My hands were starting to sweat, and my voice had started to quaver. Damn it.
“You wish to be alone.” The harsh rasp of his deep voice made me want to wince as it did every time he spoke.
“Yes. Please.”
He stepped out of the shadows, into the weak, cloud-filtered sunlight.
“You wish for something you do not understand.”
“Um, pretty sure I do. Just go away, Thallirin.” I turned to do the same, but he caught my arm. The massive expanse of his hand fully wrapped around my bicep. Yet, for all his largeness and strength, he held me in place gently.
I’d been held in place gently before and had sworn I would never allow it again.
Turning, I looked into his cold eyes.
“Let go, or I’m going to start screaming.”
His expression flickered, and he released me.
“Do you still look for companionship for dinner?” he asked.
“No. Uan is coming over. And it’s for my mom, not me, just so we’re clear. I meant what I said. I’m not interested in any man.”
“You are still young.”
My hand tightened on my bow as he turned and walked away.
Chapter Three
Mom was nervous, and it had nothing to do with the dog food stew we’d be serving for dinner.
“You look pretty,” I said, standing back to look at her.
She tugged at the skirt of her dress. She didn’t often expose her legs, hating how they looked with so little muscle to them.
“You want to wear pants?”
She shook her head.
“It’s better if he sees what he’s getting into.”
“I don’t think he’ll know there’s a difference,” I said. “Yours will probably be the first set of non-fey legs he’s seen. He’ll think we all walk around on twigs.”
She snorted.
“You’re right. Put on that other dress.”
I groaned, and she laughed. Knowing she was serious, I grabbed the other dress selection she’d somehow acquired and stripped out of my comfortable sweatshirt and jeans.
“You’re getting too thin,” she said, watching me. That was another rule in our house. There was no shame in nudity. There couldn’t be.
“If you’re telling me I’m thin just to stuff me with dog food, I’ll pass.” I started tugging on the dress. “But if you’re going to offer pizza or ice cream, game on. I’m a skinny bitch who needs some carbs.”
She was rolling her eyes at me the moment my head popped through the neckline. The dress fell into place, and she studied me critically.
“I think he’ll be able to tell now,” she said. “Thanks, Bren.”
“Any time, Mom.”
“Now, let’s go see what the master chef has prepared for us this evening.”
She led the way to the kitchen, where Zach had the table set with a large pot in the middle.
“Made a double-batch,” he said.
“Um.” My tone conveyed anything but excitement.
Mom swatted me just as someone knocked at the door.
“I’ll get it,” I said, already moving.
Uan smiled at me when I opened the door. He wore a button-up shirt that hugged his arms and chest so snugly, I knew he’d bust a seam before the night was over.
“Hey, Uan. Come in.” I stepped aside and closed the door behind him.
His eyes swept the space until they landed on Mom. They stared at each other for a long moment.
“Mom, this is Uan. Uan, this is my mom, Nancy.”
“I know,” Uan said. He moved to Mom, towering over her. “You are a very beautiful woman, Nancy. I will like talking to you.”
She smiled.
“Dinner’s ready. Let’s eat.”
Any earlier annoyance I felt toward Uan faded during our drawn-out dinner. Mom enjoyed talking to him, and Uan couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
“Would you like to go for a walk, Nancy?” Uan said when I took his bowl.
“I would love to, but my chair doesn’t like snow.”
“I know. I want to carry you.”
I glanced over my shoulder and met Mom’s questioning gaze with a shrug. She’d known what she was getting into. The fey were handsy if given a chance. Did she honestly think her legs would stop that?
“I would love to go for a walk. Let me just change.”
“There is no need. I will wrap you in a blanket.” He was already standing and grabbing a blanket from the back of the couch. I wondered just how long he’d been thinking about asking her.
In two blinks, Mom was swaddled and in his arms. She tried moving her arms and gave me an annoyed look.
“You okay, Mom?” I asked, giving her a chance to speak up.
“Er…”
“She will be fine,” Uan said.
“Okay. Don’t keep her out too long,” I said, opening the door for Uan.
“Brenna, we’re going to talk when I get home,” she said as they passed.
I laughed.
“Have fun, you two.”
When I closed the door, Zach was there, shaking his head at me.
“That wasn’t nice.”
“I gave her the opportunity to speak up, and she didn’t. And, she doesn’t like when we baby her. I was trying to set a good example for Uan.”
“Do you think she’ll buy that?”
I grinned.
“I’m going to go change then go out back and practice.”
He was waiting for me by the door with his own quiver when I reemerged.
“Has Mom said anything more about you finding your own guy?” he asked, following me outside.
“Nope. She doesn’t need to. It seems like the fey are playing their own dating game.”
My brother, who took after my father with his light brown hair and grey eyes, gave me a sharp, protective look.
“What do you mean?”
“When I went out to find a fey to come over for dinner, the ones I talked to ran off because they didn’t want to upset Thallirin.”
“I don’t blame them. That guy’s scary.”
I nudged him with my shoulder as we set up.
“It’s because Thallirin likes me and they don’t want to step on his toes, not because they’re afraid of him.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah. Ah.” I let loose my first arrow.
“You tell him to piss off?”
“I tried. But you know what it’s like talking to the fey. They don’t actually hear what you’re saying and only understand what they want.”
Zach nocked two arrows, a technique he’d been trying to improve with little accuracy. I stepped back, giving him room.
“I saw Matt Davis today,” I said. “He’s looking for volunteers to guard Tenacity’s walls tomorrow so he can send more people out for supplies. Only human volunteers, though. Want in?”
“You know it.”
“Good. We leave at dawn.”
Mom yawned widely, and I grinned.
“Late night?” I asked, knowing it had been. Uan had returned her hours after they’d left. Mom’s face had been flushed with cold, and her eyes a bit glazed.