Horse Stone (Book 1 of Ilyrian Series)

Chapter 54

"It took you long enough to get here," Vanar said when I made it to his pasture. He looked at Tigra on my shoulder and scowled while he pressed his ears against his head and bared his teeth at her. "Why did you bring her with you?" he asked.

Tigra smirked but didn't say anything that I could hear. She stayed on my shoulder and watched Vanar while she licked her paw.

"Don't make me smack you," Vanar said and struck out with his hoof. He moved his head up and down before he snorted with his ears still pressed against his head.

"Be nice, the both of you," I said and rubbed the bridge of my nose when a headache appeared out of nowhere. "I don't need anyone fighting around me. She is here because she didn't want me to travel alone, even though I am sure that Lucas has been near me this whole time."

Vanar snorted and rolled his eyes. He lifted his head and looked in a tree somewhere, and Tigra looked that way, too. "Come out, you stupid bird," he said. "I know that you are in there."

The thing in the tree didn't move, and I looked that way before I looked at Vanar while I furrowed my brows and cocked my head. "Are y-"

"Don't make me send this creature on Hadley's shoulder to get you. I am sure that you'd be mighty tasty to her."

Tig scoffed and rolled her eyes at Vanar. She knelt closer to my shoulders and scowled at the stallion, and I had a feeling that she told Vanar to try and take her off of my shoulders.

"Be nice," I scolded both of them, interrupting Vanar from saying a word to her. "If Lucas doesn't want to appear, then he doesn't have to appear. You don't have to use my cat to get him out because she doesn't want to get him, and he doesn't want to leave his spot."

Vanar looked at me and rolled his eyes while he scowled. "That still doesn't explain why she is here on your shoulders. You aren't supposed to know about her." He looked at Tigra when she said something but didn't say anything back while he looked at me.

I bit back a snort and folded my arms across my chest. I scowled and pressed my lips into a thin line because there was a lot of stuff that I shouldn't know about but do.

Vanar rolled his eyes, and if he could scowl, then he was scowling because I had a feeling he knew what I meant. "Don't give me that look," he said, and I raised an eyebrow in question. "I know that there is a lot of stuff that you shouldn't know about but do. However, knowing your Protectors are up there."

"Mreow," Tigra protested, and Vanar looked at her before he looked at me, not looking guilty. She had a scowl on her face when I turned my head to look at her before I looked at Vanar, and I could tell what he said was true and felt warm.

"No wonder they like to watch out for me," I said and scratched Tig behind her ear, and my cat purred and pressed her head against my hand. I cleared my throat and licked my lips while I looked at Vanar. "I am glad that they are my Protectors, though, even if I don't know what they are."

"Hmph," Vanar said and flicked his tail, and he shook his head, his mane turning red. "Why are you here anyway?" he asked, changing the subject. He cocked his head and studied me.

I licked my lips, feeling nervous. I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet. I had no idea if he would allow me to do it, even though I wanted to put my hand on his head where his horn laid.

Vanar studied me and cocked his head further to one side. "Do you want to touch my scar?" he asked, and I pressed my tongue to the bottom of my lip and nodded, staying silent. He nodded and moved closer to me. "Then get in here and do it," he said. "There is no need to wait any longer."

I took a deep breath and nodded, hesitating. I walked into the pasture, and my cat jumped off of my shoulders and onto a wooden post to watch the whole thing. I rubbed my hands together and walked closer to Vanar before I stopped a foot in front of him, letting him decide if he wanted to move closer to me or not.

Vanar scoffed and rolled his eyes. He flicked his tail again before he walked the rest of the way towards me. "Fine," he said, disgruntled. "I guess I will come towards you." He reached out with his nose and touched my hand that laid by my side. "Now, can you do it? I don't know why you are so nervous or tense about this." He paused and rolled his eyes while he scowled. "It's not like it's going to kill you."

I released a breathless chuckle and rubbed his nose, loving the softness of it. "I know it won't," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, "but it doesn't stop the fear."

Vanar snorted and nuzzled my hand gently. His eyes grew soft, something that I hadn't seen from him while we had our times together before today. "One of these days, you need to tell me what happened to you," he said, gently, "all of it. I need to know."

Tigra said something to him, and he flicked an ear in her direction. She said something else, but he didn't respond like I thought he would, or he said something in a way that only she could hear because she scoffed and scowled while she rolled her eyes at the stallion.

I sighed and nodded, moving my hand closer to where his horn used to lay. "I know," I said, my voice still barely above a whisper. "There is a lot of stuff that I need to do and say, Shadow," I mumbled. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat before I licked my lips, wanting to make sure that my mouth wasn't as dry as it felt. "I just need to find the confidence in myself actually to do it."

Vanar moved his head down a bit until I was about an inch away from touching his scar. "Then start by finding the courage to do this," he said gently, and the feeling was getting harder and harder to ignore. "We'll work on everything else later."

I licked my lips, and my heart leaped into my throat while it skipped a beat. I had a feeling that he would be by my side and help me with this world that I found myself in. "Does that mean you trust me?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes," Vanar said, and I could tell that he was telling the truth, and it almost made me cry. "I've always had trusted you, Hadley, since the day that we met, even though I hadn't acted like it." He paused and let it sink in, and my heart skipped another beat and grew warm. "I needed to see if you could trust yourself and me, which is why I have been pushing you so hard."

"And?" I asked, my voice still above a whisper. I had no idea what he was trying to do, to say, but I was happy that he trusted me. I had trusted him since the moment that I had met him, knowing that he wouldn't hurt me no matter how much I pushed him or stayed away.

"And, you are annoying sometimes," he said bluntly, and a small smile appeared on my face. "You annoy the shit out of me when you don't push me too hard, even though there is a small part of you that knows that you can."

I rolled my eyes but nodded because I knew that what he was saying was true. I knew that there were times where I should have pushed him more and didn't, but I didn't make a comment about it.

Instead, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, pushing past my fears and anxieties, and moved my hand up the last bit until I was touching the place where his horn laid, and as soon as I did that, I gasped.