"I owe you—again," Caden told him.
Van's eyes were wide as he looked from the fire fox to the spot in the air where the smoke had just been.
"What. The. Fuck?"
"Eva did tell you not to mess with the fire fox," Caden said. "Now you know one of the reasons why."
Van sputtered, looking out of sorts. "One reason? You mean there's more?"
Gawain moved up beside them. "That was interesting. Care to explain why the creature seemed fixated on you?"
"He wasn't after me.” Caden’s jaw clenched. "This was meant to distract us."
And he'd fallen for it.
"Looks like they're finally stopping for a break," Ollie observed as the warriors in front of them slowed.
"About time. We've been riding for hours." Jason shifted in his seat with an uncomfortable expression.
Ollie sent him a look. "Don't tell me your ass is hurting. What are people going to think of a herd master who can't even take this little bit of riding?"
Jason straightened with a scowl, his mouth opening on a sharp retort.
"Enough, you two," Eva cut in, preoccupied with checking the back trail for what felt like the hundredth time.
Fiona and a few others, including Buck and Witt, had disappeared down it quite a while ago. They had yet to come back.
There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of Eva's stomach that had only grown as the morning dragged into the afternoon.
Nothing had happened yet, but there was a tension in the air that made her think it was only a matter of time. A quiet in those around her that had Eva on edge.
"We all had to start somewhere," Eva told Ollie, determined not to let her uneasiness get the best of her. "Or did you forget all the trouble I had the first few times we had a movement on horseback."
Ollie flashed a grin of remembrance. "That was fun. I'll never forget your face after that first day. You looked so upset."
Damn right she had. And that first day had nothing on the second. She'd reached a level of uncomfortable she didn't know was possible.
"Yet, you somehow managed toforgetto tell me about muscle balm," Eva reminded him with a glare.
Instead, he'd let her suffer. And suffer she had. That first week with the Trateri had been agonizing.
Ollie looked unrepentant. "I had to see what you were made of."
Eva gave him a sidelong look. More like he'd wanted to play a prank on the newbie.
"Besides, there's a difference between you and him," Ollie said with a sly smile. "You weren't Trateri. He is."
Jason grimaced.
"You're getting soft if this short ride is enough to make you uncomfortable," Ollie told him in a frank tone. "That's what staying in one place will do to you."
"Give it a rest, old man," Jason groused.
Ollie sucked in a breath. "Who are you calling old?"
Jason sent him a victorious look. "Do you even have to ask?"
"I'm only a few years older than Eva," Ollie argued.
