He couldn’t escape out the tower without being killed, so he would have to take her hostage. The whole abbey would be thrown into an uproar, and she and Wulf would have to go out into the cold again, and she’d only just gotten back.
Was it wrong of her to want to just sit? It didn’t feel wrong. She glanced at his psyche where the shadow of a wolf lay on its paws, its entire attention focused on her. The wolf was beautiful. It was a dangerous, perfectly natural creature. She kept hunting for the monster in him, but the monster wasn’t there.
Heaving a sigh, she gave up, sat beside him, and curled her legs underneath her. “What are you doing?”
“I brought your presents.” Opening the bag, he pulled out the chocolate bars and the can of Chef Boyardee along with the jars of caviar and salt bread. “I also brought supplies for myself. Climbing in cold weather is hungry work.”
He had brought presents to a fight. Oh goddess. What did she feel? Exasperation? Laughter? What? Throwing her arms wide, she flung herself back onto the pillows. “It’s going to be dark soon. You need to go, Wulf.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, I can’t go out in that. If I try to make that climb in the dark, it’d kill me. I’m going to have to stay until morning.”
He was lying, shamelessly. He had to know she could sense it.
She squinted at his face, which remained in profile. He still hadn’t looked at her. How strange, that such an ephemeral boundary would hold him when he had trampled over almost everything else. There was a sophisticated reasoning behind it that she couldn’t quite grasp.
“You know I can tell you’re lying, don’t you?” she demanded.
The corner of his lips pulled into a smile. “You’ve already proven you don’t want to hurt me, so we’ll have to find a way to coexist for a while.”
She glared at him. “Have you made a plan for how your witch is going to cloak you when you go?”
He shrugged. “I thought I might know someone who would agree to help me out.”
He was impossible. She couldn’t throw him out the window. She wouldn’t call for help. If he tried to leave during daylight, he would almost certainly be seen unless she cloaked him. And if she didn’t agree to help him, he would be stuck in her tower until the next night.
Of course she would help him. She couldn’t stand idly by and watch him get killed, and he knew it. Besides, it might be the only way she could get rid of him.
As she debated, he said gently, “Put it all aside for now. Take a break from whatever demons are crushing you. What was your final verdict on the caviar? Yes or no?”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she said, “No.”
“Great. All the more for me.” He set the caviar aside. “Now, about this Chef Boyardee. You are going to owe me for this.”
“What do you mean?” She snorted. “I don’t owe you anything.”
His smile deepened. Reaching behind him, he dangled the can in her general direction. “What is the verdict? Do you want this? Yes or no?”
Damn it, she did. She hadn’t eaten much since the late supper Gordon had brought to her tent, and she was hungry. “Yes.”
“Then you owe me the story of how you came to like this food from Earth, and why.” He paused. “You also owe me a taste so I can see what all the fuss is about.”
Okay, he finally got her. Curling on her side, she laughed. “You are going to hate it. Everybody does. It’s horrible. Objectively, even I know that. It shouldn’t even be called food.”
“Now I’m even more intrigued to hear your story.” Using a knife, he opened the can by puncturing the edges of the lid repeatedly until he could bend back the metal. Cautiously, he inspected the orange contents and sniffed at it.
Laughing harder, she sat and held out her hand. “Here, give it to me. And stop trying so hard to avoid looking at me. It’s all right now.” She added quickly, “But it’s still not all right that you’re here.”
“I am well aware of that, Lily.” Turning his head, he looked into her eyes and smiled. “Yet here we sit. I propose we make the best of it.”
8
He was supposed to be brutal and domineering, not charming and insouciant. Now he really wasn’t living up to his reputation.
The intensity in his gaze was too much. She reached for his knife, and he let her take it. “This is supposed to be heated, but I like it cold too.”
Using the tip of his knife, she fished out a piece of ravioli and ate it with relish while he watched her, still smiling.
When she swallowed, he rubbed the corner of her mouth gently with the ball of his thumb, then licked it.
Dear goddess. Warmth washed over her skin.
He smiled. “Tell me the story.”
She surveyed the contents in the can. “I’m not actually from Ys. I used to live in a place called southern Indiana.”
He puzzled over that information, then said, “The language on the can is English.”
“Yes. Indiana is in the United States, in North America.”
Opening a jar of caviar and a packet of salt bread, he dipped a corner of a wafer in the jar and then popped it in his mouth. Around the bite, he said, “You must have had quite a journey. Ys doesn’t have any crossover passageways to America.”
“No, all our passageways are connected to Europe.” She looked into the cheery flames leaping in the fireplace. How could she tell this story quickly? “My early childhood was… complicated. When I was a toddler, we were poor, and we lived in a small town. My mother drank, and she had several men come and go until one of them stayed. He cooked meth, which is a very addictive, illegal drug.”
As she spoke, his subtle playful attitude had disappeared, and he watched her intently. “That doesn’t sound like a good home for a child.”
“No,” she said. “Mind you, I was too young to comprehend most of it. When the abbey took me in, the priestesses scried to find out where I was from and what had happened to me. I’m sure I breathed chemicals I shouldn’t have, and I was mostly left to my own devices, but I didn’t really understand, you know? I do remember that one of my favorite meals was Chef Boyardee and a packet of M&M’s—which is a kind of chocolate candy—for dessert. Occasionally I still like to eat them.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “How did you get from there to here?”
She blew out a breath. “Camael led me here. I was a strange child, and… Let’s just say I saw things that weren’t physically present. I still do.”
He frowned. “Didn’t your mother ever have you tested for magic?”
She said wryly, “I don’t think she was that functional. Anyway, one night a shining woman walked into my bedroom. She kissed me on the forehead and said, ‘Come with me, little love.’ She was so beautiful, and I was very excited, and I asked if she would be my new mommy. She told me, ‘In a way, I will. But you must be brave as a lion and do as I say.’ So I did. I took my pillow and my stuffed bunny, and I walked out of the house.”