Page 47 of Edge of the Wild

Erik’s gaze slid back.Go on.

“Could they communicate with them as well? Not verbally. I mean, mentally. Over distances.”

“So they claimed.” Erik studied him a moment with open skepticism. His hands stilled, and then tensed in his lap. “Did you have an animal in your head?”

“How the hell would I know?” He threw up his hands, for all the good it did the shivers crawling across his skin. He stood, no longer even a little relaxed. Pacing seemed like the best bet at the moment. “Before I boarded ship to come north, the most magic I’d ever seen was a good sunset. A – a rainbow. And now here I am” – he caught a glimpse of Erik’s frown as he turned and paced back the other way – “talking about animals in my head, and there’s dead men talking through lords. This is your world, Erik. I don’t claim to understand it better than you.”

“All right.” A rustle of cloth, and when Oliver hit the end of his path and turned, Erik stood in front of him. “All right,” he said, again, catching Oliver lightly by both shoulders. His expression had softened. “I know. I’m not doubting you.”

Oliver pinched at the tension along the bridge of his nose. “Well, I’m doubting me.”

Erik’s hands slid up to cup his neck; his knuckles brushed the ends of Oliver’s braids, and set the beads to clicking. He smiled, quick and small, in response.

The sound, the resulting smile, eased a bit of Oliver’s tension, too. He sighed. “There really was – well, it wasn’t a voice. But it was communication.”

“I believe you.”

“It wasn’t an owl that flew by.”

“That I know.”

“Yes, but whatwasit?”

Erik shook his head, regretful. “I don’t know.” His thumb slid along Oliver’s jaw. “What did it feel like to you?”

“Feellike?”

The thumb moved along his chin, pressed at his lips.

“Oh, that’s not fair,” he murmured against it.

Another fleeting smile – and Erik stepped in closer, crowding him wonderfully. “We survived the night. Sometimes, that’s all that matters.”

Oliver swayed toward him; put hands on his strong, velvet-covered chest. “And we’ll figure out the rest later?”

“Yes.” Erik bent down to kiss him, and Oliver decided that was for the best.

6

“I should be there.” Rune’s gaze was fixed on the window, on the snow falling beyond it. His heart, Tessa knew, was halfway to Dreki Hörgr.

For her own part, sitting at his bedside, beginning to feel less harried and more herself, after his long days of touch-and-go, she could feel only relief. And she was able to – she could admit – admire him. There could be no other word for her staring.

Sunlight fell in diamonds through the windows, full upon his profile. An angular profile, one curtained by the wild, unwashed knots of his hair. His stubbled jaw looked sharp enough to cut glass – and his eyes, too, as they swung back to her, deep brown and striking, after so long closed.

Belatedly, she gathered her wits. “You should be right here,” she countered, “getting better. They understand that.”

He made an impatient sound, and fiddled with the covers in his lap. “But I shouldbe there. I always am.” He turned an imploring look on her – one that left her insides fluttering pleasantly. “I’ve got keener eyes than Uncle, and a better hand on the bow than Leif.”

“I’m sure they’d appreciate the compliments.”

He rolled his eyes. “No. I mean – someone has to watch out for them. They’re the king and the heir! That’s my job, to be on guard.”

“They have guards,” she tried to reason. “And…” She made a face. “Ollie.”

He laughed. “Now there’s a sight to make brigands cower.” He sobered. “I am glad that Oliver went – that Uncle has him. He’s been unhappy for a long time.” He frowned. “For my whole life, really.”

“Ollie, too.”

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