Wrath of the Forgotten: Descendants of the Fall Book II by Hodges, Aaron (best romance books of all time txt) 📕

of Cara. If they were truly on her trail, the Goddess could be as little as a day ahead of them. His heart raced at the thought and for the next half hour, the way felt a little easier.

They continued up the valley, shadowing the stream as it wound its way between the stones. Their quarry had no doubt followed its path for the ready source of water—it must be scarce in these parched hills. Just breathing the air this side of the mountains left Romaine’s mouth as dry as the dusty stones.

Yasin led them on through the night, undaunted by the gloom. After three days on the ship, his men were reckless, eager to be on their way. Like their dark-eyed leader, these were fighting men, killers in search of prey.

Romaine still couldn’t understand how they were able to track Cara and her captors in the darkness. The moonlight was enough to pick out the largest of the rocks on the valley floor, but Romaine struggled to make out the footprints of even his companions. How could Yasin track the passage of those who had passed hours, or even days, before?

Picking up his pace, Romaine overtook several of his companions, leaving Lorene to trail behind as he sought Yasin. He found the man still in the lead, picking his way up a slope dotted by ragged boulders the size of small dogs. Coming alongside the man in the gloom, he nodded a greeting.

“How far behind are we?” he asked, trying to find some clue as to how they were tracking their quarry.

“What am I, Calafe, a magician?” Yasin asked with a laugh.

Romaine scowled. “You seem to know where they’re heading.”

Yasin grinned at that. “Curious about Amina’s secret, are you?” he murmured. Then he flicked Romaine a glance, and his eyes narrowed in the moonlight. “Or is it the Goddess that’s got you so worked up?”

“Just professional curiosity,” Romaine said with a shrug. “I grew up near these mountains, though on the other side. Even in daylight I would have struggled to follow a trail on these stones.”

“You Calafe are far too practical, you know that?” Yasin replied with a shake of his head. “So focused on what’s in front of your face that you miss the bigger picture.” He snorted. “Maybe that’s why you’re basically extinct.”

Romaine scowled, grinding his teeth together in an effort to keep the curses from tumbling from his mouth. Instead, he swallowed his anger and shrugged. Let the brute mock, so long as he led them to Cara.

“Perhaps you can show me the error of my ways,” he replied, though he failed to keep the hard note from his voice.

Yasin only grinned. “Nah, where’s the fun in that?” he chuckled, then returning his eyes to the path, he strode ahead. “Relax, big man. We can’t be more than half a day behind the bastards.”

Romaine frowned and was about to press the matter further when they topped the rise and found themselves on the shores of a small lake. Yasin hesitated, his eyes sweeping their surroundings, and the faint scent of smoke carried to Romaine’s nostrils. The breath caught in his throat and his hand dropped to the hilt of his blade, but there was no sign of movement in the nearby boulders.

Yasin was still searching for something, but focusing on the ashen smell. Though the wind was only blowing lightly at that moment, he knew how violent mountain gales could turn. If he’d been making camp on these shores, those boulders would have provided the perfect shelter.

The stench of smoke grew stronger with each step, and fist tensed, Romaine entered the cluster of rocks. Lorene found him there a few minutes later, crouched alongside the remains of a fire.

“So we’re on the right track,” the scout said as he approached, looking grim. “Suppose that almost makes the trespassing acceptable, right?”

Romaine only grunted, his mind on the discovery. Whoever was accompanying Cara obviously had not suspected they were being followed, for they’d made no attempt to hide their campsite. What were they doing here anyway? Why would Nguyen have taken Cara hostage, only to send her into these mountains with his soldiers?

It had to be the Archivist’s doing. Had she promised the king God magic, as she had all those weeks ago to Queen Amina? Perhaps that was why the man had so easily yielded the gauntlet—if Nguyen thought he would soon have the full power of the Gods at his back, its magic must seem trivial.

But no, it still made no sense that he would surrender it to an enemy. And it left unexplained how Erika planned to win the magic of the Gods. Did she expect them to greet her with open arms when she turned up on their doorstep with one of their own in chains?

He touched a palm to the ashes. They were cold, and given their quarry’s apparent lack of concern for their pursuit, it seemed unlikely they would have marched through the night.

“More than a day,” he muttered to Lorene.

“What?” the scout asked with a frown.

Romaine shook his head and rose as Yasin stepped into the ring of boulders. “They’re further ahead than you thought.”

A scowl crossed the man’s face, though he shrugged off the criticism. “It’ll be less by the time the sun rises,” he countered.

A few grumbles came from the shadows behind the man, but they cut off as Yasin flashed a glare over his shoulder. Romaine made to join them, when a glint of moonlight reflected off something lying amongst the boulders nearby. Turning from Lorene and the others, he crossed to the gap between the stones and lifted a pair of shackles.

“What have you got there, Calafe?” Yasin questioned. When Romaine did not immediately reply, he shouldered past Lorene to get a closer look.

Romaine’s attention was fixed on the chains, and he ignored Yasin as the warrior stepped up alongside him. Unless Erika had dragged more than one prisoner into these remote mountains, they could only