Twenty-Four Hours

Twenty-Four Hours
Mara

I shift in the saddle, Thane’s heavy arms draped around my waist again.

I’m so sensitive, every jolt of the horse sends my clit into overdrive and Thane hasn’t let me live it down. Every time I gasp for breath, he runs his lips down the back of my neck.

I’ve come twice now from it and I can’t exactly blame everyone for attempting to act as if they can’t tell what’s happening between us.

“I-I need a break,” I whisper, out of breath.

Thane grumbles in his chest, but he sits up straighter, seeming to get the message. But it’s not just for him. The magic inside me soothes my skin, turning warm without setting me into another fit of need.

We ride for a couple more hours before Nythera pulls up beside me. I rest my head against Thane’s chest, the sway of the movement making me tired. I close my eyes for a moment, breathing in the scent of leather.

“You’re feeling better?” She asks.

I open my eyes and turn to her. “I think so.”

Her gray eyes move over me, studying my face. “Your magic has quieted. But Kaelith tells me you can feel all four bonds now.”

I nod, focusing on them right now. They all exist inside me at the same time, pulling in different directions.

“Can you feel me right now?”

I turn my head, eyeing Rhydan as he passes me on the other side. He’s smirking, sending me a suggestive smile as he pulls on the reins. I’m surprised that I can feel the thread between us pull taut.

I blink at him. “Are you calling for me?”

His smile widens, and my eyes drop to his lap, right to his erection.

“You’ve asked for a break, my light. If you want to feel the entire force of his need, I will allow the magic to pass through again.”

My cheeks heat and I shake my head. No, I definitely need a break right now.

Rhydan’s smile drops, eyes swinging to Thane before returning to me. “Yeah. I understand needing a break after him.”

He leans over, pressing a soft kiss to my lips and then picks up his pace to ride next to Kaelith at the front of the group.

Silence follows for a few moments, letting me regain my bearings. “Where are we going?”

“A safe house,” Thane grumbles.

“We can stay there until we know where the ritual stone is. Now that you have finished all four bonds, we will know soon,” Nythera says, as if I should already know what she’s talking about.

“The ritual stone?” I ask.

She stiffens, eyes sweeping to Thane as if they are having a secret conversation. She sighs and shakes her head. “Well. Looks like Kaelith is having a hard time communicating with you.”

I press my lips together, looking down at my hands. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

“He cares for you,” she says softly. “More than I’ve ever seen from him. I think it’s confusing him.”

I refuse to look at her, not wanting to acknowledge his confusion or denial. “Anyway, what is the ritual stone?”

We continue to ride, the queen looking forward as she explains. “The ritual stone is part of the planet’s core. It is incredibly powerful, full of magic. Every time an Oracle must complete the ritual, it will reveal itself, changing its location with every Oracle.”

My brows lift. “The ritual can’t happen without it?”

She shakes her head. “No. The ritual must be completed on it, with you maintaining physical contact with it at all times. It takes incredible amounts of power to reveal a mate.”

“So, how are we supposed to find it?”

“We aren’t,” Thane sense.

His answer makes me blink, and I look at the queen for elaboration.

“You are,” she smiles. “You will receive a vision soon. Now, all we have to do is keep you safe and wait.”

“Another vision? How long does that usually take?”

“Twenty-four hours.”

It’s Kaelith that answers, his horse stopped ahead, waiting for us to catch up.

“That’s so precise,” I mutter.

I can’t look at him directly, not without the thread between us going haywire. I wonder if he can feel it too, if it dictates most of his day like it does mine.

His expression hardens, nostrils flaring as he pulls on the reins and turns from us. His horse’s tail swishing behind him.

We ride for another hour, and the landscape becomes increasingly bleak. Where we had camped before, I could see the effects my magic had on the realm. Now? It’s as if I didn’t even exist.

The trees are thin here, no grass or green at all. The red in the sky is cloudy, dark, and heavy. I wonder how the magic works, if it heals the places closest to me, or if it picks and chooses where to land.

Thane seems to notice how I uneasy I feel, tightening his hold around my waist. “One day all of this will be green, my queen.”

“Really?”

He brushes his lips against my neck. “It won’t be from my lack of trying.”

I press my lips together, holding back my smile. Never expected him to be the one cracking jokes, but maybe he feels better now that some of his tension has been released.

Kaelith raises his hand ahead of us, and everyone comes to a slow.

I watch quietly, not exactly able to tell if we are in trouble or merely taking a break.

“We’re here,” Thane whispers, relief in his voice.

I frown. “Where?”

He pulls his arm back until his hand is gripping my waist, and he squeezes once. “Slow down your thoughts and use your magic.”

I inhale, then take my time to exhale. The magic inside me stirs, buzzing around the edges of my mind. I don’t see anything.

Not at first.

Then the remains of a stone structure appear between the blackened trees. It is almost completely swallowed by dead branches.

“That looks abandoned.”

“It is,” Thane says, a funny tilt to his voice, like he finds my commentary amusing.

I look at him. “I thought we were going to a safe house.”

His fingers dig into my skin, his thumb brushing reassuringly. “At this point, our definition of safe is rather up for interpretation. We have never had to step out of the wards so soon.”

I don’t know how to answer that, still trying to swallow the guilt I feel for that. We leave the main path and follow a narrow trail into the forest of dead trees.

The horses seem to know where they’re going, comfortably walking right toward the stone structure.

I glance back toward the path we’d traveled. The last light of day is fading between the branches. Twenty-four hours. That’s what we have.

Twenty-four hours until my magic tells us where the ritual stone is. I look into the abandoned safe house. Then at the four men traveling with me, having taken vows to keep me safe.

We’re staying here, waiting for me to show them where we go next.