I’m on the floor, which is a surprise and I should have known from how stiff and cold it was. I swipe a hand at my cheek.

  “Don’t,” the single word is sharp, and I look up to find Orrtyn standing over me. There’s something in his hand and he cringes when he looks at my face hovering in the air. “Don’t touch it. I doubt you’ll get an infection considering I’ve seen you heal from worse, but we don’t want to take the chance.” He shakes his head. “It's bad enough Ragna had you put that dirty shirt to your face.”

  So, he knows the bird isn’t just a bird too. Of course he does. They don’t have secrets.

  I glance up at him, cringing when my head starts to spin again. He sighs before holding out his empty hand to me. For a second I only glare at the nails that barely hold any leftover polish.

  I take a deep gulp before finally taking his hand. It's warm and the tingles I feel have to be from all the blood loss. He pulls me to my feet, strong and sturdy. He holds a hand out when I make it to my feet, as if to catch me if I fall.

  I feel steady though, so I give him a sharp nod. “I’m okay.”

  His eyes trail over my face. “Okay, but I still need to check your wound.”

  I nod and hold my head still so that he can look but he shakes his head before turning a finger. “More light that way,” he says, and I follow the direction of his finger to where there’s more light.

  It makes me finally turn to look around at this cave and I find that it’s much bigger than our previous shelter. It goes back further and when I take a peek I can see that there’s a fork in the cave, meaning that you can go deeper. I pause when I hear the sound of running water.

  “There’s a stream inside of the cave?” I ask, glancing at Orrtyn.

  He nods. “Yes, and one outside, which is where we’re headed so that I can properly look at the wound and clean it.”

  I don’t argue, following behind him. We pass by Brielyn and Walker who are sitting in front of firewood. There isn’t an actual fire though and it seems as if the two are actually holding a conversation, correcting a one sided conversation. Brielyn is doing a whole lot of talking and Walker is doing his usual scowling.

  Ragna sits on Walker’s shoulder and the two wear matching glares as they look at me.

  I shake my head slightly, not having time to deal with the two.

  When we make it out of the cave, I find that night is close to falling which isn’t a surprise.

  It's the way things seem to go here.

  Fight. Get injured. Pass out. Sundown. Night time. Repeat.

  Outside, I find that there aren’t any trees like last time. Instead there are a bunch of rocks, all of various shapes and sizes. A long stream runs between a group of rocks and Orrtyn gestures to it. “Take a seat,” he says softly.

  I nod, taking a seat on the hard rock.

  Orrtyn kneels in front of the stream and when I finally get a better glance at what’s in his hand, I can tell it's a patch of a cut up shirt. I don’t ask where he got it from and I assume it's clean considering his earlier remarks about Ragna giving me the soldier’s shirt, speaking of which….

  “Ragna’s a shapeshifter.” I put the sentence out there without hesitation.

  Orrtyn’s shoulders stiffen slightly before he lets out a sigh and stands. He turns around and wrings the dripping rag in his hand. He takes a step closer to me before finally responding. “Yes.”

  It wasn’t a question, but I don’t mention that.

  He moves in closer to me but doesn’t fully approach and I know that he’s aware that I have questions.

  “And she’s Walker’s protector.”

  He nods.

  “How old is she?” I ask, since it's actually a question and not just another statement. I distinctly remember the bird saying she’s ancient.

  Orrtyn’s eyes narrow slightly. “I’m not sure, but she’s very old.”

  What a vague answer.

  “Mhmm, and why is she Walker’s protector?” I question. The man is a capable warrior himself even if Ragna seems to be of an entirely different league of her own.

  Orrtyn’s eyes move to the cave briefly and I can tell that he’s debating on whether to tell me what I want to know.

  I remain silent.

  “She swore an oath to his mother to protect him,” He finally says and that catches me slightly off guard.

  “His mother?” I ask.

