Page 90 of A Hunter for Luna

I turned to Benedetto, my face pale. "Are you mad? How can you make deals with creatures like them?"

He stared at me, unflinching. "I've told you many times. I’ll do anything to cure or avenge Francesco.Anything."

Anything. My stomach twisted. Was this a warning of the lines he would cross?

We rode in silence for a long while after leaving the graveyard, the only sound the clopping of the horses' hooves on the dirt path as we headed for the road that would take us north, to the mountains and Ygris pass.

My thoughts whirled.

He had so much loyalty in him. But he gave it rarely. Had he given it to me?

I remembered the way he had gently placed the opal earrings in my ears, the rare softness in his touch. He was capable of so much kindness.

But he was also capable of terrible things.

How could I reconcile the two?

I forced myself to speak. "Would you sacrifice me, too, if it meant getting what you wanted?"

"You shouldn't ask me that question," Benedetto said without expression. "You won't like the answer."

The silence stretched between us again as we continued on, the sun sinking lower in the sky. I pulled my cloak tighter around me, as if it could shield me from the chill settling in my bones.

What had I gotten myself into? My hand drifted to my stomach. And what kind of life would a child have with a father like him?

Once again, the doubts settled on me in a cloud I couldn’t disperse, fueled by Benedetto’s own words.

Benedetto rode beside me, his profile stern and unreadable. I thought I knew him, thought I understood the depths of his love and loyalty.

I’d just underestimated that depth, and assumed it applied to me. My heart clenched at the thought.

The road ahead seemed to stretch on forever, leading us into an uncertain future. I only hoped I had the strength to face whatever lay at the end of it - for myself, and for any child I might bear.

If we survived this quest.

Heavy silence remained between us as the shadows lengthened. I stole another glance at Benedetto, but his face remained fixed straight ahead, his jaw set.

My mind churned with questions I was afraid to ask. What lines had he crossed? The Benedetto I’d travelled with earlier seemed to be slipping away with each passing mile.

I pressed my lips together, swallowing back the lump in my throat. "Bene..."

"Don't." His voice was sharp, cutting through the evening air. "I told you. You won't like the answers."

My fingers tightened on the reins. "You assume that I was going to repeat the question. Have you considered?—"

"No. You think you can change me? Save me from myself?" He laughed, a harsh, mirthless sound. "This is what I am, Luna. This is what I do."

Tears stung my eyes, and I blinked them back fiercely. "And what about us? What about..."

I couldn't bring myself to say it, to voice the tiny hope and terror growing inside me.

Benedetto was silent for a long moment. Then, so quietly I almost missed it, "I don't know."

The words hit me like a physical blow.I don't know.The man who always had a plan, always knew his next move, said he was just as lost as I was.

As a true son of his mother and her plans within plans, that would have hurt him to admit.

I turned my face away, letting my hair fall forward to hide my expression. I could find hope in that. He hadn’t decided to cut me out of his life for my own good.

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