I lose it for a moment, laughing over the top of whatever it is she says next. My sides even start to hurt.
Roarke grabs my arm and my attention, cutting off my laugh. I look down at his hand, confused.
Rose sighs, utterly exasperated.
“Try to escape him,” she orders me.
I step back, pulling against his grip – which doesn’t get me anywhere.
“Don’t pull in the direction he has the most strength. Pull up and roll your arm back. From there you can grab the shoulder of his shirt and go in for a groin, solar plexus, or a head-butt.” As Rose instructs, she flows through the movements, mimicking what I should be doing.
I copy, move for move. Pull up, roll my arm back, grab his shirt, and aim for the balls. He jumps back out of my grip.
“I like this,” I say.
“Do we really need to encourage her to go for the groin?” Roarke groans. “She’s pretty good at that already.”
“If you move fast enough, they won’t see it coming,” Rose ignores him, followed by, “Right, try this one…”
The woman keeps her distance, more than an arm’s length at all times. I ignore the audience, throwing myself harder into the movements – because the narrowing perimeters of my bubble and the need for a Spring to save my life are not something that I want to focus on. Nor do I want to focus on Jada and her history with my guys, or Teegan and the future with my guys that both of them are going to fight me for. Or Lithael and the death grip he has on my short life, or the Elorsins’ dead mother and the prophecy that makes me think my end is unavoidable.
I do begin to focus on Rose’s glances, though, past me and towards Killian. Which is the only reason I notice Rynn escorting another triune in. All men, in leather light armor. The last rider has his bow in his hand and an arrow notched, ready. Rose and Roarke don’t stop, though the scene also catches their interest. So we slow down, stealing glances between moves.
The men arrive, dismount at the stream, Pax meets them, and they bow all the way to their knees immediately and stay there as whatever news or discussion is had. Then, looking like Lithael himself is on their asses, they mount up and thunder back out of here.
Everything is over in a matter of minutes.
But everything changes.
Killian’s hand is on the hilt of the big curved blade in his belt and his gaze has moved to the treeline. Pax rejoins him looking ready to kill something right as I throw Roarke over my hip and watch him hit the ground, which is more than a little satisfying.
“Inside,” Pax suddenly snaps.
We turn toward the cottage, Pax in the lead, Roarke tight on my left – and I mean tight. The guy wraps an arm around my shoulders and holds me close. Killian hangs back, walking behind us. Seth is wide on the outside of us – forming a little cage.
What the hell happened to set them off?
“So,” I say in a moment when Killian has dropped back. “You and Killian?”
Rose’s eyes go a little wide. Her delicate lips twist a little to the side – a move which changes her whole expression. I’m almost envious of her blonde hair. Actually, I am envious. It’s so short that it sits in little tufts that would be tight ringlets if she grew it out. But hair like that needs no maintenance. No brushing. No worrying about trying to tie hair bands with a broken arm – a problem all too raw in my memory, even though my arm feels fine now. And no need to wrestle bands from Roarke.
“You don’t want to do this now, Kitten.” Roarke shakes his head. “You need to focus on not getting anyone killed.”
“I can multitask,” I say, before pointing at Rose to emphasize where this conversation is going. “Lovers?”
“What is she doing?” Rose asks Roarke.
“Don’t Silvari discuss their love lives?” I press.
“No,” Rose grunts – so very like Killian.
At the same time as Roarke says, “Kitten, not the time for this.”
I stare up at Roarke, all but putting my hands on my hips like an indignant child. The guy rubs the back of his neck, and I realize I’ve picked the one person who would find this embarrassing.
The Allure guy doesn’t kiss and tell.
I should have asked Seth.
“Should I answer her?” Rose asks.
“Yes, please do,” Roarke says.
“Killian and I find each other… challenging. In all ways,” Rose says.
For a long heartbeat, I see red. Actual red clouds my vision. That was a stupid question to ask. Now all I can see is the image of Killian laying on a bed and Rose straddling him, burned into my brain. The trees turn a mottled black, the grass a deep brown, the sky a violent purple, all through a red lens… Her skin is crimson.
Not the reaction I thought I would have.
“Right,” Roarke says, tossing me over his shoulder. “No more talking for you.”
I would complain that that’s a bit extreme, but the red in the world has begun to fade, and Rose actually looks relieved as she breaks off from our huddle and moves toward the deer carcass. She picks it up with ease, drapes it over her shoulders, and starts off to the back of the cottage. Probably to clean it, but it’s equally as likely she’s going to bathe in its blood.
“Rose, leave it. Find Rynn for a debrief,” Pax orders.
Rose hangs the deer over the fence, then runs up the hill. She seems pretty certain about where she needs to go and what she needs to do even if I’m lost.
We hop the stream and stop by the collection of logs.
“What?” Killian demands, moving into the group.
It’s just the five of us, all the other Sabers have gone. And I mean gone-gone. I have no idea
