“Actually …” I ventured.
“Are you hungry?” Zane shot Remy a reproachful look.
“I could eat.” I could devour a feast for six like it was a small snack. “Perhaps Clive and Mary might join us.” It would give us a chance to get to know them better. Remy and I were already convinced they were perfect for Grace, but Zane didn’t know them.
“We couldn’t.” Mary shook her head as if the thought of dining with royalty overwhelmed her. Or perhaps it was Zane. The man was enormous, and a general, and he carried an aura of barely contained violence that I found disturbingly attractive. I pushed the thought away. My life was already complicated. And dire (pain, suffering, and death). The last thing I needed was to fall for either of my traveling companions.
I offered Mary an encouraging smile. “Zane’s a pussycat, and like I said, Remy doesn’t bite.”
Zane barked a laugh. “Sure about that, Haven?”
Remy flashed me a grin that could only be described as sensual. “Mary is entirely safe from my teeth.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I ducked my chin, hiding the unwelcome flare of interest I was sure burned in my eyes. Thanks to Gladys’s infernal pool, I knew exactly what Remy’s teeth could do.
William set a glass of ale on the table. “Dinner will be out soon.”
Zane accepted the mug but didn’t drink; his attention focused on Clive and Mary. “Tell me about yourselves,” he said, his tone neutral but commanding.
Mary shifted nervously under his scrutiny. “I … we …”
“Clive’s a miller,” I offered. “Mary is a seamstress. They’ve been trying to have children.”
“How long have you been married?” Zane asked.
“Eight years,” Clive answered steadily, meeting Zane’s stare without flinching.
“Why can’t you have children?”
“Zane!”
Clive held up a hand, waving off my objection. “It’s a fair question. We don’t know why. We’ve tried everything.”
Zane leaned back in his chair, still studying them. “Grace isn’t just any baby. She’s the sole survivor of a massacre. Taking her means accepting that whoever destroyed Banvil might come looking for loose ends.”
Did he actually believe that? Because I was fairly certain we were the only ones who knew Grace had survived.
The color drained from Mary’s face.
“Are you prepared for that possibility?” he continued. “Can you protect her if needed?”
“We’d die before we let anything happen to her,” Mary said fiercely, surprising everyone with her vehemence.
Zane’s expression softened slightly. “That’s the right answer.”
“So we’re agreed?” Remy’s gaze shifted between Zane and me.
I nodded as part of my heart shattered.
“We’re agreed.” His expression hardened. “We need to get to Talin.”
“Haven needs to rest.” Remy cut his gaze at me. “At least one night, maybe two.”
A night’s sleep, in a proper bed? I could have kissed him. I could have, but I didn’t.
Chapter
Fifty-Three
