9

  A Night of Firsts

  “Shield your eyes, Adam.”

  The words hit suddenly. Adam didn’t understand what she meant, then memories of his time in the dungeon surged to the forefront of his mind, of when she’d made him swear that oath. In his hesitation, he had no time to fully prepare as a sudden burst of light erupted from Elsa, curling and writhing around her like molten gold, radiating from every seam of her armor, from the tips of her crimson hair, and down to the soles of her boots.

  The golden light spilled brightly across the cracked concrete and rusted metal of the warehouse, and an intense heat swelled, enveloping the entire space. Adam’s eyes burned even as he raised his arm, and his skin felt like it was melting off his face from the boiling heat. He stumbled backward, his heart pounding inside his chest. He wanted to scream, to cry, it felt like his whole body was disintegrating. He didn’t know how long it lasted, maybe a few seconds at most, but it felt like an eternity of torment. Then, in a blur of motion, she was gone, as though she hadn’t been standing in front of him a second ago.

  As Elsa’s form vanished, the blistering heat and blinding radiance ebbed just enough for Adam to see again. Half of the figures circling around them stood frozen, stunned and frightened into stillness, the other half—likely on higher tiers—pressed forward still with weapons drawn, their faces twisted in sneers. But they didn’t make it too close. A flare of gold light split the air as Elsa reappeared before one of them, barely seconds later, her twin swords drawn and gleaming like the sun itself. Her blades crossed once in a blur, and the man’s sneer vanished with his head, a spray of red painting the air as his body crumpled to the floor like a doll. The echo of the strike sliced through the stunned silence.

  Elsa straightened, her form still wreathed in molten gold. She raised one sword high and in an instant, hundreds of blades shimmered into existence around her, each one made of pure light, hovering in the air above her head as if awaiting command. Then, with a flick of her wrist, they hurled toward the ground like a deadly storm, as though punishment from a god. The air shrieked as the blades descended down, each streak of light tearing through the enclosed space like meteors, ripping apart concrete and steel alike.

  The warehouse erupted into chaos, the air filled with screams, the thunder of impact, and the thud of bodies hitting the floor. Adam watched as one of the light-blades slammed into a man, he didn’t get a chance to react before he was split clean in half. Adam’s breath caught in his throat at the gruesome sight, and his mind yelled at him to scramble away, to find cover, but he quickly realized that none of the attacks were reaching him.

  It wasn’t thoughtless, Elsa guided every strike with unerring precision, a relentless storm directed by her will. Still, a few of the attackers managed to resist, forcing her barrage to collide against their own magic. Adam saw a wall of ice surge upward at the thrust of a man’s hands, frost forming into a crystalline barrier just as a blade of light smashed against it. Another shielded himself and his allies with a thick dome of wind, while the man, Asher Galleel, struck the ground with his axe, raising a jagged wall from the concrete. It was a kind of battle Adam had never witnessed before, one that could not exist on Earth.

  He knew this was a world of magic, but seeing it unfold before his eyes revealed its staggering scale. Amid the danger, the death, Adam’s pulse raced, his senses overwhelmed by a power that made everything he had ever known seem fragile and insignificant.

  With his vision still half-blinded and his body reeling from the lingering burn of her light magic, Adam staggered back in utter amazement, his back crashing into a wall.

  A silence fell over the warehouse as Elsa’s onslaught relented, then like an angel of death, she surged forward toward the surviving enemies with impossible speed, a golden blur of lethal intent that he could barely track. Every motion flowed seamlessly into the next—deflecting, parrying, striking—no move was wasted or done without purpose. Two men charged at her from opposite sides. She pivoted, swords flashing to meet their swings, before her blades tore through their flesh like paper. Someone screamed, and immediately jagged rocks and a bolt of fire hurtled toward her. With a single, precise, downward slash, Elsa’s sword cut through the assault. Rocks splintered into shards, flames guttered into sparks, and she shot toward them like the sun personified, untouchable, inevitable.

  Adam could do nothing but watch, useless, frozen in awe. Every swing, every burst of light, every scream blended together into utter chaos. He’d thought he’d seen violence before, on screens, in games, even in that alley, but this was something else entirely.

  It wasn’t a battle, it was execution…

  “She’s really a monster, sometimes even I forget it,” Elliot muttered almost silently beside him, then began to move forward to join the fray, the silver gleam of his armor dull compared to Elsa’s radiance. “But I can’t let her handle everything.” A faint aura flickered around him, a low white light racing across his body, crawling up his neck and arms. He exhaled sharply, and then he was gone from sight, reappearing halfway across the room in a blink. If not for the gust of wind, Adam would’ve believed he teleported.

  The knight pounced suddenly on an attacker, his blade punching through the man’s chest, then tore out again in a burst of red mist. Another attacker lunged at him with a sharp cry, and he spun, catching the strike with his forearm before driving his blade through the man’s throat. He didn’t even look to confirm the kill.

