Warrior's Rise (29 page)

“Logan,” she whispered, “can I stay with you tonight?”

You can stay with me forever…
He swallowed the lump that rose in his throat and forced his emotions in check. “Of course.”

She smiled. “I still think you shouldn’t go back to Medford.” Her smile grew into a playful grin. “You could stay and help run the camp with me.”

He smiled, even though it was painful to do so. “I like that idea.”

She giggled. “I promise I won’t make you sleep in the leaky cabin anymore.”

He chuckled. “I appreciate that.” Her soft laugh was the end of him. He couldn’t help himself any longer. He lowered his lips to hers, needing to feel her kiss, needing to sample her sweet taste. He indulged himself, kissing her with deliberate slowness, nibbling at her bottom lip. She sighed and her fingers came up to tangle in his hair. It set his blood ablaze and made him want to weep like a little boy all at the same time. He pulled away before he lost it and tightened his arms around her, holding her close.

“Logan, are you okay?” she asked, looking at him in concern. She touched his cheek. “You look sad.”

Tears stung his eyes; he forced them away. “I’m just tired.” It wasn’t a lie. He was exhausted. In so many ways.

Her eyes softened in understanding. “Here.” She moved out of his arms and scooted up towards the pillows. She lay down and held her arm out to him. He immediately lay down next to her and closed his eyes when he felt her fingers begin to trail through his hair.

“Rest, dragon warrior,” she whispered. “We have time to talk. We’re just beginning, you and me.”

He opened his eyes to take in her smile and the way her eyes sparkled. His heart twisted. Just beginning… It was poetically warped that their beginning and their end were one in the same.

Chapter Thirty

Logan awoke with dread curled around his heart like a serpent. Willow slept next to him, her arm draped across his waist, her head resting on his shoulder. It was divine torture. He closed his eyes and memorized the feel of her there, then drew in a determined breath and eased himself out of bed. Her arm tightened around him and she made a disgruntled noise.

“Where are you going?” she mumbled.

His throat constricted and he looked down at her. Her eyes were still closed and she was frowning. He smoothed back her hair and kissed her forehead. “Shh, go back to sleep,” he soothed. “Everything’s fine.”

“Where are you going?” she persisted.

Of course she couldn’t just do what he said. That would be far too easy. He sighed. “The Kaleydia are leaving this morning. I want to thank them again for their help.”

Her eyes fluttered open. “Wait, I want to go with you.” She let go of his waist and made to roll out of bed.

He blinked. “No, it’s all right. Go back to sleep.” He didn’t want to see her sad eyes as he walked away with the Kaleydia. It would kill him.

She frowned at him as she sat up. “Gimme a break, Logan. They saved
my
people. I’m going to go with you.”

Of course she was. He heaved a sigh.

The flap on the tent lifted suddenly and Lucy tentatively poked her head in. “Logan?” she called.

Logan felt sick at the way she bit her bottom lip and he saw tears swimming in her eyes. He knew what it meant. He offered her a sad smile. “Sent you to come get me, did they?”

She nodded and looked down.

Willow frowned. “What? Why?” She turned to face Logan. “Wait a minute, what’s going on?” Alarm flashed across her features.

Logan stood and cupped her cheek in his palm. “You said you would remember me,” he whispered. “Please keep that promise. I know that I will never forget you.” Her eyes widened and he turned away from her, unable to look at her a second longer.

“What are you talking about?” Willow’s voice came. “Lucy, what’s going on?”

He was aware of Lucy pulling her over and explaining the situation as he put a shirt on and tried to keep his heart from shattering into a thousand pieces. He slipped out of the tent while Lucy was still talking, before anyone could stop him, and he strode through the village to the courtyard where the Kaleydia were gathered. A sinking feeling settled into his stomach at the sight of them. Especially since the entire village was standing there, as well. At least they’d kept Cyrcinus out of the equation. She must have still been in the stables, awaiting their departure. He sighed. Why couldn’t anyone just keep their mouth shut? This was agony.

“Logan!”