  Orrtyn nods. “Yes, Ragna was his mother’s…. friend. Before she was killed, she made Ragna take a vow to protect him. When he was taken as a slave she came with him and she wouldn’t have let them kill him,” he says. “She would have exposed herself, her magic, and saved his life, but she didn’t have to, because Elyjah begged for it instead.”

  I press my fingers to my temples as my head starts to hurt again as I try to process the information. “And her magic, she says that it’s… different?”

  He nods. “It is, it’s more ancient than the common magic of Caelumine that everyone believes has faded.”

  There’s that word again.

  Ancient.

  “Where does this ancient magic come from?” I already have a feeling I know but I want to hear an actual confirmation.

  His lips purse slightly, but I know he’s going to tell me what I want.

  It isn’t too often that Orrtyn denies you the answers you want, and yet you plan to kill him anyway.

  I push the thought away instantly but not before my heart skips a beat at the thought.

  “The Loka mountains,” he says, telling me exactly what I thought.

  Not only had what Ragna said clued me in but something in my gut was screaming that there’s something more to Lokanians.

  The rumors are true.

  Something special happened to the people who took refuge in the Loka Mountains.

  “I see, and Walker… does he have magic?” I ask. I can’t pinpoint what makes me ask the question, but something is tickling my memory. Something Walker has done before that was suspicious.

  Orrtyn’s blue eyes meet mine. “That’s something you’d have to ask Walker about.”

  And that wasn’t a no, so I think I have my answer, but I’ll surely ask the burly man about it when I get a chance.

  Orrtyn takes a step forward and for a moment I’m unsure of what he’s doing as he lays a gentle hand beneath my chin. His touch is warm and firm but also delicate. With his other hand, he gently dabs at my cheek, the wetness of the rag cold but soothing.

  His eyes hold mine even as he gently wipes at the cut and there’s something stirring in them that’s hard to ignore.

  Those blue orbs drop to my lips for a moment. A flush moves up his neck to his cheeks. Warmth fills my chest and my skin starts to tingle slightly. Orrtyn’s tongue darts out to lick his lips before he shakes his head slightly. He turns his attention to my cheek. “It’s already healing,” he says softly.

  I nod, but my throat feels tight and my skin feels too hot.

  Orrtyn’s eyes snap to mine and they seem to be searching for something. He mutters a soft word under his breath before he drops the rag.

  I don’t have time to process what’s going on before one hand pulls my chin up and then his moist lips are on mine.

  It’s different from when Walker kissed me. Just as intense but there’s something that’s soft and sweet about this, slow and sensual, gentle but firm. His grip on my chin tightens slightly before it releases completely.

  His tongue trails across my lips gently before retreating and I find myself leaning into him as one of his hands trails through my hair.

  I feel the kiss everywhere, it seems, my chest pounding, my skin tingling, my head swimming. My fingers ache and tingle with the need to touch, to pull Orrtyn in closer to me.

  I’m so shocked when he pulls back and oh so disappointed.

  His blue eyes hold heat in them but also something so sweet that my breath catches. “I’m sorry, I should have asked first,” he says softly. He takes a small step back.

  I try to make my lips form words, but they can’t no matter how hard I try. I tilt my head forward and a stray piece of hair falls into my face. Orrtyn reaches a hand forward as if to brush it away before stopping. His hand drops away limply and he lets out a long sigh as he shoves his hands into his pocket. “I’ll uh… I’ll go,” he says. His demeanor is shyer and more perplexed than I’ve ever seen it and still I can’t come up with words.

  He offers me an apologetic smile before moving away. I don’t turn around to look at him as he retreats to the cave. I’m too focused on the one question that pops into my head.

  How could I possibly betray him when he just kissed me like that?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  "You kissed him?" Brielyn asks with a frown on his face as he stares at me like I've suddenly grown a second head.

  I jerk my head in a nod. "Yeah." My throat feels dry and my head is swimming slightly.

  We're standing a ways out from the cave's entrance. Last night passed in a blur, not giving me any time to think about the kiss between Orrtyn and I. I'd gone back in the cave to find the man avoiding my gaze. Walker, ever tuned into his best friend, kept glancing back and forth between us with a frown on his face. A couple of times, I thought he was going to ask what happened and I was surprised when he didn't.