  He was a monster too…

  The sound of battle—the screams, metal clashing metal, boots scraping against dirt and blood, the crackling roar of magic—it all rushed over Adam.

  Elsa moved as if in a dream, her glaring light streaking across the warehouse as she cut down the enemies that closed in around her. Asher Galleel, the tattooed bastard who’d spoken earlier, was one of the few still standing. A jagged crack split the ground beneath his feet as he brought his axe down in murderous rage. The floor erupted into a forest of stone spikes, far too many of them, lunging toward Elsa with terrifying speed.

  She didn’t flinch. Raising a single sword high, the light shifted around her, gathering and shaping, not into the golden blades from before but into a towering shield of pure light standing before her. The stone spears slammed against it and shattered into dust.

  Elsa stepped forward once… then vanished.

  A sonic crack split the air as she reappeared in front of him, her twin blades crossing in a flash. His battle-axe swung up just in time to block and sparks of light burst from where their weapons met, sending shockwaves through the floor. The man was strong—incredibly strong, Adam realized—as he managed to hold her off. But Elsa was relentless, her strikes coming as fast as lightning. All he could do was defend against them.

  Just then, Adam noticed movements from the shadows.

  One of the survivors from Elsa’s light-blade barrage, wounded and enraged, lurched toward him. Adam’s stomach dropped. The man’s left arm was utterly mangled, as if it had been put into a meat grinder, but his right hand was fine, clutching a long sword. His face was wild, mouth twisted into a snarl. It didn’t look like he even knew where he was.

  Adam felt the wall at his back, reminding him there was no escape. He wrapped his fingers tighter around the dagger Elsa had given him, and his heart hammered wildly inside his chest. Even maimed and disoriented, the man was a former adventurer, Adam wondered if he stood any chance. Still, he had to fight. He had no choice. No help was coming. Elliot was pinned back by two men, and Elsa hadn’t finished her fight.

  His jaw tightened…

  The man swung his sword, and Adam ducked. The blade whizzed past his shoulder, leaving a shallow wound, and it was enough to send a jolt of panic through him. He didn’t scream though, instead, instinct and desperation gripped him and he lunged toward the man without thought or consideration, just thrusting the dagger forward. It drove into the man’s chest with a wet squelch. The man twisted, groaning as blood poured from his mouth. He raised his sword to strike again, and Adam pushed the dagger deeper. The man stumbled back, then collapsed to the ground with a heavy, trembling thud, and stayed still.

  Adam watched as a thick red river pooled underneath the body. The man was dead, without question. He was dead. His chest no longer rose with breath, and his lifeless eyes stared up into nothing. Adam had killed him. He’d killed someone, for real this time. The sound of the battle dying down reached him, but all he could focus on was the body as his feet, and his utter lack of feeling toward it. If anything, there was slight satisfaction,

  A hand landed on his shoulder, and Adam spun around, almost in panic, to see Elliot by his side again. “You handled yourself well,” the knight said. “Looks like it’s over.”

  At his words, Adam drew sharp breaths and returned to the moment. There was utter quiet in the warehouse now, save for Asher Galleel’s low groans as he stared at Elsa across the ruined floor, his axe still clutched in his trembling hands, chest heaving, eyes dark and hollow with exhaustion. It looked as though it took all of his remaining strength just to stay upright, while Elsa stood poised, unbowed, as if the battle hadn’t cost her anything.

  Truly, the fight was over, but he hadn’t yet accepted it.

  He screamed, charging toward her and swinging his axe wildly. She sidestepped the attack easily, and her right blade flicked out, tearing a line across his chest.

  He stumbled back, panting, fury twisting his face. “You—”

  The man didn’t finish the words as Elsa raised her hand and every light-blade she’d summoned turned, aligning toward him. Then, the blades moved as one. They fell like rain, piercing through armor and flesh alike. The world filled with the hiss of air splitting apart and the sickening sound of tearing flesh and bones. When the glow faded, the man was on his knees, his axe slipping from his numb fingers, his body a ruin of cuts and light-seared wounds. The warehouse fell quiet again, no screams, no footsteps, no clash of weapons, just the faint crackle of dying magic and the man’s labored final breaths.

  He coughed and spat blood onto the floor. “Looks… like you win,” he rasped and a slow grin spread on his face. “It’s a shame... we could’ve—”

  “The children,” Elsa said sharply as the light surrounding her dimmed until only the faint gold sheen of her armor remained. “Tell me where they are.”

