A Soul for Vengeance (13 page)

“You’re welcome,” she replied, mirroring his nod. She stood and offered her hand. “Let me show you to your room.”

“Don’t you mean, your room?” The teasing did him good, chasing away the last of his sorrow.

“Don’t remind me, or you might wake up to an eviction notice in the middle of the night.”

“You know, we can always share the room.” He looped her arm around his as they crossed the first bridge.

She laughed. “You’d have a hard time convincing Bynn to allow that.”

At least she didn’t say no.

That one small hope cascaded into others, and by the time she delivered him to his room, his despair had lightened just a little.

Chapter 11

“One of these days, you’ll have to tell me where you disappear to so frequently.”

Zara peered over the edge of the wagon she was helping to unload to find Kell standing on the side. A mere month had passed since she’d brought him to the camp, but signs of the old Kell were already beginning to show. He’d added some muscle to his frame, erasing the traces of malnourishment that had hung off of his bones when she’d rescued him. His hair had grown to the length he favored, and his cheeks were clean-shaven. He leaned against the wagon with arms crossed in princely laziness while everyone else scurried to get the supplies into the shelter before sunset.

“Pitch in, and maybe I’ll tell you.” She shoved a heavy bag of grain at him and bit back a laugh as he struggled to stay on his feet under the weight of it. After a few steps and a few adjustments, he hoisted the bag over his shoulder and followed the others into the ground-level hut used for storage. He returned and took another bag without saying a word, continuing until the cart was empty.

“May I help you down?” He offered her his hand.

“Thank you, Your Highness.” She hopped down, dropping into a quick curtsy as though they were at court and he’d just helped her down from an elegant carriage instead of a rickety old wagon. “Your assistance was greatly appreciated.”

“Now, back to my question…”

“That’s on a need to know basis.” She gave him a playful pat on the tip of his nose with her finger before slinging her crossbow over her shoulder and grabbing the simple chest full of precious kokalla powder.

He tailed after her as she wove her way through the crowded camp. “And what if I say I need to know?”

“Then ask my brother.”

“He said he would defer to you.”

“Why do you need to know where I’m going or what I’m doing?”

He cut her off so quickly, she collided headfirst into his chest. His warm hands steadied her, lingering on her arms a bit longer than necessary. Not that she minded being that close to him for a few seconds more. She drew in a deep breath. Somehow, he’d managed to infuse his clothes with the bay leaf, a scent she’d always associated with him.

He tipped her chin up. “Because I’m the prince and I must know everything.”

She would’ve laughed his order off if he didn’t have such a serious glint in his eyes. Instead, she shrugged free of him. “If you must know, I’ve been leading a series of ambushes on supply trains out of Thallus. This time, it was several wagons full of grain. The time before, it was bolts of cloth. Then I make sure the spoils go back to our people.”

He glanced over her shoulder where the wagon had been, his brows bunched together. “I thought you said it was several wagons of grain.”

“It was. I took one for here, sent one to Fermo’s camp and one to Ortono’s camp.” She stepped around him, continuing toward the combat training area of the camp before she lost the light for target practice.

He followed. An awkward silence filled the space between them.

“Why the sudden interest in my activities?” she asked, hoping to get him off her tail before he delayed her any further.

“I’ve hardly seen you since you brought me here.”

“It’s your fault I have to share a room with Bianca. I figured anything was better than listening to her snore all night.”

He cracked a grin. “My offer to share the room still stands.”

She shook her head. The old Kell was back in more than one way. Even in Cordello, she heard the tales of his exploits with the ladies of the court, and she knew better than to come within ten feet of a bed with him in it. The temptation to join him would be far too great, and he was more than someone like her deserved. “You’d have to get the permission of my blood.”

His grin faded, and he ran his finger along his collar. “Um, maybe we’ll just leave your brother out of this.”

