by Lisa Morrow
And failure wasn’t an option.
Sleep tugged at me. I willed myself with all my might to give into its pull. But every time I closed my eyes, I swore I heard Sirena crying.
Chapter Nine
It was too dark to know what time it was when I awoke, but Asher’s mom watched me. She leaned against the dirt wall, her small eyes boring holes into my face.
“Where’s Asher?” I asked, glancing around in confusion.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “His household responsibilities didn’t disappear the moment you strode into our village.”
I sat up slowly, pushing the blankets down. “You’re upset with me.”
Her mouth screwed tightly. “Yes. Of course I am.”
“Why?”
Irritation flashed across her face. “Because you’re putting my son in danger, of course.”
I frowned, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “What do you mean?”
She shook her head. “Have you actually not thought about it?” Lines gathered at the corners of her frowning mouth. “Those witches are going to come for you, and Asher is going to try to stop them. He’ll be blinded by everything but his anger towards them. And I think it’ll cost him his life.”
Nothing could’ve prepared me for the images she conjured in my mind, and the sharp pangs of guilt and fear that rose inside of me, pushing away my lingering sleepiness. “I’ll tell him not to.”
She laughed. “He’s not going to be fighting just to save you. He’s going to fight until he forces them to kill him, because he wasn’t able to save his sister.”
“Oh.” My response was inadequate, but what could I say?
She sighed. Her mouth relaxing a bit as she let her head fall back against the dirt wall. “I shouldn’t be angry with you. He’s the one I’m mad at. Why does he always have to be so stubborn?”
“I’ve been called stubborn a time or two,” I said, surprised by my gut-reaction to defend him.
A humorless smile touched her lips. “You don’t understand. That boy gets something in his head, and he just can’t let it go. He’s so quick to blame himself, to let the guilt eat away at him until there’s no joy left in this world for him. I tried to tell him it wasn’t his fault, but… he’s just impossible.”
“I think I understand.” I poked one of the spots on my dress, still stiff from my blood. “They took my friend Sirena. They think they’ve won right now, but I’m going to get her back.”
She was watching me again. “You really mean that, don’t you?” Her brows furrowed. “So many girls have been taken, but only Asher was brave enough to try to get them back.”
I shrugged. “I’m not brave, but she’s my best friend. I could never leave her with those women.”
Her gaze was searching as she spoke, “well, Asher’s brave and reckless.” She hesitated. “You saw his scars…”
My curiosity leapt. “Yes.”
She stared down at the floor, her voice just above a whisper. “A Protector did that to him. Used her magic against him. Nazar was her name.” Her boot kicked at the dirt. “Every time he tried to come after his sister, he got lashes.”
My gasp sounded too loud in the silence. Asher had been tortured? Such magic sounded too much like a curse. Too much like forbidden magic. Like the Blood Magic used by the wizards.
“He tried... and tried.” Each word was laced in anger. “His injuries became so infected, he nearly died. And still, he kept trying. At least until I told him I’d slit my own throat if I lost both my children.”
I told myself to breath past the tears welling in my eyes. No wondered he’d been angry enough to kill me for being a Protector. They’d not only taken his sister from him, but they’d taken away his freewill. If I’d had even a tiny lingering doubt about my decision not to join The Protectors, it was gone now.
Noise came from above us. The hatch opened. A square of blinding sunlight came from above, and snow dropped down, lightly coating the ground below.
Asher used the ladder built into the dirt to climb down. He moved with a warrior’s grace, even carrying a small bundle in one hand. With unexpected agility, he leapt from the second step to the floor between me and his mother.
We rose to our feet.
He gave her a one-armed hug. “All done.”
She smiled up at him, and the difference between them suddenly struck me. While I was tall for a woman, Asher was still a half a head taller than me. But his mother, she was closer to Sirena’s size. And while he had the high forehead and molded cheeks of a prince, her dark eyes were deeply inset, with thick, low brows crowding over them.
If these two shared blood, it was hard to see.
He turned those startling blue eyes to me. A smile curved his lips, transforming his face. He was no longer just beautiful, but stunning. And those perfect lips, they’d kissed my own.
My throat went dry.
I didn’t realize I was touching my mouth until his gaze strayed to my hand. My cheeks heated, and his smile spread.
His mom cleared her throat. “Rose and I were just talking.”
Asher raised a brow at her serious tone. “About what?”
“About Targanus taking over her protection.”
His eyes widened as he turned to me. “You don’t think I can keep you safe,” he accused.
“That’s not it!” I reached for him, and then folded my arms to stop myself. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
His gaze blazed from my head to my toes.
“She’s right, dear. This job would be better for him.”
“Enough, mom!” A harshness had crept into his voice. “I know you want to keep me safe, but I’m not a child anymore.”
“I know you’re not, but—”
He cut her off. “This isn’t open for discussion.”
“Rose…” his mom said, waiting for me.
I felt that I was betraying Asher as I spoke. “I could be fine down here by myself.”
More silence.