  He chuckled weakly. “Stick your tongue up my ass… then maybe I’ll tell you—”

  Elsa’s blade flashed just once, and the man’s crude words ended in a wet thud as his head rolled free from his neck, hitting the ground beside his knees. For a moment, the world went utterly still. Then, she exhaled a quiet breath, as if she’d merely finished a set of drills rather than slaughtered over half a dozen men. She was insanely powerful, Adam only got the full scale now. He could still feel the heat of her magic on his skin just from that brief exposure, and he felt that she hadn’t even gone all out. He suspected that he, along with the warehouse, would’ve been reduced to ash if she hadn’t been restraining herself.

  Elliot stepped forward, wiping the blood from his cheek. He’d taken down the last two men, and what was left of them lay crumpled against the far wall.

  “Commander,” he said. “Maybe we should’ve taken him for questioning?”

  Elsa shook her head. “No, if this goes as high as I believe, he’d be dead before we can ever question him. I also didn’t like the vulgar words coming out of his mouth,” she said and sheathed her swords, her eyes scanning the warehouse. “Check the cages and crates. There might be something that can help us find where the children were taken.”

  Elliot moved to obey, stepping over the bodies.

  Adam didn’t move, he couldn’t. He just took in the gory scene before him. This was real, the smell of burned flesh, the iron tang of blood thick in the air, it was all real. She’d killed them in a matter of moments. At least seven of them. The ones who weren’t cut apart had been burned clean through by the light-blades. There wasn’t a single survivor.

  Yet, it didn’t bother him nearly as much as it should have. He should be puking his guts out right now, but he felt nothing. He was more shocked than disturbed.

  Even his first kill, the man he’d stabbed through the chest, didn’t weigh at all on his conscience, just like the men in that alley he’d almost killed. That wasn’t normal. He wasn’t normal. Adam was certain of it now. Being surrounded by all this death, and not having an aversion to it revealed something dark about his character. He didn’t want to admit it, but the truth stared him in the face. He was deeply twisted. It didn’t matter whether he’d always been this way, or if this place was changing him, the truth was the same.

  Elsa turned to him, her closed-off expression suddenly shifting into concern when her gaze fell on his shoulder. “You’re hurt,” she said and began to approach him.

  Adam shook his head. “It’s nothing,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”

  She reached out a hand to touch him, but stopped at the last moment, seeming almost surprised by her impulse. “I’ll take you to a healer. It’s safer to have that checked.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Adam insisted. “It’s just a scratch.”

  She studied him for a moment, perhaps she could sense his inner turmoil, or perhaps it was something else. The truth was, he saw her in a completely different light now. He’d always known she was a Gold-Rank knight, but he’d never truly understood what it meant until this moment. Watching the ease with which she ended lives filled him with fear. She’d seemed like an entirely different person. It was like he was suddenly aware of the difference between them, both in power and position, and he no longer knew how to relate to her.

  Elliot returned. “Empty cages,” he reported. “They left nothing.”

  Elsa’s jaw tightened and a trace of anger flickered in her green eyes. “Then we were too late. But at least we learned something. They knew you were on their trail, like Arryn.”

  “And the Hand’s involvement?” asked Elliot quietly.

  “I’d say it’s almost certain, some of the knights, too,” Elsa replied. “There’s no way something like this slipped past everyone for who knows how long. But we can’t make that accusation yet, not without proof.” She exhaled a sharp breath and looked around the utter carnage once more. “Do you know the name of the group our attackers belonged to?”

  “I believe so,” Elliot nodded. “They call themselves Blood Crows, their emblem is a crow on top a skull . The man, Asher Galleel, claimed not to be their leader and I believe he was telling the truth. He didn’t seem to have much intelligence, or any at all.”

  “Blood Crows? Very inventive,” she remarked. “Judging by who attacked us, their ranks are likely made up of former adventurers. Still, on their own, they shouldn’t be much of a problem. Their backers, however, might be a different story. But maybe if we can find their leader, we’ll get the proof we need to put down everyone involved in this.”

  When they finally stepped outside the warehouse, the sun had set, and the cracked walls of the alley were painted in the deep orange light of evening. It was almost peaceful outside, a sharp contrast to the slaughter inside. The difference was almost surreal.

  “You’ll be expected to report this,” Elliot said. “There’ll be questions.”

  “I’ll handle them,” Elsa said in a flat, assured tone. “I’m more concerned about what will happen now that they know we’re on their trail, the King’s Hand, maybe even a faction of the Knight Order… Be on your guard, Elliot, trust no-one. This was clearly a trap meant for you. The same goes for you, Adam. After this, they’ll know for certain you have some knowledge about them, and I expect you’ll become a target as well. All three of us will.”

  For certain? Had he been under suspicion before? The thought alarmed him.

  “What do you mean for certain?” Adam asked, glancing at her.

  Elsa met his gaze steadily. “The King’s Hand asked about you, what you were doing in the forest, and if you had any connection to the fallen company. I didn’t understand why he asked those questions at the time, but I think it’s rather clear now.”

