Page 56 of Heart of the Hunter (Band of Bastards #3)

Cati tore her gaze from her husband to stare at the lady, her eyes wide and panicky as she continued to look back and forth between the two.

It was obvious she wanted to stay with her husband.

Hunter surmised if he were lying on that table and about to go through what Dylan was set to endure, he would not want the woman he loved witnessing his pain.

“Go, Cati,” Dylan grunted. “I will be there soon.”

The young woman hesitated, then patted her husband’s leg in a gesture of reassurance and followed Lady Alyce and Anora from the hall. Hunter wanted nothing more than to leave behind them. Instead, he clasped forearms with Dylan and squatted at his side to look the man in the face.

“There was poppy in the brandy,” the healer told Dylan, “To help with the pain.”

Hunter saw the strap of leather sitting on the table and reached for it. He knew from experience the poppy was questionable as to its effectiveness. Some men seemed to feel nothing after having it administered to them, and for others, it did nothing to dull the pain.

As the healer cut into the wound to get to the flared head of the arrow, Dylan’s eyes flew open wide, and he roared in pain.

Hunter slipped the leather between his teeth and Dylan bit down with a groan as his eyes watered.

His strong fingers dug into Hunter’s forearm and Hunter hung on to him to keep him from flailing inadvertently at the healer.

The young farmer had hands as strong as a blacksmith’s, and the pressure he was applying to Hunter’s forearm was intense.

Despite his arm feeling near to snapping, he smiled at Dylan and asked, “Is that all you’ve got? ”

Dylan roared in response and clamped his big hand like a vise on Hunter as he bucked again in response to the healer pulling the arrow loose from his shoulder.

The surgeon pressed a linen into the wound to staunch the flow of blood, then held out his hand for the glowing iron that would be used to cauterize the wound.

Before Dylan could turn his head to see what was coming, Hunter said, “You could be a warrior with the grip and power you have in your hand. Should you ever want to give up farming, I’ll train you to join us.”

Dylan’s face twisted with pain, and he let out a long, low growl as the acrid stench of burning skin filled Hunter’s nostrils.

“The worst of it is over, mate.” Hunter kept his forearm locked with Dylan’s while a salve was applied to the burn. The farmer’s grip slowly relaxed and he spit the leather strap out from between his teeth and took several deep breaths.

“I’ll train with you,” Dylan said through panting breaths and a weak smile, “but I won’t leave Cati or the farm. Train me how to lodge an arrow in the arse of the coward who did this.”

“Aye,” Hunter agreed. “I will. When you are healed, we will begin the training.”

Hawk approached and set a hand on Dylan’s good shoulder. “Now you must rest and heal. We will discuss rebuilding your farm soon. Hunter, help him to the chamber above stairs before he passes out.”

Hunter had kept his eyes on Payne during Dylan’s ordeal. He feared the baron would try to sneak away and find Anora, but he’d stayed put to watch the entire ordeal with arms crossed over his chest and a bored expression on his face.

Assisting Dylan by his good arm, Hunter got the man to his feet and up the stairs to the chamber where his wife awaited him, along with Anora and several of Lady Alyce’s maids.

Cati greeted him with her hands on his cheeks and a kiss to his lips, but pulled away embarrassed when she realized her husband was leaning on Hunter for support. “Forgive me, my lord. I was overcome with relief.”

“I am not a lord,” Hunter corrected her. “And do not apologize.”

“Kiss me again, cariad ,” Dylan said drowsily, still leaning on Hunter. “It helps me forget the pain.”

Cati blushed, but the smile that came to her lips when her husband called her “sweetheart” was radiant.

She pushed up on her toes and kissed him quickly on the lips, her face as red as a beet.

“Let us get you off your feet, fy nghalon .” The Welsh words for my heart were soft and melodic, and tugged at Hunter’s heart because it was a phrase his mother had used with him when he was a child.

“Over here,” the maid called Gertie ordered. She was the younger of the two women who served Lady Alyce.

“Set him on the stool so we may bathe him before we put him in the bed,” Edna, the older of the maids, ordered. “We’ve just cleaned the bedding, and I do not want it soiled with blood and soot.”

Hunter helped him to sit, then stepped back as the women took over.

The maids and Cati had him stripped of what was left of his filthy clothing, washed him from head to foot, and dried him.

Hunter helped the women move him to the bed while Anora gathered his ragged clothing and set it outside the door of the chamber.

Dylan’s eyes closed the moment his head was cradled on a pillow. He was in good hands with his wife and the maids to see to his every need.

Hunter looked at Anora and tipped his head toward the door.

When they were in the corridor with the door to the chamber closed, he took her by the hand and led her to the window opening at the end of the passageway.

Her face glowed and her hair looked ethereal, shimmering in the sunlight streaming in.

Hers was the face he would see each time he closed his eyes for the rest of his days, and he would awaken each day remembering that she once admitted to loving him.

But right now, he needed to remember how tormented she was when she admitted to loving him, her fear when she thought he had been hurt, and the knowledge that he would cause her heartache every time he rode away from her.

Most importantly, he needed to remember that the last two days had been a catastrophe of errors because he had let his discipline slip, had let his own longing for her dull his focus.

