“I told them where we were so they knew to come get their guy.”
“He snatched you and killed your Dad, but you found it in your heart to save his life.”
“I’m not a monster. I couldn’t leave him there.”
She’d robbed me and left me to die. “How did you know where you landed?”
“A compass on the bike’s dashboard.”
“True.”
“The beast died shortly after. Before the help arrived.”
“Penance,” I said. “For taking you.”
“I’m surprised you agree.”
Sienna put the tray away, then stood there for a second. “You’re not as bad as him,” she said.
“Not at all.” I am worse.
“In a few hours, I’ll return with lunch and breakfast. Three meals a day.” It was already after eight at night. I chuckled.
She winked at me and opened the door.
“Thank you,” Zarik said from the hallway. He and the guard walked inside carrying water buckets. They dropped the buckets and pulled the tub to the middle of the room, then poured the water inside the tub. The guard left immediately while Zarik stayed. “For his bath,” he told Sienna.
“He needs one. Can you help him inside? Then we can be off.”
Wait, what? We? There was no “we” with Zarik and Sienna, and there never would be. And I was certain I’d have to kill this male when he brushed his knuckles over her shoulder. The only thing that saved his hand was Sienna. She recoiled from his touch. Damn straight! I sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. “Thank you, Zarik. That will be all.”
He snorted.
“Got something to say?” I cracked my neck.
His gaze drifted to my stump. I was the weaker of the two of us, but I outranked him and Sienna was mine. Mine! I growled a warning.
“Okay, then,” Sienna said and pushed Zarik out the door. She slammed it shut, folded her arms on her chest, and glared at me.
“What?” I barked.
“What’s your problem?”
“Oh, I can’t even count them all.”
“Try.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You care for me and me only.”
“I care for whomever Hasel asks me to care for, and when you leave, this beast will stay. Such is my shit life until I can leave too.”
“Where are you going?”
“Nowhere. Remember my dad?”
“Mm-hm.”
“He’s alive, and he’s gonna find me. When he finds me, I’m going home.” She flung open the door. “Bye!”
“Wait,” I said. “Do you remember his name?”
“Whose?”
“The beast from the lake?” Shit! Too late. She’d never mentioned a lake.
“Priest. They call him Priest.”
Chapter Seven
Sienna
Hasel blocked the hallway as I attempted a dash to the east wing. She wore a dark green kilt and a black T-shirt, still lighter in color than her eyes, which narrowed. “He needs a bath.”
I tried to smile as sweetly as I could, but the thought of touching him made me…uncomfortable. I’d hoped I could avoid it or at least postpone it until tomorrow. No luck there. I spun on my heel and went back inside his room. I’d bathed Zarik, but this beast was no Zarik. This one gawked at me, made me feel pretty and uncomfortable at the same time.
I pushed my sleeves above my elbows, then got a chair and sat next to the tub. I dipped my elbow inside. The water was warm. “Hop in,” I said.
Torrent sat up, and the sheets slipped and fell on his lap so I could see his entire torso, his chest, all corded muscle covered in tattoos. If he was this wide starving, I couldn’t imagine how big he was on three meals a day. I shook my head. That wasn’t entirely true. I could imagine what he looked like on three meals a day. But I chose not to think about that now, or I’d run away from the only place that fed me and end up starving somewhere in the desert. So I stared. Whereas Zarik was lean, Torrent was built wide and…okay, so maybe even sexier with the tattoos. I liked the tattoos. Hunters didn’t wear them.
Torrent stood, tilted a bit, then found his balance long enough for the sheets to fall on the floor. There he was in all his naked glory. My gaze followed the sheets to the floor and stayed on them. For the first time, I noticed the bloodstains and pointed. “You need a new dressing for the leg.”
“Forget my leg. You’re welcome to look at the rest of me,” he said.
I didn’t. “Zarik covers his…his man parts.”
“Does he now?”
“With a towel over his middle.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Maybe because you wouldn’t. He’s not so forward. Much nicer than you.”