  “He was worried I had some kind of connection with this Arryn guy,” Adam said in a whisper, quickly putting the pieces together in his head. “That’s why you asked if I talked to anyone, why you had renewed interest in what happened. You suspected something.”

  She nodded. “I did… but nothing quite like this.”

  Adam’s face set into a frown. He’d been involved in this from the beginning, since he arrived to this world. What kind of unnerving coincidence was that? Or was it fate? The thought confounded and chilled him to the bone. There was no choice he could have made that would’ve made things different, saved him from this danger. Whether he’d decided to help Lorelei or not, whether he’d joined Elsa today or not, it didn’t matter. Merely by being in the forest that day, he’d earned the suspicions of the powerful people in this world, and there was no explanation he could give that would truly set their minds at ease, not when they were involved in something this dark. His fate had been sealed from the start.

  Still, despite his fear, he was oddly grateful to know this. Instead of thinking himself irrelevant and waiting to be blindsided by whatever move they might make against him, he could actually start planning, figuring a way to survive, and maybe even go on the offensive with Elsa—however little he could contribute—to help bring them down. Help bring them down? The thought would have been comical if not for the dire situation he currently found himself in. It sounded like something a movie hero would say, and he was the farthest thing from that, especially after what he’d just discovered about himself.

  Nevertheless, it was frustrating how everything had just spiraled out of control. All he wanted was to return home, but it looked as though that might have to wait for now.

  “We’ve stumbled into a shitload of trouble here,” Elliot muttered.

  “Seems we have,” Elsa agreed.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Elliot’s jaw tightened, and a grim expression plastered his face, understandably. He excused himself a short moment later, going to call on some knights to clean the site. That left Adam and Elsa alone. He leaned against the wall outside the warehouse and inhaled a deep breath, his legs still shaking a little. Elsa stepped beside him, almost hesitantly.

  “You should really have that wound looked at,” she said quietly.

  He glanced at his right shoulder and saw the wound. It was shallow, leaving only a dull stinging pain. With everything that had happened, everything he’d learned, the injury was the absolute least of his worries. “I’ll be alright,” he said, his voice just as quiet.

  “Will you?” she asked and looked at him intently.

  Adam hesitated to reply. He sensed that she wasn’t just asking about the wound this time, but about everything he’d seen and what he had done.

  He gave a weak shrug. “Probably.”

  “Where you’re from, is this sort of thing normal?”

  Normal? Yeah, he had to remember this sort of violence and bloodshed was normal in this world. Elsa didn’t seem even slightly affected by the carnage she’d unleashed, and he knew it wasn’t because she was cruel or cold-hearted, it was just normal. The men were evil, and she’d simply fulfilled her duty, done what she’d trained all her life to do.

  But what was his excuse?

  Adam shook his head. “Not like this. There’s usually a process, laws to follow,” he said. “I’ve never been involved in anything this extreme… never killed a man before.”

  Elsa’s eyes widened for the briefest moment, but she quickly caught it, then her expression smoothed back into control. “I see,” she muttered. “But you understand that you did what was necessary, don’t you? We all did. Whatever you feel now will pass.”

  Adam would’ve cracked a smile if he had it in him. He was undisturbed by the death, but if he had been, her words would’ve rang hollow. It was essentially “Cope with it, you’ll be fine.” Elsa was a knight through and through, he truly saw that now; she tried to protect innocents and cut down those who did them harm. If she allowed every life she took weigh on her, she wouldn’t last long in her calling and evil would run rampant. That was probably how she saw the world, and he suspected that she would prefer it to stay that way,

  For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Then, Elsa straightened and turned away from the warehouse, lifting her gaze toward the darkening sky. Night was settling in.

  “Come on, I’ll walk you to the inn. Katryn will worry if we’re late.”

  Adam nodded, and they walked together down the empty street. It was a long, silent walk. He said little, his mind crowded with thoughts about the danger he was in, and more importantly, about what he was becoming. By the time they reached the inn, the weight of it all pressed even heavier on him and his mood sank into a quiet, restless gloom.

  Elsa pushed the door open and entered inside first, and when Adam did, he saw Yara behind the counter, wiping her usual mug. Katryn was perched on a stool beside her, looking almost bored. They both looked up at the same time as he and Elsa approached.

  “You’re late,” the old woman said flatly. “Supper’s almost gone cold.”

  Adam didn’t say anything. He just settled quietly on a stool, letting Elsa do all the talking. When Katryn served their supper, he ate quickly, barely even tasting the food, just shoveling it into his mouth with mechanical movements. The buzz of conversations from around the inn drifted through the air, and Yara, Elsa, and Katryn’s almost familial banter hovered nearest. But none of it registered. He was elsewhere, still trapped in the images of the warehouse, the blood, the screams, and his utter lack of aversion toward it.

