He closed the distance. I melted, releasing a soft moan. My eyes closed, awash in sensation. He kissed me back but controlled the pace, steady and sensual. This kiss was different. It reached inside and wrapped around my heart. It promised a future between us, that this wasn’t the end but the beginning. He nipped at my lower lip before pulling away and leaving me breathless.

But then Rylander’s eyes changed, creasing at the corners. He held a finger to his mouth and pulled me behind him. With his back to me, he was unreadable, but the tension in his shoulders spoke volumes.

Slowly he moved backward, pushing me into the banana leaves hanging from a dark trunk. He twisted his head and mouthed, Hide.

I crouched down and waddled backward into a small hollow between the roots of a large tree. I prayed to the gods no other animal inhabited it and ducked in. Rylander bent down and crawled inside with me. Away from the sun, the mossy air chilled my sweaty back.

“Oh, Emperor, come out, come out, wherever you are,” a siren’s sweet voice sang in the distance. “You forget we can sense humans. So unsavory of you to bring one to its death. Or perhaps it’s a sacrifice to honor your sister?”

Breaking branches sounded from the opposite end of the clearing we’d vacated. Whoever was coming for us wasn’t trying to hide their location. They wanted us to hear them. I closed my eyes and listened. At least three sets of feet marched in our direction, maybe more.

“How did you escape the human massacre? You were supposed to return with the guard transport. Did you and your little pet sail away before they struck?” the siren cooed.

“They don’t know you killed the entire guard. They think the crew of The Freedom is dead,” I whispered into Rylander’s ear.

He nodded. Then as if I needed the reminder, he held his fingers to his lips again.

“I’ll make a deal with you, Emperor. If you come out of your hiding spot, I’ll let your human pet live, and only Yemma will pay for your insolence.”

I gasped, and Rylander growled. They had Yemma.

“My child, run! Save yourself. Run!” Yemma shouted. Her voice wavered. Was she hurt or just scared?

“Shut up, you fool,” the siren guard hissed.

Rylander turned to me, his face aglow with righteous rage. He mouthed, Do you trust me?

I nodded.

“Stay here,” he murmured, soft as a midsummer breeze. “No matter what. And this time, don’t come after me.”

Rylander kissed the top of my head, and before I could protest, he ducked out of our hiding spot. He disappeared into the woods, leaving me to wonder if I had just sent him to his grave. Again.

Chapter twenty-eight

Rylander