Taevas didn’t often raise his voice. It wasn’t necessary. The times he did need to make an impression on someone or intimidate them into submission, he never let his emotions get the better of him. If he shouted, it was a precisely aimed strike, not out of some explosion of emotion.
But this was different.
Alashiya recoiled as if he’d struck her. Aghast, Taevastried to reach for her, but she evaded his seeking hand. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to?—”
“I tried,” she explained, small fists curling in her lap, “but Monty is— It doesn’t matter. I tried to ask, but he was busy with a hunting party. He’s a guide. They were getting supplies for a trip. When one of them started talking to me, Monty and the guy got into an argument. I didn’t feel safe, so I left.”
Trying to muddle through the sick feeling of guilt that turned his insides to sludge and the details of her story at the same time, Taevas attempted to rise onto his elbow. Struggling, he demanded, “Who’s Monty? And what the fuck do you mean you didn’t feel safe?”
She wouldn’t look at him, but she didn’t hesitate to slip a few pillows under his shoulders to help him sit up. Because she was a sweet soul. Taevas cursed his short temper to the vilest pit in the underworld.I must be better than this for her.
“Monty is a hunter who lives about an hour from here. He’s one of those anti-government nuts who lives off the grid. I know he has a sat phone, so I thought I could ask to borrow it.”
Aware that it wouldn’t be wise to mention that Alashiya herself lived off the grid, Taevas pressed, “And you couldn’t ask because he got into an argument with some guy at the store?”
“It was his client,” she replied, nervously smoothing a curl behind her ear. “He said they were going out for a week-long hunt. But the guy started talking to me and Monty got— how Monty gets. The client got mad and I didn’t want to get in the middle of a fight between the two, so I had to go.”
She said the last part quickly, defensively, like she thought he would get angry at her for leaving when she felt threatened. Taevas supposed that was fair, if inaccurate.
“Good girl,” he praised, meaning it with everything in him. A tightness took up residence in his chest at the thought of Alashiya being stuck between two brawling idiots when he wasn’t there to protect her. His breath hitched at the mere thought.
“That was the right thing to do,metsalill.If you ever feel threatened, you should run.”
“Didn’t do me a lot of good with you.”
He offered her a small, sharp smile. “The rules are different with me. You should always runtowardme, never away.”
Alashiya gave him a dubious look. “I thought you were angry.”
“I’m frustrated and worried about my people,” he explained, shaking his aching head, “but your safety is worth more than a phone. We’ll find another way.”
“Well, Monty should be back in a week.”
Rubbing his stinging eyes, Taevas muttered, “A week is a very long time when a people are missing their leader.”
“I understand better than you probably think. I’ll try to think of something else.” Alashiya rose from her kneeling position. Speaking almost to herself, she added, “Honestly, I’d really rather not ask Monty if I can help it.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why?”
She moved toward the kitchen. He couldn’t see her face, but the line of her shoulders was tight when she answered, “We have a history.”
“What kind of history?”
But she was already out of the room, leaving his question unanswered until an unbearable length of time later, when she returned with a tray laden with two earthenware bowls, a dish of what looked like flat bread loosely wrapped in cloth, and a pair of glasses.
Kneeling gracefully enough that she hardly rattled the dishes, she set the tray in his lap before removing what had to be her portion. Settling on a cushion, she placed her bowl on her lap and answered, “After my grandfather died, Monty asked me if he could use my land for hunting. I said no.”
Whatever it was she’d made for dinner smelled mouthwatering. Taevas glanced at the bowl — some sort of green stew swirledwith cream or yogurt — but he couldn’t unclench his muscles enough to allow him to try it.
“Is that all?” he asked, tail rattling softly beneath the blankets of her nest.
Men, he knew, could do a great many terrible things when their demands weren’t met. It made his blood run cold, thinking of Alashiya being alone on her wild land, at the mercy of any greedy being who might turn his eye toward her.
Alashiya leaned over to tug at the cloth covering the bread. Steam, carrying the heavenly scent of the bread, filled the air as she plucked one from the pile.
“No.” She tore a piece off the bread and dipped it into her stew. “He also wants me to marry him.”
If his wings hadn’t been damaged, they would’ve been mantled over his head the instant the words left her mouth. Speaking in a hard, flat voice, Taevas repeated, “He wants to marry you.”