  When the plate was empty, he cleaned his hands and offered thanks, not bothering to respond to Katryn’s teasing remarks. He rose to his feet and made an excuse about being tired before leaving them, and he caught Elsa’s worried glance following him. He made his way to the stable and settled down on a pile of hay. It wasn’t comfortable, and it smelled, but that didn’t matter now. Thoughts of what he’d done, what he’d seen, and the darkness he felt rising inside swirled endlessly. He didn’t sleep, didn’t rest, he just lay there, staring at the rafters, trying to think things through, trying to figure himself out.

  He’d learned several things today, and the first of which was that he likely wouldn’t be returning home anytime soon. There were powerful people in this world out to get him for what he knew. He needed to come up with a plan for that, or maybe he could just drop everything and run? But run to where? How? He had no resources, and something told him that he wouldn’t get far if he tried. Relying on Elsa was his safest option right now. He’d come to trust her a lot more now, and he’d seen a fraction of the power she had, power that made him rethink all the things he thought he knew about the world.

  Today also confirmed that he wasn’t so normal as he believed, or rather, as his sister liked to believe. He’d always felt it, that deep darkness in his heart, but it had always lurked somewhere in the back, never roaring to the surface. Was he mentally disturbed? Like one of those psychos on Earth they did movies about? It wasn’t far-fetched. To not feel a shred of empathy standing in the middle of so much death was bad enough, but to feel satisfaction at ending a life was even worse. That was exactly what had happened. He’d felt satisfaction when he killed that man, not relief that he’d survived, just satisfaction, like he’d gotten rid of an annoying bit of dirt clinging to his hands, something insignificant he’d finally brushed away. That deeply troubled him, the ease thoughts like that slipped into his mind.

  And he couldn’t compare himself to Elsa. Just a few days ago he’d been an ordinary college student, he should have been sickened by all of this. Elsa, on the other hand, was a knight, someone who’d trained for this. And even then, he doubted she ever felt satisfaction in taking a life. She gave no indication of it. For her, it was simply a duty.

  He was really fucked up in the head…

  Hours passed by in silence. Then, the quiet sound of footsteps reached him. His eyes drifted open to see Katryn approaching, carrying a lamp that glowed only faintly. She hung the lamp up on a wooden post and offered a playful smile as she lowered herself on the hay beside him, saying nothing for a while, just sharing the same space.

  “Ms. Elsa left,” she said eventually, her voice low to almost whisper, as though not wanting to disturb the night. “She didn’t say it, but I could tell she was worried about you.”

  “I’m fine, just needed to clear my head,” Adam said.

  Katryn studied him for a moment, then she let out a slow breath. “Turn around, let me see your shoulder. Ms. Elsa said there was an attack, I saw the wound earlier.”

  “It’s nothing, just a scratch,” he muttered.

  “Don’t make this difficult, Adam,” she warned, even as that playful smile never left her face once. “You know I won’t stop pestering you until you let me check.”

  Adam knew she wasn’t lying. That was certainly in her character. He sighed wearily and turned around to lay on his stomach. At once, he felt her hands, they were warm when they came to rest on his skin, and then a soft golden light emanated from her palms, giving off a gentle heat and seeping into his wound like warm water. The dull sting began to ease.

  “I didn’t know you were a healer,” Adam said in surprise.

  “Not a very skilled one,” she murmured, fully focused on healing his shoulder. “But even I can handle something this small.” Her voice lowered, and the smile she had on her lips finally faded. “What happened? Ms. Elsa didn’t say much about the attack.”

  “Probably didn’t want to get you or your mother involved.”

  “I see.” Her voice was slightly strained with worry. “Are you in trouble, Adam?”

  He huffed a breath. “A little bit, yeah.”

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll be fine as long as Ms. Elsa is with you.”

  The light ebbed from her palms and she lightly tapped him on the back, letting him know that she was done. He rolled onto his back once more, and he saw her lean against a wooden post, arms folded under her chest as she watched him in the dim light.

  “You have that much faith in her?” He raised a brow.

  Katryn hesitated replying, then she nodded once, slowly. “I do. That day you asked me why I called her ‘Ms. Elsa’… I think I’ll tell you now.” She drew her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. “When I lost my father, I was nine, maybe ten… I’m not sure anymore, but I remember the men who came to the inn, said father owed them.”

  Adam hadn’t once asked about her father, but the fact that he was dead didn’t come as too much of a surprise. He said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

  “It was a gambling debt… my father wasn’t a very good man, apparently,” she said with a smile, but he saw the slight pain in her eyes. “Mother promised to pay, begged them for some time, but the men refused. They had a plan already, they wanted the inn, but even that wouldn’t cover the debt, so they wanted to take me, too. Mother fought, but she was a newly widowed woman without any backing, and even the knights she ran to for help had been bribed to look the other way. They would’ve taken everything… taken me.”

