Page 119 of Sands of Atonement

I waited until I heard her rise and started to walk back.

A hand wrapped around mine and turned me around. Her hand felt so small in the palm of mine.

“For how long have I been your weakness?” she asked. Eshe’s eyes were open and clear.

“Too long,” I said with a clipped tone and dropped her hand as if it were venomous.

We managed to find our way back through the darkness, through the hallways, and back to our rooms.

That night, I fell into the most fitful sleep I’d had all year.

Every dream I had turned into a nightmare. Her brother finding her and murdering her in a hundred different ways. The murderer lurking in the shadows, capturing her, and taking her from me.

I checked in on Eshe, who was asleep with Norrah, only five times before I decided to sleep in the hallway across from their door. If anyone was going to kill her, they’d have to go through me. The dreams felt so real.

I had to tell her. Tomorrow.

Exhaustion finally swallowed me, and I slept.

When I woke, I found that the sun had risen and the door to their bedroom was wide open.

I flung off the blanket that I had covering my body and jumped to my feet.

Immediately, the thought came to me: she had left me.

I looked around the room and felt an empty presence, a phantom whisper.

With little sleep, exhaustion slowly crept into my mind as I grudgingly walked through the halls.

There was no way she had left. She didn’t have any means to. She wouldn’t leave Norrah here, and Norrah would never leave knowing Gabriel was out looking for her. I was overthinking it. I wasn’t at my best when I’d hardly slept. Echoing off the walls, I heard laughter from outside. Holding my breath, I peered through one of the red and yellow stained-glass windows.

My eyes caught Eshe before anyone else. She wore a thin linen covering—her thick, wavy hair shrouded her shoulders. She was laughing at something Casimir said, and immediately I thought of ways I could bury him in the sands.

Figuratively. Of course.

But that still didn’t make me stop the unpleasant images from crossing my mind.

God, what was this woman doing to me?

With a growl, I walked down the stairs into the bright sunshine that beat upon my bare chest. I had short linen trousers and was ready for some cool waters to make this frustration go away.

Eshe was now talking to Norrah with her hand on Norrah’s forearm, seemingly in an intense conversation. They erupted in laughter, their shoulders shaking from it. I shook my head, women.

I glanced over to the right where the runes waved in the far distance. The night terrors radiated in the back of my mind, sending shivers down my spine. I narrowed my eyes, wondering if I could see anything in the distance.

Kavid won’t find Eshe. Gabriel won’t find Norrah.

They’ll both be safe.

Chapter 30

Eshe

I felt the weight of his gaze on me before any of us saw him.

But I ignored it.

We were all dipping our toes safely in the crystal-green waters, sharing pleasantries among the four of us, Yven, Casimir, Norrah, and me. Cas and Yven were cute together, but I had a feeling neither one of them took their relationship seriously, and perhaps they’d been doing this for some time. Cas always seemed to be looking for the next thing that was going to make him laugh and smile.