The hem of her dress had been ripped clean off, and she wore no shoes. Claw marks slashed through the garment. He dragged his gaze upward. The bodice had been torn as well as the sleeve, leaving part of her corset and the slope of her breast exposed.Sadness swiftly followed by anger filled his mind as he spotted the nasty bite on her shoulder that leaked sluggish deep-red blood down her collarbone, staining the cream corset.
The breeze picked up, bringing with it a flurry of snowflakes and a scent...
He stiffened and then inhaled deeply.
Spicy ginger. Amber. And something sweet.
“Niliave.” A whispered prayer and a curse.
The halfling’s attention snapped from the giant lying on the ground to Neve. A shock rolled through him as a familiar pair of green-blue human eyes locked onto his own. All the air fled from his lungs. It was not possible. The moment stretched on between them. She wore shimmering blue skin and faded black hair. It was his Lia but not ...
The giant on the ground shifted, breaking the moment.
Dahlia’s focus turned to thevallos,and Neve hated him for it.
Onlyhedeserved her gaze.
“Don’t touch me,” she hissed at the warrior who held out his hands in surrender. She backed away from the male, the sword still slightly pointed down.
A growl rumbled in his chest as he locked onto thevallos. “Did you do this?” he snarled, taking a step toward the young giant.
The male’s eyes widened, and he shook his head frantically. “No,Reillov. She was wandering through the camp, and I could smell blood. I only touched her arm, and she lost it. I would never harm avalleslike that.”
Neve inhaled deeply and only found truth in the youngvallos’feelings.
His vision dipped when he glanced back at Lia.
While she had disguised herself as a halfling, she was wholly human.
Hishuman.
Something dark and predatory rose to the surface the longer he stared at her.
Rage that someone had dared touch her.
Desire to run his lips along her skin.
Hate that she’d betrayed him.
Disbelief that she dared point the sword at him.
Hurt that she would gaze at him with such impassion.
Need to take care of her.
Shock that someone would brand her. With theirteeth.
Anger that he felt anything toward thesaloes.
He knew this moment would come, and Neve thought he had been prepared for it.
He was wrong.
He glared at the assembly of warriors searching for the male, growling like a beast.
His vision turned red along the edges when Olwen stepped out of the circle of giants and approached Lia with his hands held up. She didn’t seem afraid of the berserker. Olwen gently wrapped his hand around her wrist. “You can drop the sword. No one will hurt you.”
Neve could not take his eyes from the male’s hand on Lia’s wrist. Touching her skin. Skin he had been denied formonths. The growl deepened.
