19
Ness
We didn’t stick aroundto watch the house burn. Vi and Connor took care of that. They glared at one another the whole time. Vi was still pissed at Connor for betraying me a few weeks back. She didn’t even try to hide it, which rubbed Connor the wrong way, of course.
I didn’t have time to worry if Connor would have eyebrows the next time we saw each other. Ryder and I set off for Cerri’s apartment. I dozed in the passenger seat of his muscle car as the roar of the engine lulled me into a stupor. Perhaps it was the loud sound drowning out my thoughts. Or, it could have been the way Ryder’s scent permeated everything around me, leaving me feeling safe for a short while.
Cerri greeted us at the door with a tracker potion. She showed us how to use it with a bit of the leftovers in her cauldron. With a map spread out over her dinner table, she dipped a crystal point into the solution and let it dangle over the map from a chain. The crystal spun and spun until it fell onto a spot on the map.
It fell north of here, right in the middle of the broad river that separated New York from Canada. Since I didn’t think that the witch was in the water, I figured she had to be on one of the many islands that the St. Lawrence River was known for.
“That’s about a two-hour drive from here,” Ryder said.
That’s how we ended up on the interstate headed north. Once more, I dozed, falling and out of sleep as the scenery changed outside my window. It didn’t take long for the city to disappear. Soon, rolling rural landscapes took over. My hound adored the lush greenery and the smells wafting in from the outside.
After the first hour, I grew restless. I wanted to get out and explore the open landscapes on all fours. Maybe, if we had time after, we could shift…well, my dragon wouldn’t exactly be able to blend in here. This wasn’t the mountains, where cliffs obscured nearby valleys.
I let out a dramatic sigh.
“Are you still beating yourself up for what happened to Candi?”
“No, but I will now that you’ve reminded me,” I said.
I sat upright and tried to keep my thoughts away from everything bothering me. Ryder must have sensed my mounting tension because he flicked the blinker and pumped the brakes to take the next exit. I gave him a questioning look, but he didn’t respond.
He didn’t have to because he immediately pulled into a drive thru at a chain coffee house. He ordered two coffees and a dozen donuts before heading back onto the highway. Soon, our stomachs were full of caffeine and sugar.
The best part wasn’t that Ryder had treated me to food once again. It wasn’t that he was doing his best to take care of me. More than anything else, I enjoyed the look on his face as he bit into each donut.
It seemed as though his sense of taste had returned. If not in full, then nearly. He groaned happily, making sounds that I wished I could bring out of him.
Okay, brain. You need to calm down with the horny thoughts.
I shook myself in an attempt to break free from the warmth in my core. It crept upwards and nearly touched the ice around my heart. I had to desperately shove the warmth back down before it could melt the ice.
Though I could have leaned into cold and vengeful anger to keep the ice in place, it was hard to do when Ryder was around. Not only did he make me feel safe, but the swell of emotions in my heart threatened to break the ice from the inside.
Death couldn’t do shit in the face of love.
Well, it could, but not in this case. My emotions threatened to overwhelm the cool touch of death that protected me. The beings beyond the veil who wanted to see me succeed in my fate-given purpose must have been frustrated with my overactive libido lately.
It was fate’s fault for putting such an attractive and sweet man in my life. What else could I do but fall in love with him?
When we reached the Thousand Islands region, my heart ached. We parked the car in a lot and walked up to the boat rental. While Ryder spoke to the assistant, I took in the beautiful landscape.
Water crashed against the nearby walls. In the distance, a heart-shaped island boasted a castle that looked out over those on the mainland. The glimmering waters and romantic castle brought an image to my mind that I couldn’t banish.
I could see myself, standing on that well-tended island with my hand in Ryder’s. I could see him sliding a ring onto my finger while my family shed tears of happiness in the background. It was an empty daydream, but one that I didn’t want to let go of in the least.
“Are you ready?” Ryder asked, shaking me out of my reverie.
I startled and a faint heat rushed to my cheeks. Ryder squinted at me but didn’t ask what I’d been doing. I wouldn’t have told him the truth, anyway.
The daydream was too good to be true, and I knew that. Someone like me didn’t get to have a wedding on a fancy island. My hound would never allow me to attach to anyone else. I could feel it in my bones, this intense passion that she held for Ryder that would never fade. This feeling was one of the few things taking up space inside of me that I welcomed—and dreaded at the same time.
My hound thought of Ryder as her mate, even though we both knew that was impossible.
Damn, if only my hound wasn’t dumber than a box of rocks.