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Earlier, I had been drained to the point of collapse, and even the threat of unfamiliar males was unable to prop me up. But with Ruslan at the other end of this too-small pallet, my heart and mind raced out of control. I didn’t trust him not to touch me, especially since he claimed he was my mate. Liliana had said the attraction between mates was undeniable, and as much as I hated him, my body clearly did not, if I had to judge by the dampness between my thighs.
Goddess help me, even his muscles had muscles, and he shamelessly flaunted his body before settling down beside me. He was taller than Kazimir, but where Kazimir’s size was threatening but not terrifying, Ruslan’s was aggressive and alarming, like I’d always need to be on my toes to avoid unleashing the beast within. I had to keep up my training, if only to give myself a fighting chance should he ever want to take from me what I was unwilling to give.
His soft snores broke through my racing thoughts, and I wondered if escape was possible.
It was late.
I was unchained.
He was asleep.
There might only be a few soldiers on patrol.
If I could only sneak to a horse undetected, I could be far away before anyone could wake him. But then I remembered he could move through space like it was nothing, and my dreams of flying through the night on horseback back to Vaenor ended before they even began.
There had to be a way to evade him, and I needed time to figure out what that was. Resigning myself to staying for the moment, I decided to feel him out for any weaknesses and learn as much as I could about the breeding program to prepare for the impending battle. Because, without a doubt, Kazimir would fight his way back to me, and I needed to help him win.
But staying didn’t mean I had to stay in this bed.
Noiselessly slipping from between the furs, I crept to the tent’s entrance, then shimmied through the flap, preventing too much light from spilling across Ruslan’s face. The night air was cold against my face and bare feet, but I would soon be too sweaty to care. As I presumed, only a few soldiers sat awake around the fire. Their eyes snapped to me, none of them a familiar shade of green, and I was glad my plan was to train and not to escape, because I would not have made it two steps.
“Which direction has enough space for me to exercise?” I whispered.
The male closest to me looked at me as if I had three heads. “Exercise?”
“Yes, you know, like squats and push-ups?” I explained.
“I know what exercise is, I’m not an idiot. But why?” He assessed me with his deep blue eyes.
“Because I like it? Do I need a reason?” I shot back, crossing my arms over my chest.
He huffed a laugh. “Guess not. I’ll escort you. My name isDrazen.” He led me between a few tents until we were in a small clearing. Propping himself against a tree, he picked at his nails, paying me no mind as I eyed him warily. Crossing to the middle, I put as much distance between us as possible without pushing his boundaries. A breeze lifted wayward strands of my hair, and I was loath to shed the warm jacket as I shivered, but I unfastened it, tossing it to the side so I was dressed only in the tight pants and gray tunic Ruslan had given me. I boxed an imaginary opponent to warm up, moving in a square pattern as my blood heated and chased the chill away with it.
Sweat dampened my long, loose hair, darkening the chestnut shade into a rich auburn. My bare feet crunched dried leaves that dusted the forest floor, creating a harmony with my heaving breath until I brushed against some fallen limbs and paused my movement to gather a few sticks of different shapes and sizes. Selecting two of similar size, I danced with them in my hands, slashing imaginary opponents and imbuing my rage into each successive strike. Anxiety and anger melted away as if my pouring sweat stripped them out of my pores, my body flowing easier, lighter, the more I worked.
I sealed my tentative inner peace with a stretching flow that involved intense breathwork, collapsing against the cold, hard ground and staring through the scraggly canopy overhead, finding a sky filled with twinkling stars much too bright for my dark situation.
Drazen scrutinized my sweat-soaked body when I rose from the ground, brushing at a few leaves stuck in my hair and against my back. He tossed me a canteen, and I drank down the water, my throat parched and stinging against the chilly air as my breathing returned to normal. “You drop your left elbow a little too much when you throw hooks, but other than that your form is spot on. Who trained you?” he asked.
“A friend,” I snapped. There was no way I planned onsharing information about the people who loved and supported me in the Night Realm, especially with this unknown male.
“Chill, Izidora, I’m not trying to interrogate you for information. Just trying to make small talk.”
I raised a brow, saying nothing, and studied his face for any sign of deception. Drazen seemed like an honest male, his demeanor a combination of laid-back and take-no-shit. His dark hair was long but slicked back into a bun at the top of his head, showing off his dark complexion, though his eyes were the color of the deep ocean outside my window at Este Castle. His frame was bulky, like every Iron Fae I had seen up until this point, but there was something about him that reminded me of Ruslan.
Drazen was not to be trusted.
He jerked his head toward the flickering fire. “I’m freezing my ass off, and since you are finished exercising, I want to warm up. Let’s go.” He waited for me to pass him before following behind me.
“Someone is bossy,” I muttered under my breath, stalking away from his commanding tone.
“I am the lieutenant of this regiment, so yeah, I am the boss here,” he responded.
My cheeks flushed at his words, and I whipped my head around to see a thick brow quirked. “How did you hear what I said?”
“I'm Félvér. Half Dragon, half Iron Fae. Dragon senses are even better than Fae. They are, after all, the apex predators.” He waved me on, and I spun on my heel with a huff.
“Like Ruslan,” I said flatly, remembering our earlier conversation where I learned I was part Angel.
