Bri glanced at Lina before she could stop herself. A deep-seated ache throbbed through her at the sight of the gorgeous Princess. Still in her fighting leathers, blood still clinging to her skin, Lina stared hypnotically into the flame. Her eyes filled with golden-red firelight. It would take nothing, one raise of Bri’s arm, to reach out and rub her thumb across Lina’s bottom lip, to feel the steady waves of her breath against Bri’s chest.

Lina’s eyes flicked to Bri and instantly dropped when she realized Bri was staring back. She swallowed, rubbing her hands down her bare legs. “We should rest. It’ll be a long day’s travel again tomorrow.”

She stood and moved over to where her cloak lay like a blanket next to the fire. Carys grumbled something and moved to do the same. There’d be nothing more than the stale bread and dried meat they’d shared to fill their bellies this evening. Bri missed Rish’s cooking already.

Lying on her cloak, Bri folded her arms across her chest and stared up at the starless sky. It would be a long night of nothing but replaying that senseless fight in her head. The horrors of that dying soldier’s face would wash over her again and again, but the look in Lina’s wounded eyes would gnaw at her forever. Knowing Lina lay just across the fire, also unable to sleep, made it all so much worse. She muttered a curse into the night and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep.

*   *   *

Bri lay awake, staring at the looming mist as the moon strained to peek through the thick blanket of clouds. Carys’s and Cole’s heavy rhythmic breaths joined the chorus of chirping crickets and hooting owls. The air was thick with the promise of fresh rain and moisture lingered in the dense trees. Bri rolled from side to side, the damp ground seeping into her clothes as she tried to chase down sleep. The harder she fought it, the more it evaded her. It was a night just like this one, in another kingdom, when she and Aurella had been attacked and Aurella was killed. Bri searched a forest just like this one in her dreams, her blackened vision struggling to make out the silhouettes of attackers hiding just beyond the firelight.