Page 23 of Trapped By Vengeance

I toss it at him and turn my back. “I’ve had men go feral for want of my hand in marriage, but this is the first time a man has become a beast on account of my finger.”

“I told you I would let no harm befall you.”

Without waiting for him to declare himself decent, I turn to find him standing. Wet hair clings to his face along with the sand, and he has his coat pulled tightly over his form. It is open enough at the top, though, to reveal the planes of his sculpted chest.

He must catch me staring, because he pulls his coat tighter around him. Then he turns and strides toward the forest.

I hurry to keep pace with him. “Do you want me to lead the way to Eloise?”

“I can smell her,” he says, his voice so low it’s practically a growl.

“Do I also have a scent, wolfman?” I already know he’s been tracking me village to village, but I want to hear him admit it for some strange reason. Mayhap to hear confirmation that his werwölfe abilities aren’t contained to his wolf form.

“Yes.” He keeps walking.

And I keep following. From my understanding, Konrad will have to rest before being able to morph again, so I don’t have to fear him transforming from rage. I’m still a bit more nervous than any living thing should make me. “Which is?”

Groaning, he turns to face me, and I walk into that sculpted chest. Completely on purpose, but he certainly doesn’t need to know that.

Konrad grasps my shoulders and pushes me back a step before releasing me. “You smell like lavender, violets, and bleeding heart.”

So, he only smells the mage’sperfume. How dreadfully boring.

Then Konrad leans closer, hovering just over me. “And something else I can’t quite place. Something incorporeal.” He inhales deeply. “Something not unlike the smell of the storm approaching us now, like you are a threat not yet realized.”

Narrowing his eyes, Konrad steps back. He studies me for a long moment before turning on his heel and continuing his quest.

I follow in silence, not daring to confirm his words. Because I am a threat— the greatest threat he has faced until this point and will ever face again.

In the name of my vengeance and something far older and deeper, I shall be his undoing.

Chapter Eleven

Konrad

Eloise hears me almost the moment I see her. She sets down the piece of bark she is piling huckleberries on and then runs toward me.

I hold out my arms and catch her as she hurls herself out at me. “Hey there, pup!” I stumble back a step because of my exhaustion from swimming.

“I knew you’d be all right!” Eloise cries, her arms wrapping around my neck as she turns to glare at Valda. “I told you!”

Valda shrugs one dainty shoulder. “And I acquiesced that you were correct.”

Eloise realizes I’m wearing only a coat over my shoulders and releases her grip on me. The moment I set her down, she digs into her satchel until she procures a tunic and breeches from it for me. “I’m sorry— I would have set it out sooner, but our prisoner distracted me.”

I take the garments and try not to think of the outfit left behind in Valda’s chest on the ship. “Perfectly understandable. Lady Valda is a distracting creature.”

Valda dramatically bats her eyelashes at me, and I roll my eyes back at her.

Thunder ripples above us.

“Our cave is right over there.” Eloise points proudly.

I ruffle her hair. “Good job. Grab what berries you’ve picked, and let’s take shelter before the storm really starts.”

Clutching my garments, I move around the cave and set my clothes on a low-hanging tree branch.

“So, how do you intend to ransom me now?”

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