Shadowlander by Theresa Meyers

temple.
    A little bubble of pride welled up in Cate’s chest. “Thanks. Never had to do triage before.”
    His gaze caught hers, the soft brown color sucking her in and absorbing her full attention like rich dark chocolate to a hungry dieter. “You have a healer’s touch. Gentle, but just firm enough.”
    A fizzy warm sensation bubbled up inside her. “Hope this doesn’t put you out of commission long. We didn’t have a chance to finish what we started at the palace.”
    In an instant his soft gaze turned searing hot. “You speak as if we don’t have time.”
    Cate pulled back from his mesmerizing touch. “We don’t. I have to get Maya back to my world.” I , she thought with a pinch in her heart, have to get back to my world .
    His hand dropped to his side and his gaze turned away from her. “Ah yes. Your friend.” When he looked at her again the burning intensity was smothered behind a guarded look. “I will keep my promise to help you find her. And you are right. If we want to reach Seaneath by tonight, we must not tarry here.”
    Cate frowned and nibbled at her bottom lip. “Who were those men, anyway? Are you sure we won’t be followed? What about—”
    Rook put up a hand to stop her. “They were scouts from Wyldwood seeking to infiltrate our borders.”
    “But why attack us?”
    He quirked a brow upward. “We’re at war,” he answered, as if that should explain everything.
    “Oh. Is that who you’re planning on invading?”
    He stared at her, his eyes hard, but he didn’t answer.
    “But what about them following—”
    He placed a finger on her lips. “They won’t follow. Ancor and I made sure they couldn’t.” He glanced at his big catamount and it blinked back at him.
    Cate went to his lounging catamount and lifted her hand, hesitating as it stared at her with intimidating golden eyes the size of dinner plates. Given that it hadn’t bitten her in half and she was damn well close enough that it could have, she gently reached forward and stroked the cat’s damp, thick fur.
    “What a brave thing you are,” she murmured.
    The catamount began to purr. Cate froze for a second, not sure if the sound was a purr or a growl, given how loud it was, but considering the cat lazily closed its eyes, she stretched a shaking hand to scratch behind its enormous ear.
    She was shoved sideways by the push of her own catamount’s head against her back. Cate smiled. “You did a good job too,” she said as she scratched her mount behind the ear as well. Between them both purring, she kind of felt she was stuck between the rumbling engines of two muscle cars.
    Rook walked up to her, his eyes dancing with humor. “Do you always have such a way with beasts?”
    Cate gave him a saucy grin. “Never, but it seems my skills are improving.”
    “It seems being here agrees with you. Too bad we cannot linger. We must ride if we are to make Seaneath by nightfall.”
    He pulled the reins of his cat and climbed into the saddle. Cate did the same. When she got home, she was going to try riding horses again. After this, there wasn’t a horse alive that could scare her.
§
    They rode for another hour before they emerged from the woods to a sight of rolling green hills and the bowl of a valley surrounded by mountains colored deep purple against the dying rays of the setting sun. In the center, surrounded by a lake, was a city perched on a small island raised to a point at the center. The tall dark glittering spires rose like staggered rows of blackened teeth against the golden color of the evening sky and made the waters of the lake look like molten metal. It was both beautiful and alluring, dark and dangerous at the same time.
    “Seaneath, the capital of the Kingdom of Shadows.”
    “It’s amazing.”
    A glow of pride infused his skin. Even blood-spattered, injured, and covered in grime, Rook was still the most gorgeous man Cate had ever laid eyes on. More than that, he could go toe-to-toe with her in a way no man