Because of his failing, homes and farms were burned, Dylan was nearly killed, and he’d exposed Anora’s presence to the baron, putting her in the path of danger.

These were mistakes that never would have happened on his watch before he’d allowed himself to love Anora.

“What are we going to do now about Payne?” Anora asked while he was still trying to figure out how to tell her what she didn’t want to hear.

There was a flush in her cheeks from her excitement, and he had to resist the urge to brush a thumb over the blush on her cheekbone.

Instead, he sighed, rolled his lips between his teeth, then said, “If I thought you’d be safe in Oswestry, I’d bring you there, but it’s too late for that.

The safest place for you is here, in Hawkspur Castle. ”

“What are you saying?” she asked, confusion in her eyes.

He would not be deterred. “I will make the request of Hawk and Lady Alyce to host and protect you until our business with him is settled. Now that Payne knows you are here, you are not safe.”

Anora pressed her lips into a thin line, her glare cutting him to the core. “You say our business, but you do not mean to include me.”

Hunter took a step back, needing some distance from her as he shook his head. “I’m at my best when I work alone.”

Anger flashed in her eyes as she spoke through tight lips. “I am a hindrance. Is that what you are telling me?”

He scrubbed a hand over his face, knowing that any way he said it, she was going to be angry with him. “Aye. You are.”

Her mouth dropped open and she gasped. Then she snapped it shut, narrowed her eyes, and planted her hands on her hips.

“Tell me, Hunter, how many of the stolen jewels have you found? It is my family who has been wronged by him. Do you have any idea the depth of his betrayal if he was responsible for killing my mother?”

Hunter flinched because everything she said was true.

He’d found nothing, and though he understood the pain of losing a mother, he’d never had any of the handful of people he let close to him betray him as the baron had done to Frode and Anora.

Edmund Payne had been a trusted friend and had been treated as family by the kindest, most generous people Hunter had ever known, yet he’d heartlessly taken advantage of that trust. Even if Payne were not responsible for killing Anora’s mother, robbing them and pressing Anora to become his mistress were nearly as despicable.

“Forgive me,” Anora said, laying a hand over Hunter’s chest. “I was cruel and thoughtless, speaking from anger and desperation.”

“Do not apologize to me,” he said, covering her hand with his own where it was radiating heat against his chest. “I am the one who must ask for forgiveness and make things right. These last days, I have been blundering everything because you are all I think about. The desire to hear your voice, to make you laugh, to see the light reflected in your eyes, to watch your every move, to touch you, is consuming me. I’m worthless to do anything else.

” Gently, he lifted her hand away from him and released it.

“But I am nothing if I am not a warrior, and you deserve better.”

She made a choking sound in her throat. “First you say the words I want to hear, but then you turn them against me.”

“I am not turning them against you,” Hunter argued in frustration.

Expressing what was on his mind had never been his strength.

Hell, having anything to express had rarely been an issue until he gave into his desires and seduced Anora.

He wanted to tell himself it was a mistake, but he would never regret Anora.

“I cannot accept failure in myself, and I will not let you, either.”

“You do not get to determine what I will or will not do,” she said, her voice sharp with displeasure.

“Your obstinance is going to get people killed. I am not trying to have a power struggle with you. Payne will use you against me and I will be powerless to it.” He wanted to shake some sense into her but instead shook his head in frustration. “Your fearlessness is making you foolish.”

“Your fear is making you foolish.” He winced when she cupped his cheek in her hand but said nothing as she held his gaze. After a long moment, she dropped her hand and stepped away from him with her arms crossed protectively in front of her. “What is it you plan to do?”

“Payne is expected to remain at Montworth’s holding for another couple days. If I leave now, I can get to Castle Whyte before nightfall. If the jewels are there, I will find them.”

“And then what?” she asked impatiently.

“Then you appeal to Hawk to use his power as a nobleman to have the baron arrested.” It was a baldfaced lie, but he didn’t want to tell her the truth.

She would have her answers if he found the jewels, but the baron would be dead before the king’s justice could be imposed.

Hunter had already judged the baron irredeemable and only his death would keep Anora safe from him.

He waited as Anora studied his face, and was relieved when she finally said, “I will do as you ask. I will stay at Hawkspur until you have returned, and the baron is gone from here. And to keep Galiena and the babes safe, I will stay in the castle if Lady Alyce and Hawk permit. But I am only giving you two days, Hunter.”

“And if I’m not back in two days?”

She lifted her chin. “Then I return home to Oswestry. And pray that I find some other solution to keep Payne away from me and the shop.”

“I will not let it come to that.”

She stared at him evenly, her lips set in a thin line.

He knew he should leave and let her stay angry with him.

It would be easier for both of them that way.

But he couldn’t do it. He reached for her and pulled her into a crushing embrace.

She only hesitated for a breath before she wrapped her arms around his middle and held him to her.

After a long moment, he kissed the top of her on the forehead then released her and turned to leave.

He had no intention of looking back and wanted to be away from her as quickly as possible before he lost his determination.

As he reached the end of the corridor and started his descent of the stairs, he heard her call after him.

“Two days, Hunter! And then I take matters into my own hands.”