Ruthless Knight Read online

  They made steady but slow progress. Was Tamryn as reluctant to find Charles as he was? At the peak of the mountain, they’d be able to see to the other side, and from there they could start searching in earnest.

  “Wait,” Tamryn said. “I hear something.”

  He listened and heard it, too. Footsteps, hurrying in their direction.

  Someone hunting them, wanting to attack, would be much stealthier. Unless this was a trick. Nolan put himself between Tamryn and whoever was approaching.

  Tamryn tried to move Nolan to the side and shove his arm out from in front of her, but he refused to budge.

  “I think...I think it’s Charles,” she said. “Should I say something?”

  Nolan shrugged. His gut was telling them to tear the guy apart, but his instincts were largely controlled by his bear, and his bear had claimed Tamryn. So of course he wanted to tear the guy apart.

  “Charles,” Tamryn said.

  “Hello?” a voice called.

  “There,” Tamryn said, pointing to a patch of moving color approaching through the sparse tree trunks. Her voice was breathy, like she was excited.

  Another dagger in the motherfuckin’ heart.

  The guy got closer and Nolan said, “Is it him?”

  “Yes, it is,” Tamryn said.

  Charles had brown hair and dark green eyes. He walked tall and self-assured, probably because he knew he was a badass dragon.

  Nolan hated him immediately.

  “Charles!” Tamryn called. She ran forward and captured the man in a hug. Immediately, she pulled back, her cheeks pink. “I apologize; that was very forward of me. It’s simply that I haven’t seen anyone from home, other than Illary, and you’re a dragon, and...”

  “There’s nothing wrong with hugging my fiancée, is there?” Charles asked, sweeping her into a brief embrace.

  “Of course not,” she said, although now her smile looked a little forced. “Charles, I’d like you to meet Nolan Marks. He’s brought me here to find you.”

  “Thank you,” Charles said, holding out a hand for Nolan to shake. “Thank you for protecting my betrothed and returning her to me.”

  Nolan shook his hand, trying not to think about how he wanted to rip out the man’s tongue and feed it to him to get him to stop talking about Tamryn in such a possessive way.

  Then again, Nolan felt possessive of her, too.

  “You have clothes,” Nolan pointed out, gesturing at Charles’s blue Henley and ill-fitting jeans.

  “I found an old cottage of some kind. There was a spare set of clothing, which I had no choice but to steal.”

  Nolan nodded. He’d needed to salvage clothing once or twice in his life after an ill-timed shift, so he understood.

  “Has Illary come to find you?” Tamryn asked Charles.

  “No,” he said, taking her hand. “Was she with you?”

  “She was,” Tamryn said, “but we were attacked, and she saved us. I’ve been hoping she went on to find you and help you come to us.”

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Princess, but no. I haven’t seen the witch.”

  Nolan watched their exchange with growing despair. Tamryn didn’t appear to have any feelings whatsoever for Charles. Nolan didn’t know if it would be easier or harder to watch them together if she’d genuinely seemed to like the guy. Easier, he supposed, because above anything else, he wanted Tamryn to be happy. If she was going to marry Charles regardless, at least she could love him a little bit.

  His heart was pretty much shredded at this point. Forget daggers—it felt like it was getting sliced by a fucking cheese grater.

  “We should get ourselves away from this place,” Charles said. “I won’t rest until I see you safe, Princess. Er, I suppose you’re Queen now, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. But before we go, I need to talk to you,” Tamryn said.

  Nolan didn’t want to watch this. He also didn’t want to leave Tamryn alone with this stranger. He stood, torn between staying and leaving.

  “You can remain here for this,” Tamryn said to Nolan. “I think you should hear it as well.”

  Gritting his teeth, Nolan kept his feet rooted to the ground. He’d never backed down from fear, from a challenge. He wouldn’t back down from this.

  Tamryn looked from Nolan back to Charles. Charles still held her hand, and she brought it up and joined her other hand to his. The sight looked like something out of a wedding, with the happy couple holding hands and looking into each other’s faces.

