if he’s coming with me at this point. But he follows behind, trailing me as I head back to where I left my pack in the brush and grab it. I want to throttle him but at the same time a part of me is still battling the side of myself that’s genuinely relieved to see him again.
What has gotten into Guilri? Why would he leave immediately after we were intimate last night? Then again, what’s gotten into me? That I came after him instead of writing him off as a stupid mistake? This whole situation is beyond frustrating and I just want to go home and lock Guilri in his room until his time is up.
But it’s getting almost too late to head back now. Guilri has a few minor injuries from the fight and as angry as I am, I can’t in good conscience leave them untreated. And if we stop so I can treat them, it will start getting dark by the time we’re halfway back.
“We need to make camp for the night,” I tell him over my shoulder, still not ready to face him yet. “We can’t head back until I’ve looked at your injuries. Stupid oaf.”
Not to mention that I’m sure he’s exhausted after that fight. He needs to conserve his energy to rest up and heal. Guilri follows me silently and I find a spot that’s in the shade of a large butte and set up a place for us to rest and stay out of the sun.
“How did you find me?” he asks. I ignore him as I pull out a bedroll and food supplies, lining them up.
“Tracked you,” I tell him after a few minutes of silence.
“Oh.”
I stand up and brush the sand off me, looking for the proper kind of dry wood for a fire. It might be hot now but the desert gets very cold at night and I doubt Guilri wants to freeze to death after surviving that fight.
“Can I help?” he asks. I roll my eyes and don’t respond. I don’t need him to help me. I’m perfectly capable of gathering wood on my own.
He seems to get the hint and goes back and sits in the shade, waiting patiently for me. Once I’ve cooled a little, I head back and start tending his injuries. I’ve got a tiny jar of zabilla in my pack and I patch him up, using a few splashes of the canteen water to wash out the dirt and debris first.