The League of Illusion: Destiny Read Online Free PDF

me. Do you trust me, Drea?”
    She didn’t even have to think about it. If there was one thing she’d learned about Sebastian, it was that he’d risk his life for another without question. She’d seen him jump in front of a charging bull to save a little boy. And he’d always been there for her, waiting in the shadows if she ever got into trouble.
    “Yes, I trust you.”
    “Spread your hands over my chest.”
    “What?”
    “Just do it. Don’t question it, and stay pressed to me as tight as you can.”
    Raising her hands from his waist, she spread her fingers wide and pressed them against his chest. He was as hard as stone. His heart thumped vigorously under her palms. She shuffled up on the horse and molded her form into his. It was the most intimate she’d ever been with a man. Despite the danger, she blushed, thinking about it.
    “You may feel your skin tingle, but don’t panic. And don’t move.”
    Sebastian put the reins into one hand, then slowly leaned forward and spread his hand across the horse’s neck. Then she heard him mumble words. It definitely wasn’t English. It wasn’t in any language she recognized. At one point, she wasn’t even sure they were words, just guttural sounds.
    She assumed the rush would be instant, but nothing seemed to be happening. “Did you do it? I don’t feel anything.”
    He chanted the words again, louder and faster, just as an arrow whizzed by. It narrowly missed her arm. She felt the displaced air on her skin.
    “Hurry. The next arrow won’t miss.”
    Then it came. A stream from her hands up her arms and down over the rest of her body. The warm pricking sensation seemed to be coming from Sebastian himself.
    “Is it working?”
    “I’ve made us invisible.”
    “But...but...that’s...”
    “Impossible?”
    “Yes.” But she risked looking over her shoulder and saw the trio of elves slowing down, looking around frantically. “They can’t see us?”
    “No.”
    But that didn’t seem to stop the elves from following, just farther back.
    “Then why are they still coming?”
    “The invisibility doesn’t mask sound.”
    “They can hear us?” she asked.
    “Most likely. Elves’ hearing is superior to our own.”
    More arrows whooshed by. They weren’t nearly as accurate but Drea worried that one of them would get lucky and find their mark. Right in the middle of her exposed back.
    Sebastian took them toward the river. He urged the horse down the bank and into the shallows. He led the horse a ways upstream then stopped in the middle of the rushing water.
    The elves showed up along the bank. Acari was looking down at the ground, searching for hoof prints most likely. Then he stared across the river to the opposite bank. He was probably looking for muddy horse prints in the dirt. Then his gaze traveled upstream.
    Drea shivered, sure the elf could see them and would nock an arrow in his crossbow any second and shoot it straight into her heart. It was beating so loudly she was surprised he couldn’t hear it even over the rush of the water below.
    After a few more tense minutes, Acari finally turned his gaze then gestured for the others to cross the river. He kicked his horse and took it downstream along the bank.
    Sebastian kept them still for a little while longer, until he was sure they were out of earshot. Then he clicked to the horse and took them out of the water and onto shore.
    “Where is this cave?”
    “To the west, just over that rise.”
    Clicking to the horse, he steered him over the hill. It was then she realized he wasn’t leaning forward or touching the horse with his hand but she was still glued to him like paste.
    “Can I let go now?”
    “If you wish.”
    She wasn’t sure she could, or if she even wanted to. Her heart was still racing and her throat was dry. She wasn’t sure if it was the chase that made her feel so lightheaded and breathless or if it was Sebastian.
    Over the rise between the hills, they found the cave. Just outside it,