  Eventually we'd all gone to bed for the night, Orrtyn and Walker taking over the job of watching while everyone slept. I'd volunteered to help, but Walker had only sneered before making a smart remark about me passing out on the job since I can't manage to stay conscious for more than a few hours. A part of me wanted to toss something at his head, but I'd chosen not to.

  When I'd asked why Brielyn couldn't take a shift, Walker had rolled his eyes before saying he didn't trust my friend to keep him safe while he slept. The words had revealed that he'd trusted me to keep him safe the times I'd kept guard, but I didn't point that out to him. Instead, I'd curled up on the ground and found myself asleep within seconds.

  Brielyn woke me up this morning and I was surprised to find that I'd slept in. Everyone else was already moving around. Orrtyn and Walker had taken to muttering amongst themselves, but I constantly felt their eyes on me.

  Ragna has been fluttering around the cave all morning and I swear the bitch has swiped me with her wing and beak more than once. I'm starting to realize that she was being nice before I knew about her true form, and now all the gloves are off.

  I'm going to be having that bird stew real soon if she keeps this up.

  Now it's daytime and Brielyn and I have taken a little time to get away from Walker and Orrtyn. Brielyn told me he'd sensed that something was up, and I'd found myself confiding in him, telling him about the kiss between Orrtyn and I.

  "I mean technically I didn't kiss him, he kissed me," I correct my friend.

  Brielyn purses his lips, his eyes glancing over my shoulder briefly before returning to my face. "It doesn't sound like you were objecting though," he says, raising a brow.

  I purse my lips before shrugging, trying to seem unaffected. "I wasn't."

  It's hard to admit, but the truth is that I didn't pull away from Orrtyn's kiss. If anything, I'd fallen into the kiss even harder, my lips becoming one with his. And I can still feel the softness of his lips pressed against mine and I can't stop thinking about it.

  Brielyn shakes his head. "You're fucked,' he says simply, and I know he's right.

  I nod. "I know."

  His eyes widen slightly as if the admission surprises him and I suppose I understand why it would. He looks at the cave again before grabbing my wrist gently and pulling me in the other direction. I allow him to drag me along as my head swirls with thoughts. When we get a distance away, the cave still in view but much further out, he begins to talk again. "What are you going to do about the kiss when you've made it clear that you want nothing more than to kill the royals, Orrtyn included?"

  What a good question.

  I brush a hand through my blond locks, shrugging slightly. "I have no idea. I keep asking myself the same question," I tell him with a sigh.

  My mind goes to Conrad and the warning he'd issued me the last time I saw him. He'd made it clear that I couldn't allow myself to soften toward the royals, not any more than I'd already had, and look at me now.

  I've fallen completely off the edge of my sanity.

  "Fuck." Saying the word doesn't help my frustration in the slightest.

  Remember who the enemy is Roxanna.

  How hard is it to follow one fucking order? Especially when I've constantly reminded myself of the one fact. I keep telling myself to not trust the royals and not to soften to them and I've done nothing to make that happen. If anything, I've pulled closer and closer to them and look where I am now.

  I've kissed two of them already which should tell me all I need to know.

  I need to get away from them completely.

  But I can't and that's going to cost me because as long as I'm around the royals, I'm going to grow more attached, no matter how much I warn myself not to.

  I blink, looking at Brielyn. "I just, I'm going to have to monitor myself around them until we get off this island," I say, and I know the message is both for me and him.

  He nods, even though the look on his face tells me he’s unimpressed with my plan.

  I don’t let the look faze me as my thoughts continue to bombard me.

  And for fucks sake, don't kiss the other two when they return.

  Because kisses from those royals may be even more lethal than the swords and daggers that they carry.

  I refrain from tracing a hand along my lips at the thought of the two previous kisses.

  Both so different, but they both left me rocked.

  Yeah, I definitely can't allow myself to fall into the clutches of the other two royals or I'll be absolutely fucked and not in a good way.

