Page 33 of Dragon Unbound (Dragon Kings 3)
Chapter Thirteen
The instant she saw the fog, Tamlyn stopped. She knew this was Cullen. She wanted to look for him, but the mist was too thick. Thankfully, it had also slowed the wildcat.
She swallowed, the sound loud to her ears. The forest had gone deathly quiet when the fog appeared. Even the wildcat’s roars had ceased. Her head snapped to the side when she heard a man’s voice. It was some distance away and was quickly followed by another’s. Those must be the soldiers waiting for her again.
Tamlyn’s chest rose and fell rapidly. She didn’t have time for this. She had to get to the temple. Her hands were sweaty. She rubbed them on her hips and took a step. As she moved forward, a limb snapped beneath her foot. She stilled once more. It felt as if every eye in the forest was looking at her.
The soldiers began talking again. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it couldn’t be good. They were there for her. She had barely made it back yesterday morning. Tamlyn shook her head, refusing to let her thoughts go down that road. Suddenly, an arm came around her waist as a hand covered her mouth. She found herself pressed against a firm chest. She fought with all she had.
“Lass, it’s me.”
At the sound of Cullen’s voice, her body went limp. She removed his hand from her mouth and turned in his arms. He put a finger to his lips and shook his head. She didn’t know how he had found her, and she didn’t care. He was there now.
She took his hand and tried to tug him after her, but he refused to budge. Tamlyn faced him once more and shot him a look of outrage.
A muscle ticked in his jaw as the mist hovered around them. He leaned close and put his mouth against her ear. “There’s an army waiting for you, spread the length of the forest.”
She jerked back. Her heart plummeted to her feet as she shook her head. That couldn’t be.
Cullen nodded once.
Tamlyn looked around, hoping that the answer to her problem would suddenly appear. Her gaze kept returning to Cullen. He couldn’t be her answer. He was the one preventing her from going. He didn’t understand that to not at least try to find the child about to die would be akin to feeling the blade herself.
She released his hand and spun around. Two steps later, he had his arms wrapped around her again.
“You can no’,” he murmured near her ear.
Tears poured down her face as the screams rang out in her head. A picture of a little girl’s face filled her mind. The child was barely four with chubby cheeks and an easy smile. Tamlyn fought to get free of Cullen, but his hold was firm.
“Please,” she begged. “I have to go. Let me go before it’s too late.”
She didn’t care if the entire realm heard her. Nothing was worse than not being able to do something to save the child.
Cullen didn’t release her. Tamlyn struggled in his arms, kicking and flailing to no avail. She threw back her head. Pain exploded as she connected with his. He mumbled a curse but held tight, his arms locking around her.
She didn’t give up the fight. Then, suddenly, somehow, she managed to get free. Tamlyn ran through the forest as fast as she could. She could make it to the city. She could save the little girl. If only she could get to the—
“Enough!” Cullen hissed in her ear as he caught her once more. “You’re running to your death.”
The screams in her head grew louder. Tamlyn clawed at her face, trying to hush them. A picture of the little girl flashed in her mind again. This time, the child was crying, fear causing her little body to shake.
And just as suddenly as it all began, it ended.
The agony within her was so great, it was all she could feel…all she could be. She wanted to…she didn’t know what she needed. It was there, just out of reach. She tried to grab it, but it slipped through her fingers.
* * * *
“Tamlyn?” Cullen whispered when she went slack in his arms.
Her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t breathing.
“Tamlyn, breathe,” he ordered. When she didn’t respond, he knelt and shook her once more. “Breathe, dammit.”
Jenefer ran to him, out of breath with her sword drawn, blood coating it. She took one look at Tamlyn and dropped down beside him. “Shite. Shite.”
“What do I do?” he asked in a hushed tone.
She looked helplessly at him and shrugged. “There’s nothing to do.”
“There has to be.”
“She’ll come out of it. At least she has in the past.”
That didn’t make Cullen feel any better. He shook Tamlyn again, this time harder, but she didn’t so much as blink.
“Uh. I think we have a problem, dragon.”
He looked up to find Jenefer staring at the face of a large cat, its green gaze locked on them, its mouth slightly parted showing rows of razor-sharp teeth. It had black fur with gray spots and rosettes. By his guess, the feline was about five hundred pounds of hungry beast. Fortunately, there was plenty for it to eat elsewhere in the forest. Cullen could kill the cat easily, but he didn’t want to. It was just doing what it did. They were in its territory.
Cullen looked deep into the animal’s eyes, showing it who he really was. The wildcat blinked its green orbs and sat back. It hadn’t run off as most animals did when he looked them in the eye in such a way. He smiled as understanding dawned. The cat was intelligent. Cullen motioned to the army behind them. The feline stood and cut its gaze to Jenefer before trotting around Cullen to disappear into the fog.
“What the hell?” Jenefer asked.
Cullen shrugged at the same time screams filled the air—the army’s. He looked down at Tamlyn and shook her. She jerked without opening her eyes but let out a scream that was drowned out by the men’s. Then, she fell unconscious.
“Let’s get her back to the ruins,” he said.
He stood and lifted her in his arms. With the cat enjoying its dinner, and the army otherwise occupied, they ran to the road and then straight through the forest to the canyon. Jenefer didn’t fall that far behind him.
When they entered the ruins, Jenefer went ahead of him and motioned for him to follow her. “Sian,” Jenefer called as they hurried through the corridors.
Cullen found himself in a chamber with a pallet of furs on the floor for a bed. He gently laid Tamlyn down.
“No,” Sian said as she came into the room.
