He swallowed hard. He never talked about this. ‘An attack. A fire. Afterwards I found some of the men responsible and I killed them all. Then I joined the Dark Army.’
‘I’m sorry.’
They were both quiet for a while. They heard Sorin making a fire and sorting the horses, as Lana had been interrupted.
‘They were Dark Brothers too,’ she suddenly said. ‘They’re gone, aren’t they?’
‘Yes. They didn’t hurt you?’
Her hand in his trembled. ‘No, but they were going to. Two of them came upon me here and I ran, but there was another one waiting for me in the ruins. I hit him on the head with a stone, but the other two cornered me.’
She stood up and he followed, putting his hand on her shoulders. ‘They’re gone,’ he promised.
‘Are you sure? What if they’re out there,’ she gestured at the forest, ‘just waiting?’
‘One of us will keep watch all night to be safe.’
She relaxed under his hands and he drew her to him.
‘Viktor?’
‘Yes?’
‘There were three of them. Why aren’t there three of you?’
He grimaced. ‘There are.’
‘There’s another?’ She drew back.
‘Yes. His name is Kane. He returned to the Camp after our last mission to meet with our Commander. We’re travelling to meet him.’
Chapter 9
Lana
Something in Lana’s chest fluttered as she gazed up at Viktor.Another Brother?Everything about this life was so new – better than her old one in many ways, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about this new development.
‘Why isn’t he with you?’ she asked.
‘He had business … elsewhere after our last job was done, but we’ll meet up with him and the others soon,’ he said cryptically, not easing her disquiet at all.
Others?She stepped away from him. ‘What others? Gods, how many of you are there?’
Viktor chuckled. ‘In our unit? Three Brothers and at the moment we have a few soldiers.’
‘Who aren’t Dark Brothers,’ she inferred.
‘That’s right.’
She squinted at him. Getting even small amounts of information out of this man was frustrating. ‘So, you have an army.’
He hesitated before he spoke, tilting his head slightly to one side and then to the other. ‘More of a tiny unit of semi-loyal men to help where needed, but we are part of the Dark Army. Surely you know this already.’
Lana swallowed hard. She didn’t want to ask her next question – was afraid of the answer, but she had to know. ‘Will I have to … will you make me … with the others?’ She stopped, shaking her head.Just ask!‘Will your soldiers want to lie with me?’ she blurted.
‘Oh, they’ll definitely want to, little bird.’
Her stomach sank.