Page 61 of Bound By Roses

He gives no answer, but I’m sure I felt the faintest brush of him against the bond.

‘Please.’

Still nothing. Just when I start to think that he won’t come, there’s movement at the entrance of our shelter. My back is to him and I plan on keeping it that way, so I lie still and wait for him to take his place on the cot beside me. The warmth of his fur against my back is comforting in a way that it shouldn’t be.

‘Let’s not fight tomorrow,’I say, because I want nothing more than this fight to be over. The sooner we move on from it, the sooner we can figure out our next step. He may have lied to me, but I know the truth now. All that should matter is making sure that he’s going to survive this.

I know he’s still awake, but still no answer comes through the bond. Only the ghost of a touch that’s all I need to know that, come morning, we’re going to be okay.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

QUINN

Isit outside the shelters, dressed in the clothing I’d borrowed from Ellis, since my own are either soiled or destroyed. I woke long before the sunrise and underwent the agonizing wait before I felt safe enough to shift back into my human form.

Abby’s breathing shifted a few moments ago, so I know any minute she’ll be emerging from our shelter, likely in search of me. Sleeping beside her last night was far from easy. The scent of her blood was strong, and the guilt that came with it was even stronger. Even in her anger, she needed me beside her, but for the first time since she entered my life, I wanted nothing more than to put distance between us.

“There you are,” she says when she clambers out into the sunlight. We’d planned to leave camp at dawn, but I insisted we let Abby sleep. She’ll need her strength for today. “Look, I’m sorry about—”

I turn to face her and hold a hand up for silence. To my surprise, her words cut off. I’d been preparing myself for this all morning, but now that the time has come, my nerves are anything but under control.

Her expression morphs from caution to confusion when I draw the sword at my hip and point to another leaning against a tree stump a few steps from where Abby stands. Her gaze moves to the sword and then back to me.

“What’s going on?”

I suck in a deep breath, because this is it. “I know you just want to forget about last night, but I can’t do that. We need to have this fight, and we may as well work on your swordsmanship while we do it.”

Anger flashes across her face as she marches to collect the sword in her right hand. I’d purposely given her the heavier one, so she has no choice but to wield it with two hands. When her left hand overlaps her right, she grimaces. Maybe it’s cruel, but she needs to learn to fight while compensating for that finger. Even when it’s healed, she’ll never be able to balance a blade the same way she used to.

“You don’t need to insult me to get me to fight. I already have more than enough reason.”

She’s still pissed. That’ll make this easier. “Good,” I say, closing the distance between us and swinging for her. I know she’s not ready, but no one is going to warn her in a real fight.

She just manages to get her blade up to stop mine from coming down on her. “So that’s how this is going to be? Fine!”

She switches from defence to offence with relative ease and I’d be impressed with the move if I wasn’t too focused on holding back my tongue. There are words itching to make their way through my teeth, but I need to bide my time.

“You lied to me,” she spits as she swings far too low. She could have been going for my leg, but it’s more likely that the weight of the sword is getting to her. If she wasn’t injured, this would hardly be difficult for her.

I side-step her attack, not even giving her the satisfaction of crossing my blade. “I did.”

“And you think that’s okay?”

Here we go. Our blades collide just as my accusation strikes. “No, but you lied too.”

She nearly drops the sword, but smartly takes it fully in her right hand and lets it drag as she puts distance between us. I could move in for another blow, but I grant her a second to collect herself. This isn’t about winning, it’s about getting her to figure out how to fight like this.

“Oh, enlighten me then.”

I can feel Seamus and Ellis watching us from the nearby trees. I warned them ahead of time so they’d know to be on guard for any unexpected threats so I could focus my attention entirely on Abby. If I had to do this while distracted, it wouldn’t accomplish what I need it to.

“You forced me to shift.” The words are as cold as my blood ran last night after seeing hers spilled.

Her face pales ever so slightly but then reddens in a new wave of outrage. “To protect you! You want an apology for that? Fine! I’m sorry that I can’t trust you enough to keep yourself safe. You heard what the Spider said.”

“And you heard whatIsaid. It wasn’t a wraith. You made a choice because you didn’t want to have a conversation with me. In fact, I’m pretty sure you said it was because you didn’t want to see my face for the rest of the night. You abused your power in the way you swore to me you never would.” My response hits her harder than I’d expected and I have to pull back the blow of my sword so I don’t accidentally hurt her.

“I did it to protect you.”

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