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Neither was his brother.
Grin on his face, Logan advanced. The crack of steel vibrated up Roe’s arm. Damn, his brother was still strong.
Five vicious blows pushed him backward, nearing the edge of the water, before Roe could catch and twist Logan’s blade with his own, sending Logan stumbling to the side. Roe was on top of him, the tip of his blade along his neck before Logan could catch his balance.
A thin line of blood appeared at the edge of Roe’s sword and he yanked his blade away. Too much. He’d never escaped from a bout with Logan without blood being spilled on each side.
Roe took a step backward, letting Logan catch his balance and breath. His brother touched his fingers to the side of his neck, glancing down at the blood staining his fingers.
“Sienna’s going to kill you for that one. She likes me without scabs.”
“I don’t blame her. I’ll be sure to apologize to her.” Roe waited another beat before lifting his sword again and readying his feet. “And now is when I ask you a favor.”
“You are near exhaustion?”
Roe chuckled under his breath. He’d always waited until the end of their bouts to ask a favor of his brother. He’d been that way since they were children—build to the ask—and he wasn’t about to change his methods at this point in his life. “I am. You?”
“The best for last.” Logan lifted his sword, ready for one more brutal swing. “And what is the favor?”
“I have to leave, but I need to keep Torrie here, under your protection. I need the assurance from you that you will keep her safe.”
“What do you have to do?”
“Bockton.”
Logan’s mouth went terse, his fingers on his sword handle twitching. His brother knew all about Bockton and his smuggling operation. “She’s in danger?”
“She is. He saw her on the ship—knew I abandoned the attack for her. He’s put a price on her head. He thinks if he can get her, he can get me to talk.”
“About what?”
“The whereabouts of the Box of Draupnir. He’s been after it for years, since well before I set foot on a ship.”
“Bloody hell. The box? I told you, you should have never involved yourself in the blasted thing with Captain Folback. Do you even know where it is?”
“No.”
“Ballocks.”
“Yes, well, it is what it is. But I need her safe, and there is nowhere safer than under your protection. So do I have your assurance?”
Logan took that moment to advance inward at Roe. “Lady Apton, she’s important to you?”
Roe blocked a side blow and shifted the direction of the attack to his advantage. “I wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t.”
“She’s your match?” Logan grunted as he leapt to the left, avoiding a fierce blow an inch from his head. “She knows about our past?”
“Enough of it.” With a wicked swing in a horizontal arc, Roe forced Logan to the water’s edge. “You and Sienna—I know it now. I know what it is.”
Logan’s eyebrow cocked, his sword falling to his side as he stilled. “You do?”
The admission wasn’t supposed to draw such a reaction from his brother and it irked Roe that it sent Logan’s arm flaccid by his side. Roe shrugged, keeping his sword high and at the ready. “I’m so far down the hole with her—I need this. I need her. Water I need to drink. Air I need to breathe.”
“And it’s turned you into a poet.”
He gave his brother a slicing look.
Logan grinned a half smile, lifting his sword and motioning Roe to attack with his free hand. “Does she know it?”
