“What do you need?” He lifts his brow, waiting for my answer.
Say the words.
Don’t be a coward.
“You.”
An even wider smirk nudges the corner of Hector’s mouth. “That good?”
“I beg your pardon?”
Instead of answering me, he studies me again, his eyes keen as they travel over my face, then lower, taking in my worn surcoat, my unnatural hump, the ash scattered across the table from my hair.
Finally, those blue eyes lift to mine. “Surely, you arenotwho the Seer meant.”
“I am,” I say, hoping he hears the sincerity in my words. “You must believe me.”
“What I believe is what my eyes can see and my ears can hear. You…” He hunches forward and continues, “…are dimwitted and you look like you crawled out of a rat’s nest.”
Mortification blossoms inside me, stirring my temper and loosening my tongue. “And you’re a bastard who enjoys hurting people with your words.”
A hint of a smile teases his mouth as he stands. “Come with me.”
“Why should I?”
“Because you have no other choice.” How annoyingly he says those words. How frustratingly arrogant.
When I frown at him, he adds, “I’ll make sure you get a hot bath and food.”
Hope stirs in my chest as I stand and follow the tall barbarian through the alehouse and out the front door. As we step into the street, the energy of the city surrounds us. The buildings loom tall and close together. The smell of smoke and food cooking over open fires mingles in the air, and the sound of vendors peddling their wares fills my ears.
Hector leads me through the winding streets, his arm brushing against mine as we navigate the crowd. I try to ignore the heat that spreads through my body at his touch, but it’s impossible. After almost a month without him, Ineedthat heat.
“You!” a man shouts.
I stumble and pause as a short man with bushy eyebrows walks from a nearby shop and blocks my path.
“I know you,” he says. “You’re the whore who caused such a fuss in the alehouse.”
“I…”
Hector glares at the man. “Go away.”
The man holds his ground, his eyes locked on me. “She attacked Gideon in the alehouse last night. She will pay for what she did.”
“Are you the one who’s going to make her pay?” Hector asks, his tone lined with sarcasm.
The man stiffens and stands up taller, managing to come to Hector’s chin. “I am.”
A slow smile spreads across Hector’s mouth. “Go ahead.”
The moment the man lunges for me, Hector sweeps the man’s feet out from under him, and the man drops to the ground. Anger burns from his eyes as he quickly rises.
“I thought you were going to do something?” Hector taunts.
The man lurches for me again, and Hector grabs him, hauls him backward, and lands a blow to his stomach. The man falls to his knees, breathing hard.
Hector grips my arm and leads me away from the man and his desire for revenge. I glance over my shoulders to see him still on his knees, glaring.