“Mom, I think Rilo is waiting for you. Better head back home.” His tone just barely betrayed his frustration with her.
She started towards the stairs but paused, her hand on the dirt groove. “I love you. Do what you think is right.”
“I will,” he promised. “I love you too.”
She took a deep breath, then went up the stairs, closing the hatch behind her.
I paced away from him, my anxiety palpable.
“Do you really want Targanus here? With you?”
I stiffened at the jealousy in his tone. “No.”
He regarded me behind a mask of indifference. “Women are drawn to men like him. They think because he’s huge, he can keep them safe. But you’d think they’d realize that only means he’s never fought, his size alone scares off most men.” He paused before speaking a little softer. “I know he’s handsome, in a way that I can’t be… because…” He touched his scars, avoiding my gaze.
There it was. The hurt that I’d uncovered.
I moved without knowing what I did, coming to stand so close to him I could smell that masculine scent mixed with earth that was all him. Cautiously, I reached up and let one finger touch his jaw.
He stiffened beneath my touch, but remained still.
Tracing the lines on his jaw, I explored them as if they were the map to my own heart. The beauty of his injuries, mixed with the knowledge of the pain they’d caused him, stirred together inside of me. I wanted to hate them, but I couldn’t. Somehow I was sure he did, and that was enough to make me love them.
Rising to my tiptoes, I pressed a soft kiss to the spot just below his ear and let my lips run along one of the lines. I’d thought it’d be a chaste kiss, but the tingling racing through my body called me a liar.
“They’re beautiful,” I whispered, no more than a breath away from his skin.
He jerked away. “My scars?”
His words were filled with wonder.
I met his nervous gaze. “Yes.”
<
br /> He shook his head. “You must be crazy.”
“No,” I tried to sound firm, “anyone who says differently is.”
Again, I had that feeling, like I was a part of him, or he was a part of me. His heart and mine beat as one. Our rapid breathing filled my ears.
But for the first time, I also had the strangest sense we’d done this dance before. We’d stood here before, staring at each other, on the cusp of limitless possibilities.
“I’ll be the only one guarding you.” His hands curled into fists. “You’re mine… to protect.”
“All right,” I said, hating myself for being glad he was staying with me, “but if they take me, you need to promise not to come after me.”
Anger twisted his face. “Not a chance.”
“It might never come to that, but you’re not coming after me if it does.”
He put a finger under my chin, forcing me to meet his piercing gaze. “Do you want them to take you?”
“No.”
“Then, I’d get you back.” As quick as lightning, he brushed another kiss against my lips and released me. “How are you feeling?”
My lips tingled, and my head spun. “Don’t change the subject!”
He laughed and unrolled the bundle he’d dropped on the floor, unnoticed. “I brought a game.”
“What kind of game?” I snapped my mouth closed, then opened it again. “And don’t think you can distract me.”
He knelt on the blanket and began arranging the pieces from the bundle. “It’s a game of both chance and strategy.”
My interest peaked, and I came to crouch down beside him. “I’ve actually seen drawings of this game.”
He stared at me, clearly surprised. “Can you read?”
“Our priest taught me how to read and write. He showed me maps and taught me about history too.”
Asher’s expression changed. “That was kind of him.”
“Yes.” I picked at the edge of the blanket. “I had so few friends in the village, but I counted him among them. At least when I was too young to understand he was just being kind.”
He continued setting up the pieces to the game. “I’d think a girl like you’d have a lot of friends, break a lot of hearts.”
I glanced up at him through my lashes. “No. Most of the townsfolk have lived in Duggery forever. They were like a pack of wolves, and we were the outsiders.” I shrugged. “And there were a lot of rumors about us.”
For one frightening moment, I thought he might ask what they were. But again, he surprised me.
“Even wolves can allow an outsider into their pack.” He stared at one piece, a carving of a castle. “My mom brought us to Wintercarve when I was just a babe. There were rumors about us too, but people were really welcoming. They remembered what it was like to come here alone and afraid. Most of them were the lone survivors of villages ravaged by the wizards.”
He handed me the tiny wooden castle. One of the four towers had been broken, leaving behind a sharpened edge. I ran my finger lightly along it, lost in thought.
“So,” he asked, after a time, “no man was smart enough to ignore the rumors and look at you as a woman? I find that hard to believe.”
I tried to respond in a voice as level as his. “There was a man, Hefter. He wanted to marry me.”
His hand clumsily knocked over a couple of the game pieces. “Oh.” He set them back up with care. “So will you return to him now?”
For some reason, it bothered me that he even imagined that was an option. “No, of course not.”
“Why not?” The muscles in his jaw clenched as he waited for my answer.
I drew my knees up to my chest, wondering how I could explain such a sensitive topic without giving away too much. “I didn’t want to marry him, even though he was planning on it.”
His gaze met mine. “Why would you marry someone you didn’t want to marry?”
“I wasn’t sure I could find a way out of it,” I said, hating that my words were the truth. “My father owed a lot of money. And Hefter’s father was willing to pay it off if I married his son.”