  Torture.

  “I don’t want to be with you, Charles.” She took a deep breath. “I can’t marry you.”

  Nolan felt his jaw drop. Those words. She didn’t want to be with Charles. The meaning was taking some time to completely sink in. She’d talked about duty. She’d talked about marrying this man. And now...this?

  Charles didn’t say anything. His face barely moved. Nolan watched him for any sign of the rage or sorrow Nolan would certainly be feeling in his place.

  Nothing.

  Tamryn went on. “Maybe two hundred years ago, it would have been a great life for us. It was the life my mother had chosen for me. But we’re here now. And I love someone else.”

  Charles’s gaze went to Nolan. Tamryn nodded.

  Ecstasy.

  “I see,” Charles said.

  “I know this might come as a shock,” Tamryn said, her violet eyes glassy with emotion, “but I believe although my parents made this arrangement with our best interests at heart, my own heart cannot be ignored in this matter.”

  “Of course,” Charles said with a tight-lipped smile. “Your Majesty, I completely understand.”

  “Thank you for understanding,” Tamryn said. “And please, call me Tamryn.”

  “I have always wanted your happiness,” Charles said.

  Tamryn turned from Charles then, and faced Nolan fully. Her lips stretched in a smile that took Nolan’s breath away.

  He held out his arms and she ran to him, throwing herself into an embrace that finally let Nolan know he wasn’t imagining this. It wasn’t a fantasy. It was real, and Tamryn was holding him, and Nolan was never gonna let her go.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Charles cleared his throat, and Tamryn reluctantly let go of Nolan, her cheeks hot.

  “My apologies,” she said.

  “No, no, don’t apologize,” Charles said. “I understand. He’s your mate, isn’t he?”

  “He is.” Never before had she felt more sure of her feelings.

  The three of them stood, uncertainly, looking at each other. Tamryn felt the awkward tension coming through their auras. It was clear that neither man trusted the other. She was to blame for that—transferring the affections she should have felt for her betrothed over to someone new, whom Charles had not met.

  She was surprised at Nolan, though. She would’ve expected him to take more of a liking to Charles now that Charles wasn’t a threat to her heart.

  “Have you been able to shift into your dragon?” Charles asked.

  Whether he was genuinely curious or simply eager to fill the silence, Tamryn didn’t know. Just the same, she felt her cheeks grow even hotter. She’d been too distracted with Nolan’s body to give much effort to the business of shifting into her dragon. “No, not yet.”

  “I can help you,” Charles said.

  “Thank you. It’s...it’s been difficult. But now that we’ve found you, we can look for Illary. She can tell us what our next steps should be.”

  “We should do both,” Charles said. “Find Illary. And while on the search, I can help you find your dragon.”

  Tamryn reached for Nolan’s hand and grasped it. She much preferred searching for her dragon with him. Those sun-filled moments on the rock above the lake—and in the lake—were precious to her. She was glad that they’d found Charles, and happy to connect with someone from her era, but what she really wanted was more privacy with Nolan.

  There would be time for that, though, when this adventure in the
forest was over. She hadn’t been able to talk to Nolan about it yet, but she hoped to return with him to his clan. Everyone had been kind to her. She could see a future for them there.

  Nolan’s hand was warm around her own. Giving her a gentle squeeze, he said, “Illary told us we would find her after we found you, Charles. So that should be soon.”

  His tone was guarded, but that made sense. After all, Tamryn had been engaged to this other man, up until a few moments ago. How quickly things could change. One moment, sorrow and the heavy feeling of inevitability. The next, freedom and the lightness of love.

  The three of them began looking around the immediate area.

  “Where did you walk from, again?” Tamryn asked Charles.

  “That way,” he said, pointing to the west.

  A faint blue light caught her eye as she looked in that direction.

  “Do you see that?” Nolan asked her.

  “I was going to ask you the same,” Tamryn said, letting go of Nolan’s hand and marching forward.

  “Wait,” Charles said, reaching out and grabbing Tamryn’s arm.

  Nolan growled.