  " I need to be your celibacy coach," Brielyn says and I watch as a mischievous smile crosses his lips. “Which shouldn’t be too hard since you’ve managed to stay a virgin for eighteen years.” He squints at me slightly. “Or that will make it even harder because you have to be horny as hell.”

  Of course the man had to take the conversation there.

  I glare at him. "Don't get your head boosted too big.”

  He grins mischievously, rubbing his hands together. "I mean, if you can't kiss any of them, then maybe I should. You know I'm sure it'd be a good way to dissuade you." He gives me a cheeky wink.

  I roll my eyes at his antics. "You're such a pig, Brielyn."

  "What?" he asks, raising a hand, his grin wide. "I'm a hot blooded male and as you know, the men in that cave are hot." He fans himself dramatically. "I think Walker is starting to hate me a little less so maybe my chances with him are starting to increase. Wouldn't it be awesome if we kissed the same men? Caring is sharing after all."

  Gods.

  I can only shake my head at him, but admittedly I do feel a lot less stressed after talking with him. The man always knows how to make me feel better and bring humor into conversation.

  "Brielyn, stay away from Walker. I swear you know how to incense the man even better than I can," I tell him. "And you know I'd have to kick his ass in your honor if he tries to harm you."

  He shakes his head, 'You're not listening, Rox, Walker and I are friends now." His eyes are alight with amusement. "While you were off throwing your tantrum, he had no one else to entertain him since Orrtyn was out scouring the area for plants or some bullshit like that."

  I don't even try to argue with the man, knowing how stubborn he is. "Whatever you say Brielyn."

  "You'll see," he informs me.

  I shake my head, "Let's get back," I say gesturing in the direction of the cave.

  We make our way back to the cave, silence between the two of us, but it's comfortable.

  I glance at Brielyn out of the corner of my eye.

  Gods, he's such a good friend.

  The thought is worrying in the worst way because I know that once we leave this island we'll have the rest of the Calling in front of us and then...

  No, now's not the time to think about the future.

  When we make it back to the cave, my eyes instantly search for the two men. Ragna is perched on a rock and I figure Walker can't be too far away.

  I squint as I stare off further into the cave and then I pause when my eyes land on the scene in front of me.

  Holy shit.

  If I thought my dreams and fantasies were something, it's nothing in comparison to the real thing.

  I blink a couple of times, thinking my eyes are betraying me, but no...

  Further back in the cave, Orrtyn and Walker are pressed so close together, I'm sure you couldn't even slide a sheet of paper between the two men.

  It's hard to see in the dim lighting but my eyes quickly adjust. Walker's back is pressed against the cave wall and in front of him, Orrtyn is pressed tightly against his body. The shorter man's hand is wrapped around the back of Walker's neck and he's pulling him down. Walker has a hand wrapped around Orrtyn's back.

  And their lips are locked into what has to be the hottest kiss that I've ever witnessed.

  It's like they're fighting for dominance and neither can get the upper hand which is a surprise. From what I know of the two men and their personalities, I wouldn't think there'd be any type of power struggle or need to prove who's the most dominant when they're intimate.

  I'd always thought it was Walker, which was a wrong assumption on my part.

  Way to stereotype, Roxanna.

  Orrtyn's hand tangles in Walker's long hair and he gives a forceful pull, making the other man moan.

  And I feel it all the way down to my core.

  Walker's hands move from Orrtyn's back down to the other man's butt and he grips tightly and my breath catches in my throat.

  "Holy fucking shit," Brielyn breaths out. I can't even be mad at my friend for not being able to keep his mouth shut. The scene in front of us is too hot and too intense to stay quiet about.

  The men pause, their hands halting in their roaming and gripping. Walker turns his head sharply. His hands are still secure on Orrtyn's ass even if they aren't squeezing anymore. His face is slightly flushed, weird considering how pale he normally is. His green eyes move over Brielyn for a moment before they turn to me and he tenses up even more. His tongue comes out to trace along his bottom lip.