Page 18 of Power of Five
12
Leralynn
Iwait for Coal to leave before trudging back to the inn. My hair is damp with sweat, and now that I am not moving, the wind threatens to freeze the strands right off my head. I scurry toward my room, spending the last of my remaining life energy hauling myself up the steps, not realizing that someone is in my way until my forehead smacks right into a muscled chest.
“You can still walk?” Tye says with a click of his tongue. “Coal must be going a wee soft.”
I glare at the male.
Tye’s face splits into an unabashed grin. “You look adorable with murder in your eyes, Lilac Girl.”
“I thought you were out sclice hunting,” I mutter. “I was hoping they’d maul you.”
“No you weren’t.” Tye scoops me up with an arm behind my knees and shoulder blades and carries me the rest of the way to my room, where he sets me on the bed. “You like me too much to want me mauled by sclices.”
“A situation that is changing rapidly,” I mutter.
Tye grabs one of my legs and pulls it across his lap, deftly untying my bootlaces to free my foot from the shoe. His hand brushes casually over my ankle in a motion I’d think nothing about if he’d not done the same thing yesterday. He’s checking me for injuries. My brows pull together, my muddled thoughts slowly coalescing. “Are you really here by happenstance, or were you waiting for me to crawl away from Coal’s morning workout?”
Tye blinks too innocently to be believable, and I cross my arms, glaring at the redheaded male.
He leans back on outstretched hands. “And if I were? Would it be so terrible if we wanted to check that one of our own is still in one piece?”
One of our own. The words pierce my soul, permeating through me like liquor on a cold day. I shake off the allure. “If you care about the number of pieces I’m in, would it not have been wiser to keep Coal from trying to kill me to begin with?” I ask reasonably.
Tye laughs. “If Coal were trying to kill you, lass, you’d be very, very dead now. As it is, the field between feeling like you might prefer to be dead and actually being dead is much vaster than you imagine. And Coal has explored every dark inch of it.” Tye adds the last part quietly, as if unsure he wants to say it at all.
I frown, but before I can press Tye on it, the male is leaning forward again, looming over me. Unlike River, who seems to use his size on purpose to keep order in the world around him, Tye has the air of a good-natured mastiff who can’t be held responsible for his considerable bulk. Reaching over, he straightens the high neckline of my tunic, the origins of which are still a mystery.
“What are you doing now?” I ask suspiciously.
Tye winces. “Trying to conjure a way of tricking you into taking off your shirt,” he confesses, holding up his hands as I strike him with a pillow. “I promised Shade to check on your shoulder and the other cuts.”
I cross my arms. “And is there anything else on your agenda? Spill it, Tye.”
He shifts his weight. “Just remember that I am one of four males,” he says cautiously. “You can’t blame me for everyone’s requests.”
“How much do you want to bet on that?” I ask, glaring into his green eyes—though staying angry at Tye takes a great deal of effort. No wonder the four bastards chose him. “Spill it. Now.”
“Shade is worried about your shoulder. And River is concerned that we know too little about mortals’ fragility, how slowly you heal. And Coal—”
“Coal is in on this too?” I fall back onto my bed. “Coal was the one tormenting me all morning. If he was so worried, he could have backed the bloody hell off.”
“If it’s of any consolation, Coal little cares about what damage he left on you this morning. His concern was about the damage your former master might have inflicted.”
Zake. It doesn’t make me feel better. I give Tye a dark look.
Tye shuts his eyes. “This is not going how I’d planned,” he confesses. He blows out a long breath, and when he looks at me next, there is a twinkle of mischief in that green gaze. He surveys me quickly from head to toe, then holds out his hand. “Let’s put the plan to get you undressed on hold and do something else instead,” he offers.
“What?” I accept his hand in spite of myself and he pulls me up easily. I should kick him in the shins for his original intentions regarding my clothes, but there is so much life and good nature in Tye’s eyes that I can’t help the curiosity.
Tye’s grin widens. “I think we should go see what Coal and the others are doing,” he says, tossing my boots back into my arms.
With curiosity winning over soreness, I pull my boots back on and gratefully accept Tye’s warm cloak, which he claims to have little need of. With a gentle guiding hand along the small of my back, Tye ushers me downstairs, through the kitchen, where I catch him pilfering a sweet roll and cheese, and back outside.
Tye hands me the food, which I devour quickly, the bliss of warm bread in my belly momentarily distracting me from where we are headed—which is right back to the paddock I was recently dismissed from.
Instead of being empty, the paddock appears to be hosting three large males armed with wooden blades. Despite the cold, the males are all shirtless, sweat slithering lazily down the grooves of their muscled backs. Coal dances at the center of the lot, his practice blade and body a blur as he battles at once against River and Shade. River is the tallest, but Coal is the fiercest, blue eyes blazing with singular focus. Red marks from missed parries cover all the males’ flesh, and I flinch as Shade darts in, low and lithe like the wolf he’s been for ten years, and paints another stripe across Coal’s shoulders while the male is busy blocking a skull-splitting attack from River.
