“Kace,” I snapped, indignantly.
A low rumble came from Vander’s throat. “Give it to her before I make you regret your choice to tear it off me.”
I grabbed for Kace’s wrist. He slipped it behind his back and stepped away. I couldn’t believe he was doing this.
“You’re acting like a child. Give me the pendant. I carved it. It’s mine to give.” I jerked his arm using all my strength and pulled his hand to the front of his body. Then I pried at his fingers.
Kace didn’t realize how strong I was. His eyes widened as we fought against each other. “Sira, stop.”
My father, Ivarr, and my grandmother filed out the back door. “That’s enough!” my father boomed.
Kace tried to peel my hand off his wrist and dragged me sideways. My boot caught on a stone. I lost my footing and my hip slammed into the ground. My hand landed onto a thorny weed, and I hissed as it poked through my skin. “Ouch!”
Breathing fast, Kace took hold around my bicep. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to?—”
Suddenly he was torn away from me. Vander had him by the front of his shirt, then slammed him onto his back and jerked the pendant from his grasp. “Don’t ever put your fucking hands on her again.”
I sprang up and shoved myself between them, driving my backside into Vander. “It’s over. Done,” I commanded. My pulse crashed wildly. I reached back and gripped Vander’s hand,hoping to hold him if he tried to dart around me. He gave me a reassuring squeeze, as if to tell me I didn’t need to worry.
“Aesira.” My father towered next to us. “Go inside and help your grandmother and sister close the shutters. It will be dark soon. Ivarr, get the animals in the barn.” I gritted my teeth, eyes flicking between him and the two men I found myself between. I didn’t want to be treated like a child, but this was my father’s house. “Now.”
Reluctantly I pulled my grip from Vander’s hand. His fingers slid along my palm, and it sent a shiver up my arm. I didn’t look at him. I didn’t dare. Everyone would see.
Like they didn’t already know.
I took my grandmother’s arm and helped her up the back steps. Kayda was standing near the kitchen window, leaning over the sink to watch everything.
“Got yourself into a little love tangle, I see,” Grandma said with a smile. “As much as I like Kace, my coin is on the assassin. Kayda can marry the chieftain’s son if she’s not ducai like you.”
My jaw dropped and Kayda giggled.
“Grandma,” I said, surprised. Kayda would gladly marry Kace. We both had an infatuation with him, we’d talked about him for years.
“Kayda, go start on the shutters,” Grandma added, throwing her thumb over her shoulder.
She groaned but left the room while Grandma and I took her place at the kitchen window. She cracked it open and gave me a sly smile.
My father shoved his finger into Kace’s chest. “Vander is a guest inmyhouse. You had no right to take his property. I haven’t seen my daughter in nearly a year, and I don’t want her not to come back here because you make her feel unwelcome.”
“I wasn’t trying to do that, sir.”
“No, you were making an ass of yourself. If Aesira gave him the protection knot, that is her choice, not yours.”
“I love her, Havar. You know I do. If she gave that to him, then...”
I stiffened, more concerned with how Vander would feel knowing how important the protection knot was to those of us in Neverglade when given by a woman to a man. It meant that was where her heart lay and she needed it protected. When I’d started the carving, I hadn’t consciously thought of it that way. I’d always liked it, and I did want to keep him safe.
“It’s her choice. You need to go home and cool your head.”
“Who would have thought one little carving could cause such a debacle,” Grandma crooned with a low laugh. “Men are territorial creatures. You should have known what Kace would think when you gave that to your assassin.”
“I wasn’t thinking about Kace at all when I gave it to him,” I muttered.
Grandma gently squeezed my wrist. “I wouldn’t either if that man was who I spent all my time with. He’s a real looker.”
My eyes widened and I laughed.
“I was young once too, you know. This only made you more desirable to Vander, make no mistake.”
