Chapter 354

I WOKE WITH A JERK, heart pounding, mind sharply aware of a person's hand moving across my leg.

'Sorry,' Rashid hissed the word under his breath.

I felt the saddle bag he'd grabbed drag across my lower leg. The breath I didn't realize I'd held whooshed out in relief.

In the dark of the early morning, with no moon to offer any light, I couldn't see a thing but the warmth of the two centaurs meant there wasn't a chance to feel cold. Listening to their steady breaths I knew they slept. But Rashid lay awake.

Finally, he spoke, a whisper of a voice so not to wake the men. 'It wasn't you he wanted. You do understand that?'

The words moved slowly through my mind.

'It was what you are. You as a person, you challenged everything he was.'

I lay on my side, considering his words.

He spoke again but in the barest whisper. 'She's broken hearted about it.'