Chapter 26 · A Dangerous Bait

Kaelen didn't knock. He never did.

The heavy den door banged open hard enough to throw embers across the hearth. Rain slid off his oiled leather coat, frontier mud caked thick on his boots. The silver council crest at his collar gleamed in the firelight like he'd dressed for a funeral and came to make sure it was mine.

His eyes went straight to Torin's hand.

Flat on my stomach. Broad, calloused fingers spread wide over the flat of my stomach under my thin cotton shirt. Possessive as an iron lock.

"Shut the door," Torin said without looking up. "You're letting the freeze in."

"Am I?" Kaelen kicked it shut behind him anyway. The iron latch snapped like a cocked hammer. "I thought I was letting the truth in."

He walked toward the table between us. His boots thudded against the bare pine, heavy and measured. He reached inside his coat and dropped a twist of gray cloth onto the oak. Mine. The corner was torn where I'd tied it tight three nights ago.

"Wildroot and silverleaf," Kaelen said. "Ground down to powder. My scouts swept that rotting shack by the river and pulled this from under the floorboards.