Page 33 of Shadows of Winter

“Here I am,” he agreed.

Frayvar's shoulders slumped.

“Maybe he is beautiful,” he muttered.

“Handsome.” Kaylina didn’t know if they were a couple, but Ghara clearly adored Vlerion, so she patted her brother’s shoulder.

“Really? Even with the—” Frayvar drew his fingers down the side of his face, mimicking Vlerion’s scars.

“Yeah. And he’s…” The memory of Vlerion’s powerful arms around her, holding her against his hard chest—his entire hard body—jumped to mind. “Fit,” she finished, though it was an understatement.

Ghara leaned into Vlerion and patted his chest without fear of rejection, then let her hand linger as she gazed at him. A twinge of envy plucked at Kaylina, but she scowled at herself and pushed it away. She didn’t like Vlerion or want to pat his chest.

“Oh, right. The muscles.” Frayvar gazed sadly at his own thin arm. “Women like those.”

“Yup.”

“I don’t see why we couldn’t have ridden together,” Ghara told Vlerion. “Your company is much more compelling than that of my driver.”

“I had Crenoch.”

“You could have traveled the road beside us. I know he likes to run fast and flash, but you have before.”

“Targon doesn’t want rangers seen around here while these two are establishing their business.” Vlerion waved to his cloak and hood, and Kaylina realized he wasn’t wearing his black leathers.

“Are you going to tell me what that’s all about? And why you wanted a special deal for…” Ghara didn’t curl her lip in dismissal when she looked over at Kaylina and Frayvar, but Kaylina had little doubt she considered them riffraff.

“No.”

“Mysterious as always.” Ghara smiled up at him with the same longing in her eyes that Frayvar had possessed looking at her.

Other than to nod at Ghara, Vlerion didn’t change his expression. His face remained as stoic and distant as when he looked at Kaylina. That surprised her. Since Ghara was a childhood friend—if not more—Kaylina would have expected her to warrant a warmer reaction.

His muted response didn’t surprise Ghara. She only smiled sadly before patting Vlerion again and stepping back. “I gave them the lease to look over.”

Vlerion looked toward the broken chandelier. “For five hundred a month?”

“Yes. I convinced Grandfather that it would be better to have someone using the place and looking after it than it standing vacant and attracting crime.”

Vlerion grimaced—thinking of the dead lord? “Yes.”

He moved away from Ghara and stood in front of Kaylina, glancing down at the lease, or maybe her crookedly buttoned blouse, for the hint of amusement returned to his eyes.

Scowling, she tucked the lease under her arm and unbuttoned the top of her blouse so she could fix it. If there were mirrors in the castle, they were upstairs in what she’d dubbed the haunted rooms.

His gaze caught on her fingers, or maybe the skin she briefly showed, before he looked into her eyes. “You spent the night here?”

Kaylina lifted her chin. “Yes, we did.”

He looked at the chandelier again. “Huh.”

The single syllable didn’t convey admiration and respect, but at least she’d exceeded his expectations of her.

“I’ll assume it wasn’t that peaceful,” he said.

“It was not. There are bones of dead people in some of the rooms.”

“I’m not surprised.”

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