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Jovak turned to Rolar.
“I need you to put the word out to everyone in the tribe, humans and orcs alike. Until this crisis is over,no oneis to go out alone. Everyone should travel in bands of at least two. Three or more would be preferable.”
“As you will, my Chief.” Rolar bounces out of the temple and starts bellowing. He gathers some of his warriors together and sets them to the task of spreading the chief’s edict.
There doesn’t seem to be much of anything we can do for poor Moldar right now, so Jovak and I take our leave and let the shamans do their work. The last thing I hear before the door closes is Otunga asking for a human physician to come and check on Moldar as well.
We walked back to his house in relative silence. That night, we made love in a desperate yet soothing way. Neither of us talked about how much danger Jovak was going to be walking into if he joined the search.
I managed to hold my tongue until the very morning of the day he was due to leave. Jovak isn’t dressed for travel in a simple loincloth and boots. He’s dressed for battle. An iron breastplate with mail sleeves and a chain mail skirt that reaches his knees don’t seem like they’ll be much protection against something that can suck a full-grown orc dry.
When I gave voice to my worries, Jovak stopped on the doorstep and turned to face me.
“Paige, I promise to be careful.”
“I know, but you think Moldar wasn’t careful? Or any of the others?”
He grew tight-lipped, but then I saw something burning in his eyes. Jovak suddenly takes me by the arms and holds me close to him.
“Paige …” his voice is a velvet whisper, this tone thick with meaning. “Ever since I met you, my heart has ached. I feel as if you are the one, the one I’ve been waiting to meet my whole life.”
My mouth gapes open. Is he telling me that he’s falling in love with me? Or that he has already? I don’t know what to say.
I feel guilt more than anything. I feel like I should have stronger feelings for Jovak, but I’m just not sure about it yet. So much has happened so fast. I do like him, and maybe I am really starting to care for him …
Or maybe it’s just gratitude because he helped Laney and me so much.
Whatever the case, he took my silence as a rejection. His eyes grew bitter and hard, and he turned his broad back on me.
“Jovak,” I cried as he strode away from me. “Wait, please. Don’t just go and leave things like this ….”
But he’s already gone. I closed the door and turned my back, resting against it. I feel like I want to collapse. It’s all so much, too much, roiling around in my belly and in my head. I want to scream, and I want to throw up, and most of all, I want to run after Jovak and tell him … what? I don’t know. I just don’t know.
I look up and see Laney standing there, watching me with knowing eyes.
“Why did you let him go like that?”
“How am I supposed to stop him, Laney?”
She looks at me hard for a long moment, then speaks.
“Paige, do you love him?”
Silence is the only answer I can give.
14
JOVAK
Iwas a fool to think that Paige’s heart actually beat for me.
It is a fake relationship, after all. She’s not really my mate. She’s my mate in name only. How could I have been so stupid?
And now I have perhaps ruined any chance of us being together by moving things too far, too fast. I only wanted to be happy with Paige, but … perhaps I do want more. I want what we have to be real and not just a fantasy.
I have to put her from my mind ... impossible! ... but I must try. Or at least move her to the back of my thoughts. Now is not the time for heartbreak or despondency. Now is the time for action.
I head into the city square, where I have told my search party to gather. They perk up at my approach. A dozen orc warriors, most of them blooded in battle, all of them eager to find their missing brethren.
