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Every bit of Sarya’s skin tightened in response to that look, bringing with it an acute awareness of all that he could see: the bare length of her arms in the thin sleeveless tunic, the cling of her trousers to her ass and thighs, the slight bounce of her breasts and their hardened tips. Each step seemed to put her on display for him…and Sarya could not stop the arousal that stirred within her in response.
What a fool she was.
“Do as you like, then,” she said briskly, increasing her pace. “I thank you and your axe for the escort. Tell Helana that I am grateful for the invitation to supper but I will have to accept another time.”
“But you won’t, will you?” He huffed out a short laugh, his expression unreadable—not because he wasn’t feeling anything, Sarya sensed. But rather hiding something he felt too much, if the stiffness of his shoulders was any indication. “Helana tells me that you’re more than happy to sit down with her for a drink or three at the tavern. Or you’ll stop and talk at her smithy. But you never go to her home.”
Not true. “I’ve been there.”
“Once. And you were quiet and stiff the entire time, she told me. At least now I’ll be able to tell her why—and I’m just glad it’s not because you’re avoiding me.”
“Perhaps I am.”
“Even when I’m gone?” Bannin shook his head. “It’s her husband.”
“Aven?” Sarya’s chest tightened. “I like him well enough.”
“But he reminds you of what you came here to hide from, doesn’t he? Because Helana waited. Five years, her husband was a stone statue in her bed—yet she waited, taking care of their boy, and trusting that Warrick and I would find a way to break the curse.” Green eyes locked on hers, Bannin stepped closer. “I didn’t understand it before. I figured you came here, grieving. After the stone sickness, so many people were. So I gave you time. But you telling me about the coward who didn’t wait makes sense of why you avoid her home. Because what you’re really hiding from is a reminder of what you don’t have.”
Throat aching, she denied hoarsely, “I’m not hiding from anything.”
“No?”
“No.” Anger began piling up inside her. How dare he peel her heart apart in this way? How dare he look at her with that new face—the face of the hunter, the face of the warrior—as if the decisions she’d made and her heartbreak were some evil he had to slay. “It’s time for you to go.”
Bannin didn’t even flinch at her cold, steely tone. His eyes narrowed. “You think that I’ll leave you alone while a demon’s hunting in this forest?”
“I don’t think you have a choice. If you remain here, who will warn your sister? Who will warn her boy and his friends not to play in the woods like they often do?”
Bannin’s mouth clamped shut. A muscle worked in his jaw while he stared at her. “You have weapons?”
“I do.”
His brow rose. Sudden amusement lit the green of his eyes. “And you’re going to make me walk to the village alone with only my axe for protection? It’s safer for us both to go.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine.” She opened her door, then paused in the threshold. “If you meet the demon, just tell him about one of your adventures and bore him to death.”
“Oick. A direct blow.” He flattened his hand over his chest as if she’d wounded him. “This courtship is proceeding just as I’d hoped. There’s nothing more appealing than a strong woman who can put a man in his place.”
Then that’s exactly what she would do. With a smile, Sarya slammed the door in his face.
Chapter 2
Bannin the Second
Bannin’s sister was out in front of her smithy when he reached the village. Helana was bent over a mare’s hoof, its right foreleg tucked between her thighs, her long auburn braid hanging down over her shoulder.
She glanced up, saw him, and called out, “How goes the courting?”
Without a word, Bannin went to the jug she kept tucked behind her bench and took a swig of the fiery liquor straight from the spout.
“That well?” She snickered while tapping the last nail through the horseshoe, then straightened. “So we aren’t to expect her for supper?”
“Not this night.” He wiped the drips from his mouth and chin, recalling the feel of Sarya’s warm palm when she’d covered his lips. She’d had no easy life, for certain. Her hand has as many calluses as Bannin’s did. “Fas Lergin is dead.”
Her brow furrowed before she sighed. “I suppose he was getting on in years. Did you find him out there in the woods?”
“A demon did.”
She blinked. “A demon?”
Bannin nodded. “In the forest. Sarya said it looked like a tree with wooden vines that stabbed through him.”