  Charles immediately let her go. “Apologies. It’s simply that we don’t know what the glow signifies, and perhaps we should exercise caution rather than race into the forest.”

  “I’m certain that it’s Illary,” Tamryn said.

  “Would you allow me to investigate the matter, Your Majesty?” Charles asked, a challenging arch to his eyebrow.

  “We’ll go together,” Tamryn said. “We only recently found you, Charles; I would hate to lose you just as suddenly. And you can’t have been aware of this, but there are other shapeshifters still after us.”

  “Skin-hunters?” he asked. “Here, now? Then what was the purpose of Illary’s spell?”

  “I escaped death that night in the castle,” Tamryn said. “That was the purpose of the spell. I imagine it was similar for you, Charles, although perhaps not as dire.”

  “Very well,” he said.

  The three walked in single file, with Tamryn leading the way and Nolan right behind her. She wanted a chance to speak with Nolan alone so that she could reassure him of everything she’d just spoken with Charles about. But that opportunity wasn’t readily available. She would have to be patient.

  The glow faded, and Tamryn began to wonder if she and Nolan had imagined it.

  Then, in front of her, stood Illary. Her brown eyes were tired, and her black hair was lank in its braid.

  “Illary!” Tamryn called, rushing forward.

  The witch swayed on her feet, but she spared Tamryn a wan smile. “It is good to see you, Your Majesty.”

  “Come, you must be very fatigued to look this way,” Tamryn said, wrapping her arm around Illary’s shoulders. She helped the witch toward Nolan and Charles.

  Nolan took one look at Illary and said, “We’ll make camp here for the night. This area is flat enough to set up our tents.”

  Nolan got to work on Tamryn’s tent while Charles scouted around them for dead limbs with which to build a fire. Tamryn held Illary’s cold hands in her own, rubbing and warming them as much as she could. Despite her attention on Illary, she couldn’t help but notice the occasional distrustful glances Nolan shot at Charles. She could feel the suspicion coming from her mate, and it twisted in her chest. She wished she could reassure him.

  Eventually, Nolan got all three tents set up, and Charles had gathered enough kindling and wood for Tamryn to start a fire with some matches from her pack.

  Nolan sat beside Tamryn and must have noticed the concern Tamryn was feeling for Illary, because he reached into his pack and pulled out two cans. When Tamryn gave him a questioning look, he explained, “It’s soup. We can heat it up. It’s not the best-tasting thing ever, but it’ll warm our stomachs. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”

  “Thank you,” Tamryn said.

  Charles said nothing, until Tamryn kicked his foot, and then he shook his head as if fighting a fugue. “I appreciate it. It is a special occasion, is it not? All four of us here, together. Safe.”

  After finding the cooking pot, Nolan emptied the contents of the cans into it and set it over the fire. A salty scent of chicken broth reached Tamryn’s nose and made her want to sneeze.

  Illary tilted her head as she considered Charles. “Something is not right. It’s not as I expected. What has changed?”

  “The queen’s path has changed.” Charles looked at Tamryn, not in challenge, but in expectation. He wanted her to explain.

  Clearing her throat, Tamryn said, “I’m not going to marry Charles.”

  “But that was your mother, the queen’s, wish,” Illary said, brown eyes no longer tired, but alert and flashing with alarm.

  Tamryn took a deep breath. Acting petulant or defensive would do nothing to resolve this conflict.

  “I have to believe,” she said, “that the queen would want me to follow my heart’s desire. She married for love when she married my father, and she would want me to do the same. Charles is a wonderful man and I fully believe he will make a good husband. But he will make a good husband to someone else.”

  Illary opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. Tamryn kept her expression kind, but firm. No one could convince her that marrying Charles was her destiny, not even the most powerful magical being she’d ever met.

  “I can’t change your mind,” Illary said in a resigned voice.

  “No,” Tamryn said. “I’m sorry, but you can’t. My heart belongs to one man, and that man is Nolan.”

  Nolan came over to Tamryn’s side and sat on the ground beside her. Tamryn leaned against his shoulder, taking strength from his comforting, warm presence.