“I thought as much.” She grabbed a quiver full of bolts as she passed the makeshift armory and headed to the line of targets set up along the rock wall. As flirtatious as he was trying to be with her, all she needed to do was mention Bynn to douse his desire. “Besides, I thought you had a preference for yellow-haired witches.”

His lips now angled down in a slight frown. Good—maybe that would end his invitations and perhaps give her enough peace to get in ten rounds of target practice before sunset.

She set the box of kokalla gently on the ground, loaded her bow, and fired. The bolt sliced through the air before coming to a stop in the fringes of the center circle. She gritted her teeth. Normally, she was perfect. Must be the distracting prince beside her.

He waited until she got four more shots off—this time all hitting the center of the bull’s-eye—before interrupting her. “I’d like to come with you on one of your ambushes.”

This time, the bolt landed an inch outside the center circle. “What was that?”

“You heard me, Zara. I want to know what you’re doing, and I want to take part in the efforts that help my people. When are you leaving for your next strike?”

The idea of Kell coming with her rattled her so much she didn’t bother loading the next bolt into her crossbow. She might miss the target completely if she did. “You’re not well enough to come with us.”

“I’m feeling as fit as I was before I left.” He crossed his arms and lifted his chin to a stubborn angle.

She raked her eyes down his body, noting the lean muscles that flexed under his shirt. Yes, he was definitely fit. Too fit. “This isn’t your normal hand-to-hand combat, Kell. We don’t have any need for that.” She tapped the hilt of his sword with her crossbow.

“Then what kind of weapon would you need me to demonstrate my ability in?”

“A bow and arrow would be useful,” she replied, remembering how horrible he was with them when they were children and rejoicing at finding a reason not to take him with her.

“Then wait right here.” Kell returned a minute later with a long bow, a quiver of arrows, and an audience of onlookers. “Shall I take the target next to yours?”

“Be my guest, Your Highness.”

He nocked the arrow, aiming over several breaths while he pulled the bow back, and released it.

The arrow hit the dead center of the target.

A chill washed over Zara, followed by the sudden jump in her pulse to drive it away. “How did you get so good with a bow?”

 “Practice.” He repeated the same feat again two more times before lowering the bow. “Does that meet your strict requirements, General Zara?”

“If we were attacking the Thallians with all the time in the world, then yes. But in the heat of battle, you would need to fire at least ten times as many arrows in the time it took you to fire three, and all while the Thallians are trying to kill you.”

“So you’re saying I’m slow and wouldn’t be so accurate if I was being distracted.”

“Precisely.” There. Argument won and done. End of discussion.

“Well, then, it seems I have my work cut out for me.” He turned to the small crowd that had gathered around the targets. “Care to provide a little distraction for me?”

A cheer rose from the people, lessening to a chorus of shouts and grunts meant to mimic the chaos of battle. Kell loaded his bow and fired one arrow, still hitting the bull’s-eye. Then another, and another, each with a speed that would be acceptable in an intense encounter.

Control was slowly slipping away from her, so Zara decided it was time to provide Kell with a distraction only he’d fall victim to—feminine wiles. She edged closer to him as he fired. His gaze flickered to her a few times but remained focused on the target. She came up behind him and pressed her body against his, her breasts flat against his back, her lower stomach cradling his firm ass. And, for good measure, she made sure her hand grazed the top of his thigh near his groin.

His next shot barely hit the target.

He spun around, his hazel eyes dark with an emotion she didn’t want to identify. “Distraction, eh?”

“You would be on a mission with me, and bodies sometimes collide during battle, after all.” She gave him a sweet smile and started to walk away when he called her back.

“Why don’t you show me how well you handle that crossbow in the midst of battle?”

She froze, the bones in her back arching like a cat’s.
Sweet Lady Moon, would the man ever take no for an answer?

“Or are you scared to admit that maybe I’m a better shot than you?” he taunted her with that mocking grin again.

She loaded a bolt in the crossbow, mentally pictured the location of the target in her mind and turned back at him. The grin vanished when he saw the bolt pointed at him, and he took a step back. Zara then stretched her arm out in the direction of the target and fired while still looking at him.

