“That’s not an excuse.”
“I know.”
She’d expected him to defend himself, to argue that he’d had no choice, but he did none of that. It made everything harder somehow.
“Jorrad burst into my home unprovoked,” she said. “I barely had time to hide in the basement, which my parents had turned into a storm sheltered years before. They stayed behind because they couldn’t find my brother. In the end, they all died.”
“I didn’t know about any of that,” he said. “I saw him return covered in blood, but we were all covered in blood. I didn’t question him. Jorrad the Brutal has always been reckless. Quick to anger. That’s why the name. I fully believe he would be capable of what you described. Sometimes, he goes crazy with bloodlust and cannot be stopped. It’s why I didn’t choose him as a raider. Because I can’t control him.”
“What are you going to do?”
“My plan is to bring everything to the Orc Council, so they can judge what happens next.”
Her stomach dropped.
“My friends and I too?”
“Hunting orcs in a time of peace is illegal.”
He hesitated then, looking at her with an expression she didn’t know how to read. He cupped her face with his hand, his palm warm against her cheek, and kissed her gently. The kiss was soft and careful, as if he thought she might break.
“I can’t let anything happen to you. I won’t.”
He kissed her again, and she responded. She poured everything into it, all her confusion and fear. She almost believed his promise, though he was contradicting himself.
When they pulled apart, she looked at him with a pleading look in her eyes. The game was over. Her plan had failed spectacularly, and now she was at his mercy. She was too tired to fight the situation she was in.
“Then your plan isn’t a plan at all,” she said. “You can’t hand us all over to the Orc Council and still protect me. What are you really going to do?”
He got up and straightened his clothes.
“Leave it to me. I will send Maika and Zulka with food for you. Your job is to rest, eat, and get well. I will take care of everything. I swear that nothing will happen to you.”
“What about my friends?”
“Nothing will happen to them either.”
Audrey watched him leave. Without him there to distract her from the turmoil inside her, she felt helpless again. She’d lost control of everything. She was completely dependent on him to keep his word.
She didn’t know if she could trust him, but she had no other choice. She’d messed up. Now she could only hope the consequences wouldn’t destroy her and get the Tusk Hunters hurt. The uncertainty gnawed at her, but exhaustion pulled at her limbs and made her eyes heavy. She’d slept for three days, and it still felt like it wasn’t enough.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Audrey woke to the sound of footsteps and familiar voices. She tried to sit up, but her body refused to cooperate. Her arm throbbed with a deep ache that spread from her fingertips all the way to her shoulder.
The door opened, and Maika and Zulka came in, carrying trays of food. Their faces lit up when they saw her.
“You’re up,” Maika said, setting her tray on the nightstand. “How do you feel?”
“Like I got trampled by a krag.”
Zulka laughed and set down her tray before moving to help adjust Audrey’s pillow. She and Maika worked together to prop her up into a sitting position.
Audrey’s gray arm hung limply at her side. When she tried to lift it, pain shot through it.
“Don’t push yourself,” Maika said. “You need to rest and let your body heal.”
Audrey glanced around the room. This was Morgath’s bedroom in the hut, the same place where they had slept together. She could see the forest through the window, the trees swaying gently in the breeze.
