Page 28 of War

He’s been keeping tabs on me?

I swallow delicately. “And?”

He removes his back holster, his sword and sheath coming loose. I stare at the blade that so recently slaughtered a man.

“I was told that you make weapons,” he says casually.

I close my eyes for a moment.

That soldier must’ve told War everything, including the fact that the horseman supposedly okayed my being in those woods.

I don’t mean to start shaking, but I do. I just saw this man turn a person into a human kabob for betraying him, and now he knows that I tried to defy him too.

“Apparently, I approved these plans of yours.”

Thisis why I have a rule against lying. It’s so easy to get caught.

I open my eyes and defiantly raise my chin.

He walks up to me, each footfall ominous. War steps in close—far too close. “Don’t ever use me in a lie again,” he says, his voice low.

I hear the unspoken threat in his words.

Or else I will punish you.

And I’ve now seen War’s justice. It’s every bit as terrifying as I could imagine.

The horseman’s eyes search my face. “You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you, wife?” He studies me some more. “Yes, definitely trouble,” he says to himself.

War removes the last of the space between us, his leather armor brushing against my chest. He’s close enough for me to see the gold flecks in his eyes. Those eyes areterrifying. Beautiful and terrifying.

“You’re wrong if you think that angers me.” His smile is menacing. “Everything you are has been made forme.”

This arrogant bastard. I bet he thinks all humans were created for his entertainment. To fight, to fuck, to kill.

The horseman reaches out and draws a finger over my collarbone, his gaze never leaving mine.

“I saw you, and for the first time, Iwanted.”

His words pucker my flesh.

“And so, I took.”

Chapter 7

War’s touch pauseson my skin. “To think you almost got away.” He backs away then, reaching for his vambrace, his fingers unlacing the arm guard. “It’s a good thing you didn’t.”

He’s well and truly inhuman. Nothing of this earth could frighten me the way he does.

I’ve now tried to escape the horseman twice within that many days—once through death and once through desertion. If he’s just as merciless as he’s made himself seem, then my actions will have consequences.

“Can you really make weapons?” he asks.

I pause, unsure where he’s going with this.

“I’m not very good at it,” I say after a moment.

He glances up. “Is that a yes?”

---