Page 32 of Arrows and Gems
And a perfect angle for seeing his face.
Grinning, Helena lifted her eyes in gleeful anticipation of finally unmasking him. But just before she caught him, he leaned back, turning his head so she could see nothing but his scruffy beard.
“You’re no fun.” Pouting playfully, she made one last attempt to grab his hood before he set her roughly on her feet. Or foot, with her cane for support. He stepped out of her reach while she took a moment to appreciate the way his cloak fell around his broad shoulders.
A little closer, and she might be able to see under his hood. Was he lying when he said he wasn’t ashamed of his face? Or was it as nice to look at as the rest of him?
He twitched his cloak back into place, then reached over to catch his horse. Helena’s lips curved up.
“You dropped the reins to catch me,” she observed with delight.
“Don’t make me regret it.”
His voice wasn’t as deep as her brother’s, but it was a pleasant voice all the same. Even when he transitioned from unflappable to a bit grumpy.
“Well, you have no one to blame but yourself, you know,” she told him, hobbling after the others. “It’s your fault that I’m here.”
He patted his horse’s neck, keeping his face turned away from her. “You would have frozen if I’d left you at the bottom of the cliff.”
“You see?” she returned smugly. “Your fault.”
“You wouldn’t have needed my help if you hadn’t followed me in the first place.” He huffed and faced forward, rolling his shoulders as if uncomfortable. Or irritated.
Watching from the corner of her eye, she argued, “If you hadn’t dragged my c—my friend into your schemes, I wouldn’t have followed you.” Her amusement dimmed. “And if you hadn’tshotme, I wouldn’t have been at Marielle’s house to know about it.”
“If you hadn’t tried to take my head off with an arrow, I wouldn’t have shot you,” he growled back.
Ooh, it was fun to make him lose his cool. Even annoyed as she was with him, his response put the mischief back in her smirk. “Your hood, not your head. And I didn’ttry. But if you had agreed when I asked to join you, I wouldn’t have taken the shot.”
“Which would still have put you here.”
“In which case it would still be your fault.” She grinned. “Either way, I’m here, but because of your choices, you have to put up with me injured and useless for a while. And it’s all. Your. Fault.”
An indecipherable grumble was his only response.
“But maybe you don’t mind,” she teased. “After all, if I were whole and healthy, you wouldn’t have had the excuse to abandon your horse and wrap your arms around me just now.”
“The excuse?” he blurted out. His right hand clenched into a tight fist at his side. “You think I held you because I wanted to? Trust me, Margit, embracing you is the last thing I want to do.”
Unwanted. Abandoned. Alone.
Every drop of amusement fled at his words. Swallowing, she forced the pain to the side and dredged up an angry smile.“Dummkopf, denkst du daß macht es mich froh, hier zu sein? Mit dir?” She laughed. “Ich möchte lieber mit einem Bär zu laufen.”
Fool, you think it makes me happy to be here? With you? I’d rather walk with a bear.
A heavy silence descended on them. Helena couldn’t tell what Le Capuchon was thinking, nor did she care. His hood could be hiding the most handsome face she’d ever seen, and it wouldn’t matter.
For one brief moment, she had believed he might care about her. He had released his horse to protect her from injury, after all. And he could have caught her in a less intimate manner. Couldn’t he?
But she didn’t like him, and he didn’t like her, and he’d reminded her of it rather brutally when she pushed her teasing too far. No matter that he’d caught her, he had rejected her as thoroughly as Michael had.
Her foot landed on a slushy patch, and she slipped. Her taciturn companion had been keeping his distance, but he lunged sideways and caught her arm, steadying her.
“Hands off!” Scowling, she shook her arm. “I don’t need your help.”
He raised his hand carefully and leaned away. “Your pardon. It looked like you did.”
His voice had returned to its standard calm. The desire to rile him up flared within her, but she tamped it down. His earlier rejection still stung.
