The six of them walked through the trees and gathering darkness in near silence. Vedin was breathing hard, but he kept up with the pace she’d set. She stopped at the edge of the trees overlooking Eli’s home. All was quiet.
He moved up beside her and leaned down to speak close to her ear. “I have some problems of my own, so let me go ahead. I’ll flash the lights twice if it’s safe to approach. If I don’t give the all clear within five minutes, hightail it out of here and call your father for help.”
What problems? She started to protest, “But—”
“I mean it, Safara. You don’t need to get tangled up in my mess on top of everything else you’re dealing with right now. Promise you’ll do as I say.”
She wanted to refuse, but once again her unconditional loyalty to her people kicked in. She couldn’t put Vedin and his men at further risk. “Fine, but don’t expect me to be happy about it.”
His grin shone brightly in the shadows. “I won’t.”
Then he brushed his lips across hers before disappearing back into the trees. He was all but invisible as he circled around to approach the cabin from the other side. That made sense. If anyone was watching, he’d draw their attention away from where she and her companions stood waiting.
Each of the Kalith males gave her an odd look and then turned to stare toward the trees where Eli had gone. Maybe they didn’t approve of a Kalith woman letting a human man kiss her. She might have her own misgivings on the subject, but it was her decision to make. She flexed her hand on the pommel of her sword. If any of them dared to voice an opinion on the subject, she’d set them straight big-time.
Speaking of Eli, how long had he been gone? It seemed like forever, but it couldn’t have been more than three, maybe four minutes. Finally, the lights in the kitchen window flickered on and off twice before coming back on to stay.
“All right, it’s safe to go now.”
The five of them moved out single file, still keeping a wary eye on their surroundings. Eli opened the front door just as she stepped up on the porch. He looked past her to Vedin. “Come in and have a seat.”
His intense gaze switched back to her. “While I patch up your friend, would you mind seeing what kind of food you can scrounge for us?”
Okay, that might be a problem. “Vedin, do you and your men ever eat meat?”
From the look that flashed across Eli’s face, it was obvious that he was a hard-core carnivore. Her people tended to be vegetarian, but mainly because meat was so hard to come by in Kalithia. It was hard not to snicker, but she didn’t want to insult either him or their guests. From the slight smile on Vedin’s face, she suspected he had also noticed Eli’s response. “We will eat whatever you can provide and be grateful for it.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
While she rooted through the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator to come up with enough to feed six people, Eli made quick work of cleaning the wound on the back of Vedin’s head. The Kalith warrior then stripped off his tunic to allow easy access to the gash on his right forearm, which revealed his well-muscled torso. Wow, the man was totally ripped. When Eli caught her watching, he frowned. He immediately ducked back down the hall and returned with a short-sleeved T-shirt for Vedin to wear. Maybe he thought it would keep the Kalith warrior warm, but she suspected he didn’t much like the guy flashing all those muscles around her.
Cute.
After wiping away the dried blood, Eli studied the wound on Vedin’s arm. “These butterfly bandages should be enough. I’ve stitched a few wounds in my time, but that hurts like hell. I’ll leave the choice up to you.”
Vedin nodded in the direction of the bandages Eli had held up. “Those should be fine. My gift of healing is a minor one, but this wound will be almost gone by tomorrow this time.”
Eli jerked as if he’d been shocked. What was that all about? He immediately schooled his features, which she took to mean he wouldn’t want her to ask him right now. Later, though, she’d find some way to bring up the subject. She turned her attention back to their makeshift meal while he finished wrapping Vedin’s arm with gauze and surgical tape.
“The food is ready. Come serve yourselves.”
She waited until the five men filed over to the counter before speaking again. “I heated up two kinds of soup—chicken noodle and vegetable beef. You can make your own sandwiches. You have a choice of ham, salami, turkey, and two kinds of cheese.”
Vedin translated her explanation for his men, who evidently didn’t speak English, or at least not enough to easily follow what she’d said.
Even then, they waited and watched while Eli made his way along the lineup, filling his plate and soup bowl as he went. Once they were all settled at the table, she fixed her own plate and joined them.
Despite the simple fare, the four Kalith warriors seemed to enjoy the meal. No one seemed inclined to do much talking, which was fine with her. She had a difficult conversation ahead of her once the Sworn Guardian and his men returned home. As if sensing the direction her thoughts had gone, Eli looked up. He seemed remarkably calm for a man whose entire view of reality had just been radically altered.
He finished the last bite of his sandwich and sat back. “Do you guys feel up to returning home tonight, or do you need to crash on my living room floor?”
The puzzled look on Vedin’s face as he tried to figure out what Eli was asking him was pretty funny. The idioms in English were often a puzzle to the Kalith no matter how fluent they were in the language.
She did her best to explain. “He’s asking if you want to sleep on his floor rather than hike back up to cross the barrier tonight.”
Eli laughed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how that sounded. Crashing in this case means to stay somewhere unexpectedly.”
“Thank you both for the explanations and the kind offer.” Vedin paused to speak to his men before continuing. “We should return home as soon as possible. I need to report the attack on us to our Guildmaster and alert him that the rogues have become more active in this area. He will need to increase patrols near the cave on our side of the barrier.”
