“...and?” His eyebrow furrowed.
“Asking about me,” Cassia whispered. “She told him I got picked up by you all… I don’t even know who it was, what he looked like, anything. She said he heard about me. Aevrin, were folks talking about me?”
He stayed very still for a moment as his mind worked, his hands still protectively gripping her arms.
“Probably,” Aevrin said. “I didn’t hear anything about it. I’ll try and find out.”
“What do I do? It could be nothing, or…”
“I’d like to see someone try to take you from this ranch,” he said harshly, and bent his neck until their foreheads touched. Aevrin wrapped his arms around Cassia’s body, pulling her tight against him at last. “You’re safe, Cassia. I swear it. And I’m going to kill Larie.”
“Don’t,” Cassia said.
“How stupid can one person be? She didn’t think twice before giving out your information, after what you’ve been through?” His hands curled into her clothing. His nostrils flared as he took a shuddering breath.
“She didn’t mean any harm. And… and maybe it was just someone curious about gossip, like she thought.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he said hoarsely. “And what if next time it’s not? I’m gonna talk to her.”
He should have before, he realized. He knew how Larie was. He knew how thetownwas. But he’d been so worried about Cassia running back to the man who hurt her, that he hadn’t even considered the man might comelookingfor her himself.
“Aevrin…” he could hear her reluctance, her unwillingness to make a fuss.
“It’s not negotiable, Miss Cassia,” he informed her. “Not with your safety on the line.”
“And what if itwassomeone looking for me?”
He thought for a moment.
“I know you don’t like it, but I’ve gotta tell my family. At least that someone might be sniffing around you.”
“I don’t want to trouble their lives.”
“None of that, Cassia,” he said, still holding her pressed tight against him. “Every single one of us cares about you. You know that, right?”
“Yeah. I dunno what I did to deserve it,” she said, and laughed hollowly.
“All you had to do was be yourself,” Aevrin said. “Cassia, I don’t want you to be fearful when you’re here, you understand? If anyone comes onto this land trying to cause trouble, they’re going to find a whole lot more than they bargained for, humananddragon. You’re safe here.”
“That kind of scares me even more. I don’t want any of you in trouble with the law.”
“We won’t be, not for keeping you safe,” Aevrin said. “But Cassia, if you were willing to share anything more about it, it would help. To us or to Boone.”
She was silent in his arms. He sighed. Aevrin had known that was a longshot. He wished she trusted him enough to at least explain.
“Thank you,” Cassia whispered at last. “Really, Aevrin. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t picked me up. That must have been the luckiest day of my life.”
“Maybe. But I got damn lucky that day too. I hate you went through it, but who’d think the girl of my dreams would fall right into my arms?”
She stiffened a little in his embrace, and slowly withdrew. Cassia folded her arms back over her chest and started trudging towards the tree again without answering. Aevrin followed by her side with a frown. His eyes were getting used to the dark and the shadowed outline of the tree was a hazy form against the night.
Maybe he oughta watch his flirting. It was hard. He wanted nothing more than to grab Cassia and drag her back up against him, to kiss her on the lips and carry her back into the house and up to his bed, where he could reassure her that she was safe and protected. But she was distracted. Terrified. Maybe she wasn’t in the mood to be romanced.
He’d been worried from the beginning that her trouble might take her away from him. But back then the trouble had been shaped like a cruel, unknown lover. Now it was in the shape of Cassia herself, scared and drawing back.
They reached the fence. Cassia leaned against it, resting her folded arms on top. She tilted her head back to look at the stars above.
“Did you make a wish tonight?” Aevrin asked, settling beside her and resisting the urge to put an arm around her shoulders.