He sat up straighter and rested his muscular arms across his knees. “He sounds like a coward.”
A flash of unexpected anger coursed through me. “He was.”
He took a long time to answer. “So, should I teach you how to play this game?”
I willed myself to be glad for the change in topics. “Sure.”
He grinned. “All right. But I have to admit, I’m a bit competitive.”
I returned his smile. “So am I.”
Chapter Ten
We spent the remainder of the day playing the game. However, we stayed away from discussing anything too serious. A nervousness danced between us that was both frustrating and strangely nice.
But that night, I finally felt ready to ask him some of the questions plaguing me. While I munched on more cheese, savoring the unique flavors of the pale-colored food, I asked, “if your people hate The Choosing so much, why don’t you simply refuse to participate?”
“Refuse?” Disgust twisted the word into something foul. “My goddesses, we did more than refuse, we fought them!” He tossed his food on the blanket and rose. “They killed several of our people, but we thought that was the end of it. At least, they knew we wouldn’t allow it to happen anymore.” He ran his fingers through his hair and paced. “But, we were wrong. Nazar came for my sister not long after.”
I held my breath in anticipation, even though I knew how this story ended.
He stopped and pressed his fists into the wall of dirt. “I tried to fight her, but her evil magic was too strong, and no one else was willing to take action until their sisters, wives, and daughters were taken.”
I wanted to touch him, but I curled my hands into fists instead. “And then your people made this place to hide?”
Asher rested his forehead against the wall. “Yes, but we’ve done more than that. We’ve finally made a way out of the valley. One that doesn’t take weeks. It’s a ladder, carved into the dirt and stone, near the glass bridge. Using it, we’ll be able to reach the castle, to free our women.” His next words were barely louder than a whisper. “Some of us can, at least.”
I couldn’t see his face, but I could sense the misery carving a jagged path through his soul. What must it be like to sit helpless while the person you loved was taken away? Sirena’s face flashed in my mind.
My jaw clenched. No. I hadn’t given up on her yet, even though I’d face countless obstacles to reach her. It was my fault she was still there. If I’d just left without Yara and Bethenny, she might be home safe right now.
My fingers rubbed against the dried blood on my gown. “Where do you think your sister is now?”
He pushed away from the wall and tilted his head as he gazed at me. “I’m sure she’s imprisoned, for refusing to join them. She’d die before she dishonored herself like that.”
I wondered if she was already dead, but didn’t dare hurt him with such words.
He opened his mouth to say more, but before he could, the screaming began. We leapt to our feet, staring wildly at the hatch above us. Something terrible was happening in the town, something that might be a result of my presence.
Asher drew his sword and pushed me towards the boxes. We knelt down behind them and waited. More sounds, more muffled shouts filtered to us, and my stomach churned.
“Should you go check on your mother?” I whispered.
His gaze never left the hatch. “The Protectors aren’t here for my mother.”
Then, the scraping came. Dirt drifted down on our heads, and I prayed to the goddesses for our protection.
Nothing happened for a long time, and then, the hatch opened above us.
“Rose, I think your fun has come to an end.”
Ice shot down my spine. Blair had found me. I didn’t know what she’d done to the villagers, but I wouldn’t let her do the same to Asher.
Standing, I took a step.
&nb
sp; Asher pulled me back. His eyes were narrowed, his jaw clenched, and every muscle poised for battle.
“I guess we should finish this game then,” he said, his voice laced with malice.
Asher’s grip remained firm, but I opened my mouth, knowing there was no way out. And then, the creature jumped through the opening, and my bravery vanished. It was larger than a wolf, with the face of a wild cat, and ears as sharp as knives. Fur of varying shades of amber covered its lean body.
It crouched as if poised to jump. Its lips peeled back, revealing sharp teeth. A growl so deep it vibrated through my chest filled the air.
“Are you certain this is what you wish?” Blair asked. “No more blood need be shed this night, if only you’ll behave.”
“Send every beast you have!” Asher shouted. “I’ll cut them all down.”
He leapt towards the beast, swinging his sword out before him.
It easily moved out of his reach, and they circled each other. Several times it lunged for him, but each time he deflected it with his blade, never quite drawing its blood. His movements were quick and calculated, each step a move, as if he played some kind of game. But the creature was of magic, built for killing and survival. I knew Asher wouldn’t survive this on his own.
Scanning the room, my gaze fell on the torch near me. I plucked it from the wall, holding it out in front of me as I contemplated my plan.
The beast leapt at Asher, its teeth clamping down on his arm.
We screamed together.
His sword hit the earth.
The torch fell from my hand.
I blinked back tears as I stared at my arm. Nothing marred my flesh, and yet, it felt as if the beast had clamped down on my arm instead of his.
The creature growled, and its teeth slowly clamped down harder.
Fear squeezed my heart as the shocking pain radiated through my own arm. Plucking the torch from the ground, using my uninjured hand, I ran at the creature. It turned its big, amber-colored eyes on me a second before I pressed the fire into its side.
