“Get some sleep, yeah?” Dane told her.“Tomorrow’s a big day.”
She looked back at him and nodded once. Withthe table cleared, the men gathered around it with a deck ofcards.
Shea excused herself and headed upstairs toher small bedroom. A bed took up half the space, leaving justenough room for a chest to store her gear.
She crossed the floor, the wood creakingunder her weight, to light a lamp. With night falling, it would beher only source of light until the moon was high enough to lend itsglow.
She carried the lamp over to the chest andknelt, setting it beside her. The smell of lavender drifted up asshe lifted the top and pawed through her pack until she found aclean shirt to wear to bed.
Once changed, she pulled out a map andclimbed between the sheets, placing the lamp on the end table.
Since they were definitely leaving tomorrow,she wanted to look it over one last time. It was ritual more thananything else as she had already decided on the return trip’scourse early on in their forced stay.
Studying the twisting lines and slopingcurves of a map normally calmed her, giving her a brief taste ofthe freedom and empowerment she experienced when testing herselfagainst nature. Tonight, she found her thoughts straying to otherthings.
It’d been a long time since someone had herback. Since well before she’d been assigned to Birdon Leaf. It wasnice to have someone stand up for her. She was reluctant to dwellfurther on this feeling especially while the worry over whatGoodwin of Ria was hiding from them lingered.
Sleep was a long time coming that night. Whenshe finally drifted off, she did so to the image of whiskey-coloredeyes and the rumble of a man’s voice.
Chapter Five
Damn horse didn’t want to cooperate.
Shea tightened the saddle’s strap one lasttime and bit out a curse when the dratted beast side stepped. Thiswas why she hated beasts of burden.
Her feet could carry her anywhere she neededto go without the added frustration of dealing with such a contraryanimal. She had enough of those to deal with as it was.
It took a bit of pleading, cursing, andfinally bribery in the form of the apple intended for hermidmorning snack, but eventually she had the saddle on correctlyand her pack tied in place. She tightened the pack’s strap one lasttime for good measure.
Keeping her head still, she let her eyeswander around the small courtyard they were using as a staging areato prepare for their journey.
Dane and Witt had left at the earliestpossible hour for their negotiations, leaving Shea in charge ofpacking.
She placed orders for the supplies days ago,in the hope that they’d be leaving soon. Despite her earlypreparation, she had difficulty prying those items from themerchants’ storehouses.
In fact, it took her most of the morning.Now, at midmorning, they were finally ready to leave. If thetownspeople let them.
Given the men watching Shea’s group withthinly veiled anger, she had her doubts that their departure wouldbe an easy one.
In these types of towns gossip spread likewildfire. News of their imminent departure had made the rounds, anda crowd began forming even before they asked for their horses.
Shea wasn’t the only one uneasy at theattention. Burke and Sid eyed the watching crowd, noting thedangerous undercurrent and grim faces.
A flutter in her peripheral vision had herlooking up. Great. People watched from the windows too.
Several men had their arms crossed over theirchests. One spit on the ground and walked off shaking his head.
“You ever seen anything like this before?”Burke asked, coming to stand beside her where she was cinchingDane’s saddle.
Shea glanced back at the townspeople.“Once.”
When it was clear she wasn’t going to sayanything else, Burke stepped forward to rest a hand on the horse’sneck while she bent to check its hooves.
“What happened?”
“Ambush. Killed three of our party.”
“No shit?”
