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Fionna stretched as if purposely teasing, the lift of her arms above her head baring her midriff. When she bent over to touch her toes, he wished he stood behind to see if her buttocks peeked from her leather skirt.
When she finished, she eyed him. “Aren’t you going to get ready?”
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” He grimaced. “Kind of wish we had longer.”
She approached him and grabbed his hands. “You don’t have to do this, and before you say Lomar has to be stopped, I agree. I mean, you don’t have to because I can do it for you.”
He shook his head. “I’m his friend and what’s left of him in that shell will appreciate me putting him out of his misery.” But who would do the same for him?
As if hearing his thoughts, she murmured, “I’ll be there for you afterwards.” She rose on tiptoe and kissed him.
His arms wrapped tight around her as he lifted her for a thorough embrace. Not their last, though, because he refused to die today or anytime soon for that matter.
“Let’s do this before night falls,” he growled against her mouth, knowing they had little time before the sun set and the thing possessing Lomar became stronger.
The garrison proved eerier than the last time he’d entered, as if those weeks of abandonment had been years. Debris littered the inner bailey. The door to the stable creaked back and forth as a cool breeze tugged it.
Fionna paused, eyes closed, hands slightly away from her body. “This place is riddled with dark threads, making it hard for me to see what’s within.”
“Meaning there’s probably something nasty inside.” A grim statement.
“I’d say that’s fairly certain.”
“The question is, is it Lomar or something else?”
“He’s here.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because he left a sign.” She pointed to the main entrance into the fort where the sigil that remained unidentified had been carved into the wood.
“It might not have been Lomar.”
“True, however, there is the same sensation of malevolence in this place as I felt when conversing with him in the cell.”
“Lomar or not, whatever infests this fort can’t be allowed to remain.” He pulled his sword from the scabbard with a metallic ring.
“You do realize we could be outnumbered,” she mentioned.
“I’m worth ten men in battle and I’d say you’re worth just as many or more with your magic.”
Her lips curved. “I hold my own.”
“We’ll go cautiously. If I deem the situation impossible and give the order to retreat, you go. No arguing. No waiting for me.”
“We’ll see.”
An infuriating reply that led to him dragging her close for a fierce kiss and a whispered, “Don’t you dare die on me.”
“I wasn’t planning to. After all, you promised me a night of pleasure once we found a bed.”
All the more reason to live.
They marched for the closed door which suddenly swung open. No one appeared in the entrance and the waning afternoon light didn’t penetrate far inside.
“I think we’re expected.” Fionna waved her hand and flung a ball of light to precede their entrance.
It didn’t dispel all the shadows, but they could see enough. The tables and benches from before had been shoved aside, their debris forming a passage that led to a single chair at the far end, and seated in it, Lomar.
