“We need to get out of here first.” Luc ties a strip of cloth around his nose and mouth. “Otherwise, none of us will be able to breathe.”
He throws another piece of linen toward Everly. She catches it and uses it to clean my hands and face.
As the men remount their horses, Everly nods toward her mare. “You could ride with me, Sol. Since your horse…” Her gaze lands on my mare, struck through the chest with an arrow.
Sadness stabs me at the realization that the moment she fell, she had already lost her grip on life.
“Sol will ride with me,” Hector says.
Frustration shreds through me. I don’t want to be that close to him. Not now. Not ever.
“Did you hear me?” he asks, his tone brittle.
Breathe.
Just breathe.
You can do this.
I inhale cool air and turn to face the man I foolishly wed myself to.
ChapterSeven
Acool wind bites at my cheeks as I pin my gaze on the man sitting on the gelding not more than a few feet from where I stand. He sits casually as if I didn’t just…
Olah, help me.
I cannot even think the words.
A broadsword rests across Hector’s lap, but it’s not his blade drawing my attention. It’s those silver-blue eyes I have always adored.
There is nothing to adore now. Not when they stare with coldness—coldness, he aims directly at me.
I gulp in a quick breath and will my heart to stop pounding so hard.
He scoots back, places his sword into his scabbard, and jerks his chin toward the space in front of him. Determined to not make a fool out of myself, I march to where he sits, grab hold of the saddle with my bound hands, place my left foot in the stirrup, and throw my other leg over Hale’s back. Hector catches my hips and situates me in front of him.
Warmth lingers where his hands grip me.
It shouldn’t be there. Especially now.
As quickly as he touched me, he removes his hands, leaving behind only the memory.
His men watch us. Probably silently judge me. Probably think about all the ways they will make me pay for what I did to their chieftain.
Unlike the first time we rode a horse together, Hector doesn’t pull me close. Instead, he stays stiff and unforgiving.
I long to turn around, to really look at him, to see his black hair, his strong jawline, his full mouth. To remember him how he was. Not how he is now.
So callous. So indifferent. So hostile.
I grip my fingers together until they ache. “Please don’t blindfold me again.” Tighter and tighter, I squeeze my hands as I try to not think about what just happened. “I cannot bear it.”
“Why?” Hector asks, his voice carrying above the pounding of my heart.
“It brings back too many memories, and I…” I swallow.I panicked.
“What memories?”