  “Then Elsa happened,” he said, more knowing than guessing.

  Katryn smiled, a soft, almost reverent smile. “She couldn’t have been more than six or seven years older than I was, still a cadet at the Knight Academy. She’d heard about our troubles through gossip from some market women and had come to our aid… strangers she didn’t even know. She confronted the men, and when they became threatening, she fought for us. I’d never seen anything like it. She shined so bright, like a Divine messenger. In the end, she managed to convince the men and their boss that it was in their best to interest to accept installments. She got in trouble for it later, of course, but she didn’t care.”

  Adam listened quietly, finally understanding. This was where the adoration and hero worship stemmed from, perhaps even infatuation. And he couldn’t really blame her. If only someone had fought that hard for him and his sister when they’d lost their home.

  “She sounds amazing,” he said gently.

  “She is,” Katryn said and lifted her hand, watching it glow faintly with that golden light before fading. “I wanted to be like her. We were blessed by the same deity, Elios, the One Light. I thought it was sign. But while she was exceptional, a knight among knights, I grew to be completely ordinary. My blessing didn’t grant me strength, or speed, or anything impressive. Just… a bit of healing. Enough to fix small wounds and bruises.”

  “And light up dark stables… faintly,” he joked.

  Katryn chuckled and swatted his chest lightly. “You’re an ass.”

  “Sorry,” he said with an actual smile. “But if it helps, I don’t think you’re ordinary.”

  Her eyes swelled with surprise. “You don’t?”

  Of course, he didn’t. Even if it was just a bit, she could use magic to heal. It might not be overly impressive here, but on Earth that would’ve earned her a cult following.

  “Not once since I’ve been here,” he replied seriously.

  “I see,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

  The silence that followed was so much lighter than before, less suffocating, and that was entirely thanks to Katryn. Talking with her had lightened the load on his chest, and the dark thoughts that had been swirling around inside his mind had retreated deeper.

  For now, at least. It was the best he could hope for…

  Katryn shifted away from the post and lied down beside him. “You know,” she said. “Mother is asleep, I helped her clean up and close for the night before coming here.” She glanced at him sideways through her dark hair. “We could enjoy the night, if you want.”

  Enjoy the night? There was no mistaking it. Adam knew what she was implying and blinked in surprise. It was unexpected, coming out from nowhere. His reaction would have been even worse if his mind wasn’t already so weary from the day’s events.

  He swallowed. “That’s… sudden,” he said.

  “Is it?” she asked and turned toward him fully. “I like you, Adam. I thought I made it clear. Surely you didn’t miss every single sign I’ve been throwing at you.”

  “I didn’t want to assume,” he responded quietly.

  “Well, no more assumptions,” she said and leaned in, close enough that he felt her soft breaths against his skin. Her voice lowered, sultry in a way he’d never heard. “Do you want me? I’ve seen the way your eyes linger on me when you think I’m not looking.”

  “What about Elsa,” he asked.

  Katryn’s eyes narrowed and she pulled back half an inch. “Elsa?”

  “You have feelings for her, don’t you?”

  A soft, sad laugh escaped her. “It’s that obvious, huh?” She sighed. “Yes. I’ve loved her for as long as I can remember, before I even knew what the word meant. But I don’t think she’ll ever see me in that way. I’ll always be just a little sister to her.”

  “Sorry, that sounds tough,” Adam said.

  “It is,” she said quietly. “But I’ve had many years to learn to accept it.” She returned her gaze to him and a smile tugged at her lips. “And then you appeared.”

  Adam drew a breath to settle his thoughts before he spoke. He’d only been confessed to once before, earlier this year, by a girl in one of his classes he barely knew. Even then, he was pretty sure it had been dare from her friends to ask out the weirdo. Of course, he’d turned her down, and he felt himself reaching for the same tactic here.

  “Look Katryn, I’m not really looking for a relationship right now,” he said.

  A smile curved her lips. “Neither am I,” she whispered and leaned closer again, her lips now only inches from his own. “So I’ll ask again… do you want to have me?”

  “It’ll cause trouble,” he said, evading the question.

  “Maybe a little.” She laughed softly. “But what’s life without a little trouble.”

  Adam’s heart thudded and his mind listed reasons why he should stop this. The old woman might find out and kick him out, Elsa might disapprove, Katryn herself might regret it or want something more. It might even be a game. She had a mischievous streak.

  He knew all of that. He wasn’t stupid, nor was he suddenly blinded by lust. And yet, when Katryn closed the final space between them and her breath brushed his lips, he didn’t push her away. Something inside him wanted this, perhaps it was a desire to feel something beyond the trials, the violence, the darkness that had been tightening around him since he arrived in this world. A desire to feel something warm… something human.

