stepped away, praying he didn’t see the goose bumps that had emerged like traitors on her bicep.
“But when we cross, we’ll be temporarily exposed. We need to move quickly,” he continued.
“We’ve done this before,” Orser muttered.
“And nearly got killed,” Zeebi’s warning was soft in the air.
“We can go. Now.” Scorpio’s last word was a command and a warning rolled into one syllable.
Orser stepped out, leading the way. “Behind me, demon. Then Zeebi, Tessa, and the other guards.”
They crossed the stones in single file. Tessa and the others had skillfully navigated the way a hundred times before, while they lived here. The only newbie was Scorpio, and he skimmed across as if he’d been doing this all his life too.
Tessa averted her eyes from his tight backside as he leaped from one stone to another, landing as soundlessly as a lion. Watcher training. That’s all it was. She bet they all went into stealth mode when necessary. Nope, nothing special about Scorpio’s muscles or sinewy moves.
Liar. A tiny voice whispered in her mind. The inkling of an idea bloomed, that he might be quite extraordinary, indeed, and the perfect demon to help them. Whoa. She blinked, suddenly feeling like she needed to be on guard around him, and not for fear of physical harm. The muscles in his back rippled under his tight T-shirt as he advanced to the next stone. Predator. Protector. She shook her head, forcing her thoughts to the mission at hand.
When her feet landed on dry land, a strong, perfect sense of home gripped her like a tangible force. But danger lurked beneath the sunny sky, like a creeping vine poised to strangle a neighboring plant. Without meaning to she flicked a glance at Scorpio, and met those amber eyes, drinking her in like she was some kind of drug. No. She blinked away the unwanted caress of his stare. “Can we get started?” She swung her gaze to the rowan.
He nodded. “No one else here right now.”
“Thank the gods. Let’s dig.” Zeebi beelined for the tree and dropped to her knees beneath the thickly clustered branches. “Ah, feels so good to be here.”
And thankfully, Tessa would be a little farther away from Scorpio. His nearness unnerved her, along with his intense eyes. Somehow, that bugged her more than the fact that he was a murderer. How messed up was that?
Tessa followed Zeebi with purposeful strides. She removed her backpack, knelt near her friend, and pressed her palms into the soft grass. “Do you feel that pull every time we’re here? That feeling of being home?”
“Sure.” Zeebi got out her trowel. “That, and a feeling of being supremely pissed off.”
“True.” Tessa quieted and focused on the earth. Unzipping a small pocket of her backpack, she withdrew an amulet with a shard of amethyst crystal in it. Next, she murmured the words to a spell that would indicate where the crystal’s “brothers” were. She caught Zeebi’s soft whispers as her friend did the same.
Tessa’s right hand tingled and she felt the unerring knowledge that she needed to move it back a bit closer to her knee… there . A tiny glow surrounded the amulet. She started to dig.
Down a foot, nestled in rich, dark dirt, she found a big cluster of crystals. Spiky rough edges jutted up, as ants and roly-polys scurried away from the sudden light and from her invading hand. “I found a bunch here,” she whispered over her shoulder to Zeebi.
“Score. I got two.”
Tessa retrieved a large remnant of canvas from her pack and spread it out beside her. She dug carefully around her crystals and lifted them out one by one. She set them all on the fabric, not bothering to brush the dirt off. That could come later when they were safely home.
Two other guards, Fenrick and Samuel, stood close, hands on blade or bow, but also ready with defense spells they’d perfected in the years forced away from Bronwy. Tessa worked quietly, happy to have guards close and not really wanting to know
Emma Barry & Genevieve Turner