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Calle snorted and waved him away with a hand. “Consider the news broken. At least Skaja will feel more secure. She keeps worrying about me breaking the engagement for Nyana. It’s as if she can’t feel what I feel for her in here.” He smiled softly as he placed a hand over his heart.
He and Skaja had created a soul bond with one another, each able to feel the others’ emotions. Joel wasn’t sure he liked the idea of a soul bond. Despite his warm demeanor, he was generally a private person.
And he had dark secrets he preferred to keep buried.
Instinctively, his thumb circled the tattoos on his knuckles, a horrible but necessary reminder.
They said their goodbyes, and Joel couldn’t return to Nyana and the children fast enough. He snapped three small sunflowers from the garden, mounted his horse, and spurred the creature as fast as he dared within the city, only picking up speed when he reached the main road.
A blistering wind tore at his skin and clothing, snatching his hair out of its tie and whipping it around his face. Nervousness settled in the pit of his stomach as trees flew past in a colorful blur of red, yellow, and brown. In only an hour, the sun would set behind the mountains, making travel much more difficult and dangerous.
Shouts in the distance caused his heart to thunder with alarm. He slowed his horse just outside of Nyana’s property, and his distress sent a river of fire flooding through his veins when he spotted several horses tied to a low-hanging branch and then the front door hanging by a hinge.
Crash!
The sound of shattering plates and exploding wood emanated from within the house.
Joel hopped down from the horse and took off at a run. He burst inside the front door, only to find the house in shambles. Broken dishes lay scattered about the room, chairs toppled and wooden legs splintered.
His heart splattered across the ground to find Maisy and Eva huddled together in a corner, faces hidden and shoulders shaking.
Crash!
He strode toward the kitchen, fury boiling in his blood when he found three masked men. One of them pulled plates out of the cupboard and shattered them. Another toppled chair after chair. And the third shoved Nyana to the ground, a hand clasped around her throat.
“Get off her!” Joel growled as he launched himself at the man holding Nyana and tackled him to the floor. His fists crawled with blinding hot fury as he smashed it into the man’s jaw again and again. Blood spewed from the man’s nose and soaked his mask.
Two strong arms grasped him from behind and pulled him off their companion. He smashed his foot against one of theirs. Their grip slackened on him. He spun around, jabbed his elbow into one of their shoulders before slipping his knife from his belt and lodging it into the fleshy part between another man’s neck and shoulder.
The injured man stumbled backward. He wrenched the knife free and threw it onto the ground before they fled from the house, injured and bleeding. Joel chased them to the door and stood protectively on the porch as they mounted their horses and took off at a gallop.
Instead of watching to make sure they didn’t come back, he spun on his heel and darted back into the house to where Nyana sat on the floor. He reached for her, but she waved him away, panic in her eyes.
“My babies! Where are my babies?”
Understanding her desperate need to know of their welfare, he traced his steps back into the main room, where Maisy and Eva still sat huddled together. He approached slowly as to not startle them and sank to his knees several feet away.
“It’s all right,” he murmured. “They’re gone now.”
Maisy sniffed as she crawled out from beneath the table and climbed into his arms. Eva took a little more coaxing, but finally, she climbed out as well. He kissed the top of each of their heads and held them close as they sobbed into his shoulders.
His heart shattered.
Followed by determination.
Carefully, he set them on the sofa and wiped their tears with each of his thumbs, digging deep within himself to find a smile. “I’ve brought each of you a present. Do you want it now or later?”
“Now.” Maisy sniffed. “What is it?”
“Wait right here. Don’t move a muscle.”
Wary of any other threats looming in the area, he located his horse and unpacked the three sunflowers from his saddlebags, cast a cautious glance around the seemingly empty yard, and returned to the house.
Nyana now stood in the doorway separating the kitchen from the living room. She leaned against the doorframe, exhaustion heavy in her shoulders as she held her cane in one hand. Blonde hair had escaped its bun in a frenzy, half of it twisting down her back. A bruise lay on her temple, and the sight of it simmered his anger once again.
But he forced it away and conjured another smile, giving each girl a sunflower. “Why don’t the two of you get ready for bed?” He glanced toward Nyana, who wore a haunted, faraway look in her eyes. “What does your mama do?”
“She used to read us a story when we lived at the castle,” Maisy said, her eyes still full of tears. “We don’t have books anymore. But now she tucks us in and gives us a kiss.”
