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I shivered and rolled in the bed, hunting for the heat of my companions but finding cool sheets instead. Low voices murmured around me, and I frowned. My head felt heavy and I blinked one eye open to find the room quite dark, just the fire down to coals and two candles lit, blocked from view by the large figures crowded together.
One of them turned, large horns glinting, and my breath hitched as Asterion's warm eyes found me on the bed. Hywel, Laszlo, and I had stayed up late talking more, planning, debating, and while they'd stripped me bare and pressed me between them in the bed, their actions had been chaste. I'd fallen asleep quickly. I glanced toward the window and found the sky outside nearly black, a wash of silvery-gray clouds lit up from behind by moonlight.
Asterion was still staring at me when I turned back to the cluster of men by the fire, his gaze hungry.
He'd returned, and Conall was back in Laszlo's nest. They were discussing Rolant's secret, and Hywel had called to me in sleep to rouse me, which meant they'd probably come to some decision.
Still, I held Asterion's eyes, twisting under the sheets, stretching languidly, letting the fabric slide along my figure and over my bent leg, dragging back to reveal my breast. The corner of his mouth curled and his stare made a slow study of me, lingering on my skin, even in the shadow of the sheet where it draped like a tent from my knee. He didn't alert the others, just enjoyed the view.
But Hywel didn't have to turn to know I was awake. "Dress, Evanthia," he called, a hint of laughter in the words.
Asterion started to turn and I moved, sitting up, sliding out of the bed. He froze once more, gaze avid and quick, sliding down my body, holding at my hips, grazing down to my toes as they curled in the carpet. His soft ears twitched, and his hands fisted at his side.
Conall huffed, breaking the spell, and I found him grinning at me.
I remained nude, unashamed, as they all turned to look. "What am I dressing for?" I asked, not making a move to cover myself. If Asterion wanted to turn away, he could. He was the only one who hadn't really seen me, even in that dark moment when he'd first brought me to the castle.
"Trouble," Hywel said, smiling at me.
"We leave to seek the sword as soon as possible," Laszlo said. He broke away from the group, passing me to open the closet. "You'll want something practical."
"Unless you don't want to go," Asterion rumbled.
"We discussed—" Hywel started.
"We can find an alternative," Asterion answered with a glare.
Laszlo twisted, holding out a pair of trousers from the depth of the wardrobe, and I took them, hurrying to dress.
"I'm coming with you all."
"Birsha's forces are stretched thin, and while I don't believe there are any nearby that might attack, I can't guarantee that. It isn't as safe outside of the shelter of the castle," Asterion said, striding toward me. He was keeping his gaze fixed above my chin, his hands clasped behind his back, as if it took all his effort not to reach for me.
Laszlo passed me a shirt, and I took mercy on the minotaur, shrugging it on quickly.
"I understand that. But I can't stay here forever," I murmured, lifting my hair out of the collar of the shirt.
"You certainly can," Hywel snapped.
Laszlo continued to toss men's clothing onto the bed—a wool vest with a high collar, a dark long-tailed coat—and I layered each one over the other.
"Not like this," I said to Hywel with a rueful smile. "Not hiding. Anyway, I am safest when I am with all of you, yes?"
"Yes," Conall, Laszlo, and Hywel all said at once.
Asterion stepped forward, his hands catching mine in a light grip. "You are, yes."
I nodded. "I trust you, the four of you, as I trust no one else. I'm coming with you."
"There will be some kind of trap. By Rolant or Birsha or Nimue herself," Asterion warned, his brow furrowing.
"Then we will find our way out of it," I said with a confidence I almost possessed.
He stared at me with that lovely, warm, penetrating gaze, and at last released a sigh. "Very well."
"We'd better go before he changes his mind again," Conall quipped, already heading for the door.
* * *
