“I have no idea what you mean,” I said sweetly.
“You came straight here after I confronted you last night,” he said. “I know you must think it’s down one of these. Tell me which one.”
“And why in fate’s name would I do something like that?”
“Because I’m handsome and charming, and you want to help me.”
I snorted. “You are definitelyneitherof those things.”
Except that wasn’tquitetrue. With his cutting jaw and dancing eyes, Tormund was not bad to look at by any means. But charming he was not. In fact, he was the opposite—so muchso that I would rather gnaw on a rock than tell him he was handsome.
But instead of taking offense, he just laughed. “Nice try, but you can’t get rid of me that easily.” He pointed down the left tunnel. “Shall I try that one?”
I shrugged. “If you’d like.”
Tormund examined my face, his eyes sweeping across every inch of my skin—down my forehead and across my cheeks—until they landed on my pursed lips. Then his gaze dragged down the length of my body, like he wanted to memorize every part of me. It took all my self-control to stand there and let him do it. Everything within me wanted to waltz out of this tunnel and never look back.
I hated being in his presence, and I especially hated his stare. And his eyes. And that muscled chest he probably thought made women swoon. It definitely had no effect on me, and I had the urge to tell him exactly that, just to annoy him.
Basically, I hated everything about him, despite hardly knowing anything at all.
Finally, his eyes returned to mine, and I swallowed. “You’re tense. I think Iwillbe taking the left one, then. Coming along?”
“No, I planned on going down the right-hand one,” I replied—as tensely as possible for good measure. Anything to confuse him.
He cocked his head. “Trying to throw me off the scent? Again, nice try, Astrid, but you’re far too easy to read.”
“If you say so.” Without another moment wasted in his company, I turned to the right and walked into the darkness with my sunstone held aloft. I’d noticed he hadn’t brought one with him. A shadow demon thing, most likely. I’d only met a few over the years, but I’d heard tales. They often lived in underground dwellings, like us dwarves, but they didn’t light upthe shadows with sunstones. They drew upon the darkness, fed upon it.
I shivered at the thought.
After walking for a good ten minutes, I paused and listened for the echo of footsteps. A faraway drip was the only sound, which could mean any manner of things. I hadn’t been lying when I’d told Tormund I hadn’t heard him until we’d nearly reached these tunnels. He was far stealthier than any dwarf, which meant he could still be lurking somewhere behind me.
But I had a hunch he’d taken the bait.
I smiled, retraced my steps, and made the return trek to Steingard. Tormund never once appeared behind me again. He’d probably found what lurked in those tunnels. Or they had found him.
Good.
That would teach him to follow me around.
When I reached the bridge, I spotted Jostein waiting for me on my front stoop with a basket of moss cakes hanging from his beefy arm. My stomach growled in anticipation. I’d been in such a hurry to trick Tormund into following me to that tunnel that I’d forgotten to break my fast, a mistake I’d not made once in my twenty-six years. We spent so many long hours sweating away in the mines that it was unheard of to miss a meal.
“Heard what happened. Thought you might be in the mood for some cake,” Jostein called out across the chasm, brushing back his white-streaked hair, so long it tangled with his bouncybeard. The cavernous wind snapped his words and tossed them across the village.
Jostein was one of the keepers of the mountain, and he led the competition every year. He was also one of my oldest friends and had become something of a father to me, since mine had died the year I was born. He’d always looked out for me. Poor thing was likely worried I’d hurt myself in the trials, and he’d come to make sure I had no illusions of winning.
“I’m always in the mood for cake,” I called back with a smile.
He arched a brow as I crossed the bridge and joined him by my door. “I thought you’d be more upset than this. If anything, you seem…pleased? Did you want to enter?”
“‘Course I didn’t want to enter.” I swatted his arm. “But the way I see it, there’s nothing I can do to change it, so I might as well make the best of my situation. Since I can’t see the sunshine, I have tobethe sunshine.”
Jostein chuckled. “You and your sunshine obsession. Would it help if I told you it’s not all it’s cracked up to be?”
“Sunshine? Or the whole bloomin’ world?”
“Take your pick.” He reached into his basket and extracted a cake. “Down here, we have everything we need. Warmth, light, and water, of course. But we also have each other. The best damn community there ever was, if you ask me. You don’t need to travel the world to find something better than us.”