  “The knight wins the young queen’s heart,” Illary said, almost under her breath. “I think...I think I might’ve read that somewhere. I will need some time, but I believe fate has changed your path.”

  Tamryn believed it, too, and she believed it enough for all of them. But having Illary’s support helped her breathe a little more easily.

  “Tomorrow, I will leave you three,” Illary said.

  Nolan said, “We could use your help traveling back to the car. The closer we get to civilization, the more risk we’ll face in encountering Bronson’s people.”

  “Who’s Bronson?” Charles asked.

  “His pack members came after us,” Tamryn told him. “I think he must be a skin-hunter.”

  Charles shuddered. “Illary, surely you can remain with us. We need your help.”

  She gave him a hard look. “Surely I can, but you two aren’t the only dragons I spelled. Others have been called forth. They are far more in need of my help than you are.”

  “Very well, if I can’t convince you otherwise,” Charles said, shrugging. “When will you part ways with us?”

  “In the morning,” Illary said.

  Nolan wrapped an arm around Tamryn until the soup was heated through, then he passed out the cups. Charles drank from one of the empty cans, as they didn’t have a spare cup for him. He wrinkled his nose at the taste, and Tamryn had to agree with him. The soup was much too salty for her liking. However, Nolan was right in that it warmed her belly, and when it was time to go to sleep, she felt full and happy.

  Nolan was hers, and she was his.

  Illary finished her soup, then said goodnight and retired to her tent.

  “You can sleep in my tent, Charles,” Nolan told him.

  Charles raised his eyebrows, and Tamryn felt her cheeks go hot with a blush. But whether or not Charles judged her for sleeping with Nolan, she didn’t care. No one’s opinions mattered except hers and Nolan’s.

  She climbed into her tent, expecting Nolan to join her. Instead, he stripped off his clothes just outside her tent. A moment later, white light glowed around him and he shifted into his polar bear.

  “It’s okay,” she whispered to him. “We’re safer now, with four of us.”

  He snorted in disagreement and flopped down to t
he ground in front of her tent’s opening.

  Sighing, she slid into her sleeping bag. But she left her tent’s door unzipped. She reached out and threaded her fingers into Nolan’s thick, white fur. How strange it was to miss someone even when they were only a few inches away.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sometime between midnight and dawn, Charles came out of Nolan’s tent and whispered, “Nolan. Nolan.”

  Nolan raised his head and peered at the man. He didn’t trust the guy, but he wasn’t sure why. He was thankful that he’d kept his polar bear form so he wouldn’t have to talk.

  “I would be happy to keep watch so you can rest,” Charles said. “You shouldn’t stay awake all night; it will have deleterious effects on your energy.”

  No way, no how was Nolan going to do more than lightly drowse while Tamryn slept out here in the forest. Drowsing was all he’d done for the past week, and it was all he would continue to do. Short naps would suit him just fine until they returned to the RCC territory. There, they’d be surrounded by people he knew and trusted—his family, of sorts. They looked out for each other. This Charles guy? Nolan didn’t know him at all. He didn’t like anything about the guy, either, from his thick brown hair to his nice hiking boots. He didn’t like the arch of Charles’s eyebrows or the way Charles looked at Tamryn.

  Jealous? Fuck yeah, he was. But he couldn’t help wondering if there was more to his dislike than jealousy.

  Charles waited for a response, but Nolan wasn’t going to shift to human just so he could converse with the guy.

  Nolan gave a quick shake of his head, signaling he didn’t want Charles’s help, and hopefully Charles would get the message.

  Unfortunately, no. Or if Charles got any message, he was ignoring it on purpose. He sat on the ground and leaned back to look up at the stars.

  “Tamryn’s special,” Charles said.

  No shit.

  “I never got to know her very well, but her parents were renowned in the kingdom. Quite powerful figures among the dragon clans, and kind, too. I was twenty when Tamryn and I were betrothed, and she was ten. Obviously, neither of us was interested in the other romantically at that time.”