Her voice sliced through him like the sharpest blade and he stopped just inside the courtyard, having a difficult time keeping a handle on his emotions. What had once been so easy for him was now the hardest task imaginable. He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt her arms come around him from behind and hold on fiercely.

“Are you out of your mind?” she whispered, her voice laced with tears. “You can’t do this!”

He looked up at the crowd that was watching and he felt sick when his eyes fell on Darien and all of the kids. They were all crying. Darien had his shoulders hunched and his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Willow turned away from Logan and boldly strode up to Fangborn. “You can’t do this!” she shouted.

Logan’s eyes widened.

Fangborn stared down at her with his cold, unfeeling gaze. “Avari woman, you have no say in this matter. I respect your leadership among your people, but this accord was made between Logan and myself. Your opinion matters little.”

She shook her head. “No!” she spat with vehemence. “I forbid it! I won’t allow it!” Tears spilled out of her eyes. “I’ll fight you myself!”

Logan’s eyes bulged and he strode forward and took her wrist. He looked up at Fangborn and shook his head, then backed Willow away from the man and met her eyes. “Are you out of your mind?” he cried. “Have you ever even dealt with the Kaleydia before?” Didn’t the way they had swept through and eradicated the Supporo clue her in that they weren’t to be trifled with?

“I don’t care!” Her entire body trembled and shook with the force of her emotion. “They can’t have you! I’ll fight every last one of them with my own two hands!” She dissolved into sobs and collapsed against his chest, clutching at his shirt.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “For a woman who claims she doesn’t know how to fight, that’s a pretty bold statement,” he muttered.

She shook her head and held onto him with all her strength. “Please don’t do this,” she whispered. “Not now.” She looked up at him and the pain in her eyes shattered his whole world. “We’re just beginning, remember?”

Tears stung his eyes and he reached up to take her face in his hands. “You will always have my heart, Willow. Remember that?” he murmured. “That is yours to have and no one else’s.”

She looked down and shook her head, her tears falling anew. “Why?” she cried. “Why did you do this?”

He took a deep breath and forced himself to stay strong. “Because my broken heart and my freedom were a small price to pay for your safety.” He stroked her hair and looked over at the kids. Even in his sorrow, his heart filled with warmth. “I was nothing before you,” he said. “All of you have made me whole. You taught me how to love. I didn’t even know what it was before you. I would do
anything
to protect that.” He pulled Willow close to his side and walked slowly over to the kids. “You have all taught me so much. I used to think that being a warrior meant being strong, fighting, being cold.” He shook his head. “That’s not even a piece of it. Being a warrior is loving something and believing in something so much that you would gladly lay down your life if it meant keeping that safe.” He let his eyes scan the Avari people and he pressed a kiss to the top of Willow’s head. “Being a warrior is giving all of yourself for something greater than you. It’s fighting when all you want to do is hide, and hiding when all you want to do is fight.” He looked at Lucy. “It’s pouring over a Bible-sized book of mythology for five straight hours in hopes that you’ll find just one little snippet of something to help save the one you love.”

Lucy’s bottom lip quivered and she looked down.

Logan’s gaze shifted to Aki. “It’s swinging a makeshift mace at a stranger and beating him with it to stand up for what you believe in.”

She giggled through her tears and buried her face against Colt’s shoulder.

Logan smiled. “It’s being a leader, a friend,” he caressed Willow’s hair once again, “a lover,” he looked over at Darien and swallowed hard, “a brother.” He drew in a shuddering breath. “Being a warrior is being yourself and staying true to that, no matter what.” He nudged Willow, who was crying softly, over to her brother, who took her in his arms and swayed her back and forth. Logan turned to face Darien. His throat constricted; he had no idea what to say.

Darien sighed and looked up with a tear-stained face. He gave a dry chuckle. “I feel like I’m at the end of the third
Lord of the Rings
movie when Frodo is leaving and he’s standing there all stoic and Sam is blubbering like an idiot.” He laughed again and wiped at his eyes, shrugging helplessly. “Always thought of myself as the strong hero, not the trusty sidekick.”

