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His laugh was soft and almost sad. “Autumn, I don’t think you realize how amazing you are, how incredible your spirit is, how downright frightening your fierceness can be.”
I laughed at that. I would have never called myself fierce, but maybe I had been at some point while fighting the demon wolves.
“I didn't want any of this, Sahlyn. I don't want to be a hero. I don't want to murder a queen.” I shook my head and licked my dry lips. “All I wanted was to forge weapons and find a nice guard to settle down with who was willing to take adventures with me.” I gave him a wry smile. “Being hope for an entire dwarven civilization and rallying them into battle had never crossed my mind. We've been using their weapon-making techniques for years. I would have never guessed I shared their blood. This—” I spread my hands to the hideaway village of dwarves, the mountains and fortress at our back. “It's all too much.”
“The greatest heroes aren't the ones that set out to be a hero; they are the ones that answer a call deep in their soul that whispers to them to fight for others. To be hope when it is lost.”
“Since when did you become so poetic?”
“Around the time a beautiful warrior held a dagger to my heart, then pulled me into a clever bargain.”
“Smart girl.”
He chuckled, then his eyes met mine—that blue-gray intense. The color of clear skies just shifted into storm clouds.
“That girl made me want to fight for my freedom, for myself, for her. I had all but given up, and then she gave me a reason to keep fighting.”
I sucked in a deep breath as he grabbed my hand and flipped it over. He kissed my palm with a rush of tenderness that gripped my heart.
“We still have time to run away,” he whispered, his lashes lowered.
“And would you run away with me, Huntsman?”
“All you have to do is say the word.”
I closed my eyes and swallowed. “We must finish this if you wish to be free.”
“My freedom from the queen is not your priority, Autumn. It's not your problem.”
“Do you want to be free of her?”
“More thanalmostanything else.”
He emphasized thealmost,and my heart skipped a beat. “Almostanything? What is it that you want more than your freedom?”
I watched his throat bob, and his eyes grew heated. Then his mouth was on mine, his hand cradling the back of my neck. I was given his answer through actions and not words.
“Um, that’s a big fatno.”
“What? You cannot dictate who comes with you, Autumn.”
My heart was still in my throat at her admission. “I can when it comes toyou. I cannot see you hurt, Esme.”
Esme sighed. “Autumn, I want to help. I care for you. I won’t be left out of this.”
“Esme, it's not about being left out! It's about your life. Even I don’t know what Amira is capable of. I cannot allow you to subject yourself to any of it.”
“You don’t get a say in this. I’m coming. It's final.”
Sahlyn, Argen, and Brec looked on with utmost caution and said not a word.Smart men.
“I have every say in this! Goddess of the Beyond, Esme, it would ruin me if anything happened to you.”
“But it wouldn’t hurt you if somethin’ happened to Argen? Or Sahlyn? That’s bullshite, and you know it. You care for them even more than you do me.”
“Argen and Sahlyn are…” My words petered off. She, too, was a warrior. It was in the dwarven blood. Not just the male dwarves. I, myself, was a testament to that. I knew Esme could hold her own. I knew she could fight. I just didn’t want her to have to. I didn’t want her there to see it if I… was killed.
“If you say a bloody fuckin’ warrior, I’ll scream. Autumn, I’m comin’. I want to be beside you in this. I want to be at your side, even if just in support and not blade.”
