His eyes darkened. “I promise to keep you safe from Samael. You will never be in his power again.”
To her embarrassment, tears sprang into her eyes. She gave him a wavering smile, trying to hide the swell of emotion in her chest. His fingers curled around hers, warm and comfortable. His gaze flicked past her.
“Are you going to give the Stone to Miysis or make him search the whole field for it?”
“Well.” She took a deep breath. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the Sahar. “You and I both agree that Miysis isn’t a good guardian for this.”
He nodded. Considering Miysis hadn’t even suspected her deception about where the Stone was, he definitely wasn’t the right person to protect it.
She extended her hand to Ash. “Since you’re going into hiding anyway, you can hide it with you. It’s no danger to you without me around to trigger it.”
His gaze darted to Miysis then back again. He surprised her by huffing in amusement. “Fine. But only because Miysis will lose his shit over it.”
She snorted as he took the Sahar and stuck it deep in one of his pockets. His gaze drifted toward the trees and she knew what he was thinking. If he planned to get away with the Sahar, he needed to leave now. Her heart jumped into her throat. No. She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready for him to be gone from her life again. This time maybe forever.
His hand around hers tightened. He slid the other around her waist and pulled her close. She tucked her face against the side of his neck, eyes squeezed shut against the ache in her chest.
“Be safe,” she whispered. “Take care of Seiya and Lyre. And Zwi too.”
He pulled her a little closer. “I will. You stay out of trouble. I won’t be around to save you next time.”
“Who was saving whose butt back in the Underworld, huh?” She wrapped both arms around his waist and squeezed hard. He crushed her in an even tighter embrace.
“Goodbye, Piper.” His arms loosened. He stepped back and their gazes met, his clear gray eyes scorching her soul.
“Wait,” she said abruptly. She pulled one of his little daggers out of its sheath on his arm and stretched the hem of her blue top from under the borrowed military shirt. She hurriedly cut off a strip. Grabbing his hand, she knotted it around his wrist.
“So you don’t forget your promise,” she said gruffly, fighting immediate embarrassment at her sentimentality.
Ash gently pulled his hand free and brushed his fingers across her cheek. Their eyes met one last time and then he was gone, moving fast for the trees. Zwi flew in out of nowhere, landing on his shoulder. Piper pressed both hands against her chest as he disappeared into the trees where Seiya and Lyre had vanished. Once he was out of sight, he would no doubt drop his glamour to use his wings for maximum speed.
He was gone. Out of reach. But he was safe. He was free. She would take comfort in that.
Tears burned her eyes. She blinked them away.
“Where is Ashtaroth?”
She turned, trying to compose her expression. Miysis stood a step away.
“Where did they go?”
“He’s gone to meet his sister,” she non-lied. “She’s waiting for him.”
“Where did you drop the Sahar? We can’t find it.”
She widened her eyes innocently. “I don’t remember exactly. Not that far from here.”
The Ra’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Tell me that we’ll find the Sahar if we keep looking.”
Uh-oh. She pulled a face. “Ummm . . . well . . . now that you mention it . . .”
His eyes flashed to black.
She winced. “Um . . . I guess, well, Ash sort of . . . has it. Again.”
“What?” He jabbed a finger in her face. “We’ll talk later, Piper. Yaer!” he shouted, whirling around and marching toward his guards. “Call the others. That bastard Ashtaroth has it. We have to cut him off before he gets too far.”
“Good luck with that,” she muttered to herself.
She walked away, tuning out Miysis snarling instructions—and a good bit of profanity. He had a pretty crude mouth for a prince.
“Piper,” he suddenly shouted. “Where are you going?”
She waved one hand over her shoulder without stopping.
“I’m going home,” she called back.
Home. The thought held little comfort. It wouldn’t be her home for long.
She walked on, leaving Miysis to his futile search. It was fitting she should leave the battlefield alone when she had arrived alone. All her battles would now be fought alone. Ash, gone. Lyre, gone. Her father, a virtual stranger to her. She would attend the human school, safe until she finished the year. After that, who knew? She would figure it out.
Her gaze rose above the remains of the battle to the canopy of the forest, scanning the empty sky for the shape of wings silhouetted against the morning brightness. He was safe. She was safe. It was the right decision.
But it would be a long time before the aching emptiness in her chest faded enough for her to believe it.
To be continued in
Book 3 of the Steel & Stone series:
YIELD THE NIGHT
THE STEEL & STONE SERIES
Chase the Dark
Bind the Soul
Yield the Night
Feed the Flames
Reap the Shadows
REAP THE SHADOWS is now available for pre-order!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012BVW81E
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, my heartfelt thanks to you, the reader! I hope you enjoyed Bind the Soul as much as Chase the Dark!
Thank you to Breanna, for once again enduring the first read and accompanying rewrites, revisions, and circling monologues as I tried to figure out where things had gone wrong. Your enthusiasm is the best motivator.
Thank you to Elizabeth, my editor. I can’t express my appreciation enough for the countless hours of attention and effort you dedicated to making the book as perfect as humanly possible. Your faith in the series is invaluable.
Lastly, thank you to my fiancé. You refuse to accept anything less than the best from my writing, and I’m counting on you to keep pushing my skills to the next level. None of this would be any fun without you. Did I mention you’re the best?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Annette Marie lives in Western Canada with her fiancé. Someday she’d like to get a cat. Maybe two.
Annette Marie, Bind the Soul (Steel & Stone Book 2)
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