Page 26

Chapter

Fifteen

ARLON

Gods, that wasn’t how I imagined this conversation.

But Tessa is standing in the middle of the road, her hands on her hips, staring somewhere over my shoulder, which I’m sure is the result of her being almost completely blinded by the darkness.

I should have known she’d have trouble seeing in the dark, given what I’ve seen from the humans at the Hill, but I didn’t think to bring a torch or a lantern when I left my hastily prepared camp to go get her.

“I’m your mate?” she demands, the pitch of her voice rising slightly. “What does that mean?”

I scrub a hand over my face. “I promise not to hurt you. We’ve established that I could have murdered you at least half a dozen times already, and yet you’re still breathing. Can we please get to cover before we discuss this?”

I don’t want to sound callous, but it’s the truth.

She hadn’t known I was even there tonight.

I suppose I should credit Korr and his training for my ability to disappear into the forest. But it also comes down to the fact that human senses are duller than mine.

An orc woman would have scented her mate instantly, and that would’ve ended any lingering arguments between us.

But Tessa is human—and wary. Not of orcs, necessarily, but of people in general, if her rooftop adventures are anything to go by.

“You say that like it’s?—”

Tessa’s protest is cut short by lightning arcing overhead, briefly illuminating the forest in stark light. I curse and close my eyes, streaks of white flashing behind my eyelids. A clap of thunder follows a few seconds later. The storm is coming, but not quite here yet.

“Hey, are you all right?”

A touch at my elbow has me looking up, blinking through the flashes.

Tessa has closed the distance between us and is peering up at me, this time right at my face, though she can’t see much, judging by how she’s squinting.

But she’s touching me, worried about me.

I must be a fool, but that brings a smile to my face despite the annoying lightning strike.

“I’m fine.” I place a hand over hers for a brief moment, then let her go. “Orcs see well in the darkness, but the sudden change was painful for a bit.”

“Well.” She pulls back, as if realizing she touched me without thinking. “I suppose it would be good if you took us to that shelter now.”

I raise an eyebrow at her, not that she can see it. “Oh, is that right?”

Tessa nudges my boot with the toe of hers. “You want me there or not? I can go back to my tree if you’ve changed your mind, though I have to say it’s rude of you to upset me in the middle of the night.”

Do I want her?

Gods, if only she knew… But she doesn’t, because she’s human. From what I’ve seen with other members of our clan who found human mates, these things take time. I’ve been waiting for her for years, and I almost lost her again through my carelessness. I’m not repeating my mistakes.

“All right, all right.” I tug the sleeve of her jacket to get her to put her hand on my arm again. “Stop complaining. I’ve got you.”

She ducks her head, but not before I see the slight smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Ah, but I wish I could see that expression in full daylight.

Firelight will be a close second, though, so I lead Tessa and her horse a few hundred feet up the road, then take a sharp right at a cluster of large rocks.

As we continue, those rocks rise into a cliff face, just like I told my mate earlier.

With the storm rolling in behind us over the plateau, this natural barrier should shield us from the worst of it.

But I need to get the fire going and lay out more wood to dry, now that she’s here with me.

“How much farther?” she asks as she trips over a root I failed to warn her about.

I steady her with a quick touch, then take her horse’s reins from her. “We’re close. I know you can’t see, but my horses are right there, on the other side of this bramble patch.”

I let out a low whistle, and Pip nickers in response, no doubt wondering why I’m calling him in the middle of the night.

When we round the thorny brambles, Tessa stands by while I lead her horse to stand between Pip and Cricket, then secure her reins.

This will protect the tired mare from the worst of the weather.

In the morning, we’ll have to brush all three of them down properly, but for now, the tarp, the brambles, and the thick horse blankets will have to do.

“Come on.” I take Tessa’s hand and tug her forward before she can protest. “This way.”

Her small fingers tighten around mine, and my chest threatens to explode.

I tell myself to calm the fuck down. I’m not a thirteen-year-old lad holding a girl’s hand for the first time.

But my mate is right here. She’s not pulling away from me, even though she was so scared earlier.

Her scent had turned awful and acrid, and it had taken all my willpower to remain calm.