Logan smiled and he put his hands on Darien’s shoulders, his heart filling with tremendous affection. “Darien, don’t you know? Frodo may have been the hero by default, but Sam was the strength. Frodo wouldn’t have been jack without Sam.” He gave his shoulders a squeeze for emphasis.

Darien met his eyes and his brows drew together inquisitively. “You…finished watching it?”

Logan grinned and gave a lazy shrug. “Had to see how it ended.” He heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Guess I’m just a freaky loser like you now.”

Darien laughed and threw his arms around Logan, holding on. “I am so proud to know you,” he murmured.

Logan squeezed his eyes shut and clutched Darien to him for a long moment. “You are the best of our family.” He held on for a fraction of a second longer, then pulled away and pushed Darien lightly back towards his friends. “Take care of each other,” he instructed. He’d hoped they would remain standing there, crying in silence, but they didn’t. Of course they didn’t. He’d come to realize that this entire situation was going to test him right beyond his breaking point. All of the kids surrounded him and encompassed him in a desperate hug.

He squeezed his eyes shut and hugged them all back. “I am so glad I met all of you,” he whispered. They pulled away almost as quickly as they’d invaded and he was left standing in front of Willow. His heart twisted, cracked and shattered. He grabbed her wrist, pulled her out of Tiyenen’s arms and into his own. He held her fiercely, then delivered a savage, intense kiss. She grasped onto him and dug her fingers into his shoulders, matching his desperation with her own. He pulled back and forced himself to look into her eyes. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done. “Willow,” he rasped, cupping her cheek and running his thumb along her bottom lip. “I love you… You need to know that.” He meant the words. He meant them all the way into his soul. He had to say it, or he would regret it for eternity.

She gasped and her eyes blurred with tears. She stared up at him for a long moment before letting out a shuddering breath. “I love you too, Logan,” she cried.

What was left of his heart disintegrated. He ran his trembling fingers over her beautiful face one more time, fixed the vision of her in his mind, then drew in a deep breath and turned away. If it was possible to feel your heart physically rip out of your body, that was the way he felt as he walked away from Willow and toward Fangborn.

Fangborn regarded him silently for a long moment before something strange came to life in his eyes. He cocked his head slightly to one side. “I have never seen a leader of a pack so well loved,” he remarked.

Logan swallowed as a dull ache settled into his chest. “I’m not the leader of a pack,” he said. “I’m just a man.”

Fangborn stared at him for another silent second. “You will be a great asset to the Kaleydia.”

Yes, yes. Get on with it. Just get me out of here. This is plain evil.

A small smirk formed around Fangborn’s lips and he yanked something off of his belt. “Give me your arm,” he commanded.

Logan obeyed and Fangborn tied a thick strip of leather with intricate beadwork around his wrist.

“This symbolizes your allegiance to my people,” he stated. “It marks you as our property. Everyone in the realm will recognize you as such.”

He jerked his head in the direction of the Avari and all Logan could do was blink up at him like he’d been slapped. Had he? Did he just? No friggin’ way…

He looked down at the leather around his wrist, then up at Fangborn who looked very pleased with himself. Slowly, feeling shocked and numb, he turned back to his friends, his family… His whole world. It was too much to hope for that he would be granted everything. He didn’t deserve everything. It was more than he could bear. He fell to his knees and hung his head, giving way to tears of overwhelming joy. Laughter mingled with his tears, and as a wave of unbridled happiness surged through him, he raised his arms and his face to the sky, screaming his elation to the clouds.

He was enveloped by warm embraces and he closed his eyes, basking in the bliss that surrounded him. He looked down to see Willow holding on for dear life and all of the kids doing much the same. He tangled one hand in Willow’s hair and tousled Darien’s with the other. The heaviness that had been weighing down his heart lifted and he felt like he had won the biggest battle of his entire life. He looked back at Fangborn, who gave a deep, respectful bow, turned and led his pack out of the Avari village. Logan delighted in seeing two Kaleydia hauling a gagged, bound Cyrcinus after them.