  Against his better judgement, Adam leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. A gentle kiss at first, and Katryn returned it with intensity, climbing onto his waist.

  Adam’s mind went blank as he savored the taste of her soft lips and the warmth of her tongue. It was his first kiss, he didn’t delude himself thinking he was very good, but he didn’t think to stop or question himself, not when her breathing grew more ragged and she moaned against his mouth, grinding her soft ass against his hardening member.

  Their kiss went from fervent to scorching as Katryn’s fingers slipped beneath the hem of his shirt, brushing his skin. Adam felt a shiver run through him at her soft touch and he sat up, breaking their kiss long enough to raise his arms so she could pull the fabric over his head. Then they found each other, as if aching to be apart for even a second. Katryn was first to slow, pulling back and then pressing her lips to his shoulder, and then his neck, not with the earlier heat, but with quiet tenderness. Finally she stilled, resting her head against his chest.

  “You’re shaking,” she whispered, her breath brushing against his chest.

  “So are you,” Adam murmured back.

  She laughed quietly against him, a nervous little sound he hadn’t heard before. “I’ll admit it, now that we’ve gotten this far… I’m a little nervous.”

  “Do you want to stop?”

  Katryn exhaled softly and lifted her gaze. “No… I want this. I want you.”

  Adam watched as her hands fell to the folds of her dress, and with a calmness, she loosened the layers one by one until her dress fell away, revealing her nakedness. His breath caught as he took in the delicate lines of her figure, the gentle swell of her breasts, and then lower, her neatly trimmed pussy. Slowly, he lifted a hand toward her, cupping her modest size inside his palm, feeling her weight, her warmth, her softness, then he flicked a thumb along the pink nipple and she shivered at once, a soft gasp escaping her throat as she arched her back, offering more of herself to him. Encouraged, Adam found her second rosy peak with his mouth, kissing her there softly before tugging gently with his teeth.

  “Adam…” Katryn moaned out and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him as tight as she was able, as if wanting them to fuse into one.

  Adam rolled them, flipping her onto her back before settling on top of her. The hay couldn’t be comfortable against her skin, but she didn’t seem to care, her eyes half-closed in pleasure and her soft moans filling the quiet as his tongue and teeth teased and tormented her breasts. Slowly, he began to drift down, leaving her breasts to plant a trail of wet kisses across her flat stomach, over her hips, then her moist center. Katryn’s breath hitched as his tongue slid between her sensitive folds and her thighs squeezed around his head.

  It was a new experience, a taste that was neither sweet or bitter, just a faint, metallic tang that lingered on his tongue. Adam pressed deeper into her slippery core, sucking, licking, exploring, then he brought his fingers into the fray. He couldn’t be sure, but he felt he was doing something right as her cries grew louder above him, her hips arching forward, fingers digging into his hair, and her thighs clenching tighter around his head. Suddenly, a wave of orgasm exploded through her core, causing her body to writhe and spasm, and she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, stifling a scream that might’ve woken the entire inn.

  Her hot juices flowed freely and spilled down his jaw, but Adam didn’t let up until her spasms ceased and she opened her thighs for him to breathe again.

  As Adam finally moved back up, a faint, satisfied smile tugged at his lips when he saw Katryn breathless, trembling, her eyes glazed with aftershocks of pleasure. He dipped down and captured her lips, letting her taste herself on his tongue and she moaned softly.

  He pulled away after a moment. “You okay?” he asked.

  She nodded, her dark hair fanning around her like a shadow. “Yeah… I’ve just never had that done to me before. It was overwhelming,” she said quietly, still breathing hard.

  “I’ll let you rest for a bit,” Adam said.

  Katryn pushed herself up and shook her head. “No… I owe you after that.”

  Even as she said the words, she guided him onto his back, stripping away the last of his clothes until he was naked beneath her, then she took his thick, throbbing length in her hand. Adam wasn’t the biggest guy in the world, but he was content with what he had, and Katryn didn’t seem to have any complaints either as a teasing smile spread on her lips.

  “I had a feeling you’d be impressive,” she whispered, squeezing hard.

  Adam’s jaw clenched in anticipation as he watched her, and for a moment, she only breathed his scent, her soft lips brushing along his crown without taking him fully.

  Then, having done enough of the teasing, Katryn opened her mouth and his hardness slid past her lips into warmth and wetness. Adam closed his eyes and a deep groan rumbled out from his throat, his mind going dark completely. He’d never felt anything like this, an intense shudder tore through his entire body as her tongue worked along his hot flesh and her mouth drew him deeper and deeper into the tightness of her throat.