Now I’m realizing it wasn’t really me she was afraid of, more the possibility of being jumped by enemies in the middle of the forest.

Which…I should have predicted before sneaking up on her. I didn’t want her to run from me, so I didn’t let her know I was there until I was upon her. But to her, that must have been terrifying.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her as I duck under a tree branch that’s tall enough for Tessa to pass under but not me.

She peers up at me. “What for?”

“I scared you earlier. When I snuck up on you. And I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”

“Oh.” Her fingers twitch in my grip, but she doesn’t pull away. “It’s all right. I think it would have been worse if I’d been asleep.”

I did hear her shuffling around in her makeshift tent.

“You’re having trouble sleeping? Even after a full day’s ride?”

We’re at the cliff overhang now, so I drop Tessa’s hand reluctantly.

She hugs her elbows and stands still while I rummage in one of the saddlebags for a flint.

The dry cones I picked up beneath the fir tree she’d chosen for her shelter tonight catch fire easily.

I add small branches to the pile, then some larger ones that might be a bit damp on the outside but will do for now.

Tessa crouches by the flickering fire, her pretty face lit orange.

“I was afraid of the Ravens finding me,” she says.

“Trying to figure out how fast they’d have to travel to catch up with me if they figured out I was the burglar who stole from them.

And also if I’d put my friend Etta in danger by leaving Ultrup without settling things with Damen.

She doesn’t know anything, but they might hurt her regardless. To get information on me.”

Damn, I didn’t even think of protecting the baker. If I could, I’d go back and ask Sarrai to keep an eye on the woman, but the best I can do now is send a letter to my friend when we get to the next inn.

“Why did you rob them? The Ravens?” I should go out and find more firewood before the storm hits, but Tessa is too intriguing, pulling me in. “You must have known how dangerous they are.”

She raises her chin, her gaze defiant.

“I do know. I’ve worked with them before.”

Of course she has. I met her during a robbery, after all. She doesn’t answer my question, either, and I don’t think she will. She might trust me enough to accept help when she needs it, but it’ll take more than this to get her to open up.

That’s all right. I can be patient.

“I’m getting more wood,” I tell her as I get up. “Stay here, all right?”

Tessa glowers at me, as if offended by my order, but by the sound of the wind rushing through the treetops, we don’t have much time. If I’m to keep my mate safe and dry through what could be a full night of rain, I need to move fast.

I search for a cluster of firs and gather fallen branches, the thicker, the better, then spot two dead trees, a few inches thick, dry and perfect for firewood.

I kick at the trunks to loosen the roots, then wrench them free, ignoring the scrape of rough bark against my skin.

The noise I’m making is considerable, but it doesn’t matter.

I’d wager every animal nearby has already sensed the coming storm and taken shelter in its den.

Which means I might have exaggerated the danger to Tessa.

Those wolves will likely be busy with the deer for a while.

The carcass looked large enough to feed the small pack for days.

So the chance that they’d try to hurt her was slim.

Especially in a storm. But she was in real danger from the weather, so I don’t regret telling that little lie if it got her to come with me.

When I return to the cliff, however, I find that my mate isn’t helpless after all.

Working in the light of the fire, she’s taken my hatchet and hacked several long branches from the nearby fir tree, then buried the pointed ends into the ground by the cliff to create a small shelter with the fire at its entrance.

It’s not enough to protect us from the wind and rain yet, but she’s working in the right direction.

“This is great,” I tell her. “Thank you for helping.”

A slow flush creeps into her cheeks, and she hands me back my hatchet.

“Here, you’ll be faster at this. I couldn’t reach those upper branches, see?”

I take the weapon from her and stare down at the already dulled edge. I don’t have the heart to tell her that this hatchet is used for throwing and close-quarter combat, not chopping wood, or that I have a larger ax lying in the shadow of the cliff, under my saddlebags, which she must have missed.

“If you get us a couple more of those long ones,” she says as her curly hair whips around in the wind, “I’ll get my blanket and see if I can find something to tie it to. That’ll make a good windbreak.”

I don’t object. If the woman has a plan that involves working together, I sure as fuck won’t go against her.

“Hurry,” I tell her. “I feel the first raindrops.”