The Dream Crafter(39)
Merc continued. “I’d do the same. I have secrets that compel me, and I have a path to follow. Though maybe in the end it doesn’t make any difference, I don’t want our words to be lies. I’d rather have silence.”
*
Her gaze didn’t leave him. Even now, while she was sipping soda that he’d picked up from a drive-thru, the weight of her regard settled hard against him. For the first time in memory, he found himself unsettled as it regarded a woman, fought against squirming so she wouldn’t see how she was affecting him.
The last hours had been silent, but the tension that had marked their encounters since he’d grabbed her away from the Guild had abated. No, it wasn’t imagination that he’d been breathing easier, though part of him wished that was the case. Imagination meant more training. Reality meant she had clawed her way inside him deeper than he had suspected.
Now it was afternoon, and their safe house was finally in sight, a little cabin an hour off the main road which he’d used once in the past and should be stocked with supplies unless either a hiker or a bunch of kids out for a weekend of trouble came across it and helped themselves.
Her expressive face held curiosity as it took in the cabin, and he answered the unspoken question. “It’s a bolthole of mine. We’ll be here for a couple nights.”
“Serial killer movies often start this way,” Amana said, as she exited the car and made her way up the stone-and-dirt driveway to the cabin.
“We’re not in a group of college coeds, and people much worse than serial killers are after us already.”
She stopped short and whipped her head towards him, those little lines that always popped out on her forehead when he said something she couldn’t quite parse stood out with clear delineation. “Most men would take the opportunity to reassure their partner everything is okay.”
“Oh. Next time I’ll do that, but only if the Guild isn’t following us. And really, they’re the least of our worries. I guarantee we’re the most wanted couple in the Realms.”
“Let’s agree right now you are never to try to reassure me again.” She shook her head and continued up the stairs, not looking if he was following. “Besides, I don’t know why you’re worrying. I saw how you beat Fallon. Even if you didn’t kill her, being able to win against her…”
Now she looked back at him, her eyes wide and admiring, and damned if that look didn’t scramble his insides and heat up his belly. Pushing the sudden awareness down, Merc took two quick strides to get in front of her as they got near the door. Everything might look neat and cozy from the outside and none of his traps were disturbed, but that meant exactly zilch.
He traveled through, keeping her close behind him, but the easy peace wasn’t a decoy. At the moment, they were all alone.
“So what now?” Amana asked, curling up on the big couch in front of the fireplace. The cabin wasn’t huge, two floors both wide open, the downstairs a kitchen, small eating area, and large sitting area, and the upstairs all bedroom, the only room with a door being the bathroom off the bedroom and the adjoining closet.
“We’ll be here two days, maybe three if we’re lucky, but no more than that. I’ve got people looking into some situations for me. Depending on what they tell me, that will decide what I do next.”
“Was that why we were in the club?”
“Yeah. Speaking of, it’s not a good idea to wander off with anyone, whether they tell you they’re from the Guild or not.” Her face went red faster than she could duck her head and twist away, and he didn’t need words now for confirmation of what happened that night. Well, that wasn’t the point of bringing it up. “I’ve been thinking you need a way to defend yourself. That jackass was only the first.”
With a tentative turn of her head Amana met his eyes again. After a few expectant moments, her eyes flickering around as if she was looking for what else was coming, she said, “Okay?”
He pushed down the smile at her hesitant attitude, amusement at having her so off balance in front of him streaking through his system. Well, it was only fair, considering how often she put him in that state. He could let her stew in it a few more moments. “Come on,” he said, heading for the door, walking slow enough he could keep an ear out and waiting until she was up and behind him before he sped up. They went behind the house to a large field, with the sun overhead – bright but not blinding – and the late fall weather crisp but comfortable.
“Have you had any type of weapons training?” She wouldn’t admit it even if she had, but from what he saw, he doubted it. From what he witnessed he’d say she was into dancing or yoga, along those lines. She was healthy and physically fit, but there was nothing aggressive about her, nothing that suggested any type of fighting background.