My eyes were drawn to him, despite the sight I knew would meet me. He’d moved away from the bodies, toward the corner pile of packs. He tugged his torn shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground, his massive shoulders and V-shaped back gleaming, even in the dark.
His form was near-perfect, even with the blood splattered across his impressive pecs and chiseled abs. It almost hurt to look at him. My hand twitched, still locked around the dagger, and suddenly, I felt extremely self-conscious.
“You all right?” Niamh asked from beside me. I jumped and let out a little yelp.
Her eyes widened as an embarrassing amount of heat blazed my cheeks.
“Sorry,” I said. “I guess I’m a little on edge after that. Those shadowfiends…you call them pookas?”
She nodded. “Yes. But you don’t have to worry about those things as long as you have Kal around. They don’t stand a chance against him.”
“Yes, I can see that,” I said, my mouth a little dry. As impressive as it was, it was also a little terrifying. King Oberon had never demonstrated his power like that, though I supposed he’d never needed to.
The Mist King strode over, wiping the blood off his chest with a rag. The cloth dipped between each indented ab, and my eyes warred against me as they tracked his every move.
And then I realized what I was doing and decided I’d rather leap into the chasm to find more of those shadowfiends. Biting the insides of my cheeks, I stared at the useless dagger in my hand.
“Find anything out there, other than those creatures?” the Mist King asked, turning to Niamh.
“No, Kal. No sign of any travelers out there.”
He nodded. “So, they did go into the tunnels. We’ll need to check that out before we move on.”
“How long will that take?” I asked with a frown.
“However long it takes.”
I folded my arms. “You vowed to help me find my family.”
“And I will. We just have to check this out first.” He took a step toward me, his muscles shifting with every movement. “Someone, most likely an enemy, is trying to reach the castle through these tunnels. We have to stop them.”
“That’s quite the leap,” I countered. “There’s a lot of pookas around here. Maybe the travelers were just trying to find somewhere safe.”
He cocked his head, his eyes still narrowed. “You might be right, Tessa.”
I started to loose my tensely held breath.
“But you also might be wrong. And I am not the kind of king willing to take a chance on the lives of my people. Don’t force me to move on before this is taken care of.”
Irritation bubbled up inside me. Damn him, I hated that he was right. What kind of king would he be if he didn’t bother to check out a potential threat? Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my chest and scowled. “All right.”
He glanced at my arms, noting my discomfort. “You're still cold.” The danger in his voice did not match his words.
Truth was, with the excitement—and terror—of the battle, I’d momentarily forgotten how fucking cold this cave was. The fear had pumped blood through my veins, and adrenaline had chased away the chill.
But that was all gone now. In its place came a cold so deep I swore I could feel it in my bones.
Niamh edged in a little closer. “Look, her fingers are blue.”
Roughly, the Mist King grabbed my hand and held it up before his eyes. A jolt of heat flashed through me. I swallowed hard.
He dropped my hand and scowled. “You should have taken my damn cloak.”
“I don’t want to wear your cloak,” I parroted, though I kind of did.
“Hmm.”
My teeth clicked together. I gripped my arms even closer, trying to hold back the shudders.