  Adam gripped her head, not guiding her, only trying to steady himself as wave after wave of pleasures coursed through him, threatening to burst free. Katryn’s movement was deep, slow, as if she was savoring his struggle to endure. She pulled back slightly, licking along his tip before swallowing his length again in one smooth, hungry slide. This time she quickened her pace, her head bobbing up and down as spit spilled down her chin.

  Adam’s hips began to move on their own accord, small, gentle thrusts meeting her movement, plunging his cock deeper into her mouth and she accepted it. A sudden pressure coiled inside him, his release rushing close. He tried to hold it off, clenching his teeth hard, but Katryn’s tongue, lips, and throat were merciless. His groan broke into low cry and his body gave way, spilling his seed into her mouth in hot, thick pulses.

  His thoughts fled and he saw only white….

  Katryn swallowed greedily as if it was the sweetest drink, accepting all that he gave her and refusing to release him until she took every last drop of his fluid. When she finally withdrew after sucking him dry, her lips were swollen, her breath heavy, and her soft eyes gleamed with mischief as she crawled up to face him.

  “I’d say we’re even… but I want more of you,” she whispered and a teasing smile crossed her lips, one hand stroking his softening member, trying to stir it back to life.

  Adam was willing. He wanted more than anything to have sex with her, but his body needed to recover first. Still, in the meantime, he figured he could pleasure her again with his hands. Katryn yelped in surprise as he rolled over and pinned her body beneath his, and without hesitation, her hands reached toward his member, guiding it between her legs, her silken folds coating him in juices as she tried to stroke him to full hardness.

  And she did, far quicker than was normal…

  Adam found his recovery strange. It reminded him of earlier today, when he’d been chopping wood but didn’t seem to get even slightly tired. That was something he needed to think about, but not right now, he was just glad for it. There would be time to think later.

  “Hmm… I’m glad you have so much energy,” Katryn murmured.

  He shrugged. “It’s not that hard with you here.”

  She stared at him, her expression shifting into something unreadable, then she shook her head in disapproval. “Don’t say words you don’t mean, Adam. You think too loud.”

  Adam was surprised. She’d sensed he wasn’t being honest.

  He thought better of apologizing. It didn’t seem like she wanted one either. She only wanted one thing right now. Adam just eased between her thighs, pausing to watch the way her breath quicken in anticipation, then his hand guided his rigid length, brushing against her entrance before slowly sinking into her depths, each inch drawing a gasp from her lips.

  It was his first time, and nothing had ever felt better in all his life.

  Katryn was so tight, and oh so wet…

  Adam stilled once he was flush inside her and savored the tight clutch of her velvety passage, her slippery warmth. He couldn’t begin to describe the sensation. Katryn trembled beneath him, her nails biting his shoulder as though the closeness overwhelmed her. Then he began to move, shallow strokes at first, not trying to rush his first time. Katryn’s moans wove into the quiet night, a low, breathless sound, then her hands caught his face and drew his mouth to hers. The kiss broke his restraint, and his hips snapped forward, pounding into her faster, harder, her cries of pleasure muffled against his lips.

  For a heartbeat, he slowed again and withdrew nearly to the tip of his cock, then he slid back into her with agonizing slowness. She writhed at the tease and her legs tightened around his waist, demanding more, aching for more. His movements turned relentless then, and the bed of hay scattered under their bodies. He lost himself in her sweet depth, and her voice rose in sharp cries that urged him on as a fiery heat coiled inside him. He rolled his tongue over her beaded nipples, his hands skimming over her breasts, trailing down to her sides before reaching down to curve under her soft bottom.

  Katryn’s climax took her suddenly and violently, her body arching, walls clenching around his cock in frantic waves. She cried his name, the sound breaking into gasps as he drove in deeper through the aftershocks, refusing to let her come down. Then he slowed his thrust and ground into her deeply, his forehead pressed to hers. Their hot, ragged breaths mingled together before he pulled back enough to look at her flushed face.

  “I’m close,” Adam muttered through a shaky voice.

  “Then don’t stop,” she begged, still trembling.

  Her plea shattered the last of his control.

  With a growl, he pinned her hips and plunged into her deeper, faster, rougher, the world narrowing to heat and sweat and the slap of their bodies. His muscles burned, his breath grew wild until he could no longer hold back.

  “Yes… don’t hold back!” she cried out.

  He thrust into her twice more, his pleasure nearing its summit.

  With a low groan, he buried himself to the hilt and came hard, spilling his seed deep inside her as his body seized in violent release. The force of it left him shaking, clutching her as though the ferocity might tear his body apart. Katryn held him close, her own voice breaking into another quiet cry as the last of her pleasure shot through her.

  The sensation waned after a while and silence settled slowly, broken only by their gasps. He remained inside her, unwilling to let the closeness end too soon. Her dark hair was damp against his cheek, and her chest rose in uneven rhythm against his own.

  It was really a night of firsts…