Perfect bull’s-eye.

“Does that answer your question?”

“But you weren’t distracted, unless you consider my rugged handsomeness a distraction.”

“Hardly.” She only hoped he wouldn’t call her out for lying.

He winked at her and turned back to the crowd. “I say we recreate the same conditions for her.”

The people replayed their imitation of battle noise, but Zara tuned them out. She’d had more than enough experience in this setting. One by one, she loaded and fired until the center of the innermost ring resembled a hedgehog’s back.

Unfortunately, she’d been so focused in proving Kell wrong that she lost track of him. Then a breath of warm air brushed against her ear. The scents of leather and a certain ruggedly handsome male filled her nose, and her skin flushed.

“What’s the matter, Zara?” he teased. “Can’t you stay focused with someone touching you?”

The problem was he wasn’t touching her. He didn’t need to in order to distract her. Her body was already begging for his touch just by knowing he was near. “You’re so full of yourself,” she said and aimed her crossbow.

He waited until she pulled the trigger to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her to him. “And you need a taste of your own medicine.”

Her shot missed the targets completely, clattering against the granite wall.

“Am I distracting you yet?” he whispered in her ear, his thumb coming dangerously close to the fullness of her breast.

Everything about Kell was a distraction, from the low timbre of his voice to the heat of his skin against hers. And the Lady Moon help her, she didn’t want him to release her. She wanted to stay just like this, wrapped in his arms with the hard ridges of his body molding to her every curve.

Correction—she had a better idea where she’d like a certain hard ridge to be.

Which, of course, made the situation all the more frustrating because it could never be more than fantasy.

She broke free from him and spun around, her breath coming quick. “Fine. You’ve made your point.”

The dying light bathed his face in shadows, hiding the source of the tight lines of his face and the same dark emotion in his eyes. “So I can join you?”

That was a loaded question. Did he mean on her next ambush, or in her bed?

Or both?

Her throat tightened. “We leave at dawn. If you’re not ready to go, we’re leaving you behind.”

“I’ll meet you at the entrance of the tunnel, m’lady.” He gave her a polite bow, his eyes never leaving her face, and disappeared into the crowd.

Zara slung her crossbow over her shoulder and massaged her temples. She was definitely going to need to keep her wits about her around Kell if they both wanted to survive.

Chapter 12

The woman was an evil mastermind—no question about it.

Zara stood on top of a boulder beside a road that wound through the dense forest, giving orders like a general. “Make sure you get the area to the right. I want no signs of any footprints to alarm the Thallians.”

The men who’d come with them nodded and dragged the heavy evergreen branches through the thick blanket of snow, obscuring not only their footprints but also the thick log they’d partially buried in the middle of the road to stop the supply wagon they were planning to steal.

Correction—it wasn’t stealing, according to Zara. It was merely taking back what was rightfully theirs and redistributing it back to the people. He’d have to remember that line if he ever wanted to levy new taxes.

She leaned forward, one hand on her knee and the other on her hip, granting him an exquisite view of her shapely legs, hips, and buttocks.

Kell scrubbed his eyes and tried to wash that image from his mind. Not that he wanted to. He needed to, if only to keep his hands off of her. Their flirtatious attempts to “distract” each other a few days ago raised far too many tempting scenarios, but they all ended the same way—with Bynn ready to run him through for taking advantage of his little sister. It wasn’t worth jeopardizing his friendship, even though the memory of holding her close in his arms still aroused any uncomfortable warmth that made him forget about the eight inches of snow around his boots for a few blessed moments.

“Perfect. Now, everyone to their stations.” She hopped down from the boulder and joined him where he sat on a smaller rock behind it. “Any questions about the plan?”

“Just one—why do I have to stay next to you?”

“Because if one hair on your royal head gets harmed, I’m the one taking the blame for it.” She rubbed her gloved hands together, blowing on them to chase away the cold. “I still wonder why you wanted to come along.”

“The truth?”