Xaydin inclined his head before he headed toward the cottage.
Stunned, she exchanged a panicked look with Masakage. “Is that it? We just walk right in?”
He shrugged. “It would appear so.”
Very well, then. Though to be honest, she would have expected something a little more incognito. ’Course, given the huge size of Xaydin, his sexy swagger, and the fact he had the chiseled features of an angel, she supposed incognito was impossible for him. He tended to leave a memorable mark.
“Has he always been like this?” she asked.
Masakage just nodded.
Sighing heavily, she trailed after him, hoping she could do something. She had no idea what. It was futile. As skilled a warrior as she was, she knew she’d be no match for him. Not physically. His reach was too great, and he was too massive in size. While she might be quicker, he was much, much stronger.
Granted, she could fight in her alternate forms, but she wasn’t as skilled at that. Nor as agile. Shape shifting took a lot of effort, and it wasn’t easy to fight in the skin of someone else. Ifshe were injured in another form, she’d immediately revert back and that could be even more dangerous for her.
Besides, there was only one form she was as adept at using as her human body.
The one that pissed off her mother to no end. That form was kept as buried as the secret of her father.
Gisela quickened her steps as Xaydin approached the cottage stoop.
Before he reached it, the door opened to show anaþaswerewho appeared around the same age as Fenrys.
“Are you here to see my father?”
By the expression on Xaydin’s face, she could tell he was as stunned at that question as she was.
“Saress?”
Theaþaswerenodded. “My father. Are you friends of his?”
Now they were all exchanging bemused stares. What was going on?
Xaydin was the first to recover from shock. “Not friends, per se. Why?”
“If you wish to say goodbye to him, there’s not much time. The doctor said he’ll be gone within the hour.” He opened the door to admit them into the modest dwelling.
Once inside the small cottage, Gisela pulled up short in the room she assumed was also the kitchen, given the size of the hearth and the large pot set over the fire. But instead of a table and chairs, they’d placed a bed there. One that looked out on the sea.
The kitchen chairs lined the walls where five otheraþasweressat in tears. A femaleaþaswerewas at the side of the bed, holding the hand of a male who lay dying.
Tears filled her eyes at the sight of their grieving. Granted she was a fierce warrior who normally suppressed her own emotions, but it made her vulnerable whenever she saw othersfeeling them. It was one thing to kill someone quickly, it was another to watch them suffer. That had never been her goal. She didn’t like pain. Not her own and definitely not that of others.
The female looked up at Xaydin. “Welcome, friends. I’m glad you made it in time.”
Saress shook his head at her words. “They’re not friends, Asla. Do you not recognize him for who he is?”
She scowled as she looked at all three of them. “No.”
Saress laughed bitterly, then coughed and wheezed. Once he was able to breathe again, he jerked his chin toward Xaydin. “Behold the legendary Oathbreaker. I’m sure he’s here to collect my head.”
The five who were seated stood immediately, ready to fight.
“Hold,” Saress said in a weakened tone. “I don’t want my last memory to be the sight of my family bleeding or fighting for the likes of me. I’m done with this world. What difference does it make on how I leave it?”
Asla began weeping harder.
To her shock, Xaydin held up his hands. “Forgive me, my lord. I didn’t realize you were ill, and I mean no one in this room any harm.”
