Page 47 of Bite of Passage
He swiped a hand across his eyes to wipe away tears of mirth.With his opposite hand he thrust the shirt at her.Between laughs he said, “Take it.”
She threw both hands over her eyes.“Cover yourself.Please, I’m begging for mercy.I forgot how spectacular… Good lord, you’re hotter than anyone this side of the moon.My girl parts are getting overheated.”
“Girl parts?”He put the shirt in her hand before he strode toward the exit, shaking his head, chuckling.“I’ll get a new shirt.”
“Oh my, the ink on your back…” She called out before he left, “I’m dying.The worst part is you won’t do any single freaking thing about it.”
He was back moments later.No, not moments butsecondslater.He must’ve super speeded the acquisition of a new shirt.Internally, she smiled.
A small brown head peeked around his legs.
“You have a dog?”She clapped her hands together.“I’ve always wanted a pet.”
She went to her knees and held out a hand.
“This is Slayer.I found him last year and he’s stayed around.”
“Why did you name him Slayer?”
“He’s deadly and sly when he wants to be.”
The little dog crept over to her and sniffed her hand.She smiled when he let her pet his back.“You’re a handsome little guy.”
Slayer wagged his tail.
“Let’s eat.”Skarde waved at the table that was big enough to seat thirty.
“Where’s your seat?I refuse to sit a hundred yards away from you so we have to yell at each other across this table.”
He pointed to the chair at the end.Then he held out the one next to it, helping her get seated.
As soon as she sat, food appeared.A lot of it.Slayer took up residence between her and Skarde as if on standby for falling bits.
She took a sip of whatever was in the cup and found it to be kicked-up cider.“What’s this?”
“Something fermented, I suspect.”
She raised her cup.“Cheers.Here’s to unplanned rescues, odd dwarves, and?—”
“Punching my brother’s privates.”
Her cheeks scorched.With fake sternness she said, “Put me under stress and I become a ball puncher.”
“Tell me what happened to lead up to you being shot by an arrow and punching Cade.”He sipped his own cup, something red and thick.
She compressed her lips.“How about we save that story for later.”
“Now works.”
“Nope.I have questions.But I’ll let you ask me something else since you started the interrogation.We’ll circle back to your brother.”
“Tell me about this show I’m on.What is a show?”
Awkward.She was surprised he’d waited this long to ask, since she kept bandying about the word.He deserved an explanation.
“There are these stories, sort of like plays, that project on a screen that looks like a mirror.One show seems to follow your life.You’re always saving the Hunters or killing some sort of crazy nonhuman creature.There’s a lot of sex.They never show what actually happens in the bedroom when characters hook up, but it’s implied.Closed door stuff.”Her face burned ultra-hot.Not where she wanted to go describing the show.“There’s all the fighting and battles.Gory stuff with a lot of blood.”She shuddered.“I’m not into watching that.Sometimes they show a scene like the one with the wizard I managed to shoot, but only when it pertains to the main storyline with Petra and VanFliet.”
“What do you know of the two of them?”
