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“Does that frighten you, Little One? Knowing how far I would go to keep you safe?” He stood and held out a hand, in a way that felt like more than an offer to help me stand. It felt like by accepting his hand, I would be accepting his violence and willingness to kill those who got in his way.

“Yes,” I admitted, unable to fathom the reality. I would kill to protect Caelum from those who meant to harm him, but innocent people who just wanted to survive?

That wasn’t something I thought myself capable of doing.

“Good. Perhaps you’ll be mindful of putting yourself at risk unnecessarily in the future. It’s best for everyone that you stay safe. You do not want to consider what I’ll do if someone tries to take you from me.”

He strapped the pack to his back, placing an arm behind my knees and one behind my back and lifting me into the cradle of his arms as he hiked up the bramble side of the ravine. It wasn’t as steep as the place where I’d fallen, and soon the mountains loomed ahead at the top of the ridge. He traversed it, picking his way toward them and the possibility of more caves and, hopefully, a place to hide while I healed enough to travel. Right now, we were losing time with every hour that passed that I was unable to move on my own.

I was a liability to him, and yet, I couldn’t bring myself to sneak off in the night.

The thought of what he would do when he hunted me down once again was enough to keep me by his side, wondering how my savior had somehow become a morally gray man with no boundaries and a distinct lack of understanding how an actual courtship worked.

You didn’t just decide a woman was yours to protect after a few days spent together.

Right?

23

Isat outside the caves as the sun set, the shadows starting to dance on the horizon as it faded from the sky. The light it cast through the canopy of branches and evergreen needles bathed the forest floor in an eerie sort of glow as Caelum stalked through the underbrush. Running his palms over tree roots and stumps, he felt for moss and a type of leaf that he said could be made into a poultice to help with the swelling on my ankle.

I’d never expected a man like Caelum to know about poultices, and I had to wonder if that knowledge came from his father’s library, too. He went to a cave opening; a much larger entrance that immediately set my nerves on edge. It felt too obvious, less hidden.

Big enough for cave beasts to use it to come in and out under the cover of darkness.

Stashing the herbs and moss he’d collected in his pack, he swung it over his shoulder and onto his back before coming to collect me from the stump where he’d deposited me. He picked me up without fanfare, draping me over his shoulder as he swung the axe on his other side.

“There are kinder ways to carry me,” I sniped, lifting my head just enough that the blood wouldn’t rush to it and make me dizzy as he ambled through the cave entrance. He whistled as he walked, entirely unconcerned with the body draped over his shoulder like a sack of root vegetables.

“I can drop you faster this way if I need to fight off a cave beast,” he said, his steps remaining sure as he made his way deeper into the cave carved into the mountainside.

“Oh, that’s much better. I do so love the idea of being dropped onto the stones,” I said, feeling the need to argue with him just for the sake of it. I hated being reliant on him. I hated the fact that I couldn’t even walk on my own, let alone survive without him to take care of me.

“I’d rather that than see the flesh torn from your bones. It’s such pretty flesh, after all,” he said, using the hand that he’d wrapped supportively around the backs of my thighs to smack me on the ass.

“Hey!”

“Quiet,” he ordered, the word a murmur. “I need to listen.”

“Convenient,” I grumbled, but I kept my mouth closed after the single word of protest. Arguing wasn’t worth leaving him unawares. I, too, liked my flesh on my bones.

Caelum walked through the cave entrance until it curved to the side, offering us protection from the colder temperatures. When we came to an alcove, he lowered me to the ground carefully and pulled the ingredients for the poultice out, along with the wood he’d collected for a fire for the night.

I stretched my leg out in front of me, leaning my back against the cave wall and sighing. We hadn’t eaten since that morning, and it seemed like that would probably become the normal routine when the sun was already starting to set by the time we stopped for the day. Maybe the time it would take my ankle to heal would allow us some time to gather food, if we could brave exposure outside the cave during the day long enough to try to find some berries or vegetables or something to harvest.

We’d need to hurry before they died for the season.

Once the fire was established, Caelum grabbed two rocks and used them to grind the herbs. A small splash of water turned them into a paste. “I can do it,” I said, protesting when he pulled my boot off. He tugged my sock all the way off, rinsing it with some of the water from a canteen and placing it beside the fire to dry overnight.

He ignored my assurance that I was capable of tending to my own injury, shifting forward to sit in front of me with his side to the fire. He drew my foot into his lap, running gentle fingers over the bruising before he bent it forward and back, testing the movement. Pain shot up my leg with each bend, but I knew without a doubt it was nothing more than a sprain.

I hadn’t broken the bone or done anything to damage it permanently.

“I think you’ll be okay to walk in the morning,” he said, shocking me as he dipped his fingertips into the paste he’d created. “We’ll check the traps and eat something before we head out.”

“What do you mean I’ll be okay to walk in the morning?” I asked, scoffing at him. There was no way the swelling I had would just disappear overnight.

“You aren’t entirely human anymore, Little One. TheViniculumdoesn’t just make you stronger or more agile, it makes you heal faster, as well. Your scratches already look better. They’ll be gone by morning.” I followed his gaze down to my hands and the cuts that had felt like my skin had been torn from my fingers only hours before.