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Garrek’s eyes flashed white.
“Didn’t know I was coming here to be interrogated by Fallon’s female,” he growled.
“I’m not his female, I’m his wife,” I shot back instantly, surprising myself. I’d never wanted to be somebody’s wife before. And now I was throwing the word out there like some kind of badge of honour. Like I was proud of it. “And when I ask a question, I expect an answer.”
Woo doggies. Annoying your husband’s acquaintances was definitely a no-no in the Being a Good Wife Book. My mom had absolutely mastered the art of simpering and smiling at the wealthy and political elite my father surrounded himself with, despite how odious she might have found any of those individuals.
But I wasn’t about to back down when Magnolia’s safety was on the line.
Garrek wasn’t having any of it. He flexed his claws and then rested his hands on his belt, his blue tail flicking about in an agitated fashion that suddenly made me think of a cat.
“You think I want to bring her along? Or him?” he said in a furious, low voice, stabbing his twitchy tail towards Killian. “I didn’t ask to drag some soft, unprepared female into the mountains alongside my beasts and convict-ward. It’s the last blasted thing I need and it’s exactly why I chose not to take a bride of my own.” He scrubbed his hand viciously against his jaw.
Yeah. About that…
“Don’t think I didn’t see how white your eyes got when you looked at her,” I reminded him, crossing my arms. “She’s Oaken’s fiancée and she is beside herself with excitement at meeting him. So don’t get in the way of that.”
“I… They went white with surprise at her appearance,” he said after a tense moment of hesitation.
I snorted.
“Yeah, right. You didn’t get all white-eyed when you looked at me, and I’m just as weird-looking and human as she is.”
“She isn’t weird-looking.”
No. She was absolutely freaking gorgeous and he obviously knew it, based on those glowy goo-goo eyes he was giving her earlier.
This conversation wasn’t getting us anywhere. I was probably being too argumentative. Garrek hadn’t given me a reason not to trust him. I was just feeling protective of Magnolia. I was going to miss her like hell, and I was channelling that feeling into combativeness towards him. You’re always so abrasive, my mom would tell me.
Frigid fucking bitch, as Massimo would say.
Well, I wasn’t going to be fake right now and pretend I was all happy-go-lucky about this situation. But maybe I could be a tiny bit nicer.
“Look. Magnolia is my best friend. Other than during a very brief period in childhood where I didn’t know any better and I adored my crazy narcissist mother, she’s the only woman I’ve ever loved like family. I care for her like a sister, way more than I care about my actual blood sisters.”
Both of us looked at the outhouse, which Magnolia was now exiting, aiming her cute, gap-toothed smile at Killian.
“She may not be some experienced cowgirl ready to take on the hardships of this planet,” I went on. “But she’s kind. She’s helpful. She’s smart as fuck and she won’t get in your way. She’s sweet and romantic and all she wants to do is fall in love and I just-” My throat ached. “I just need to make sure she’ll be alright.”
The anger seemed to seep out of Garrek’s expression, but the exhaustion remained.
“There are no guarantees,” he said at length. “There weren’t any guarantees in what I’d thought was the safe world of Zabria and there are even fewer here. Travelling to meet Oaken will be hard. It will be dangerous. I can’t promise completely safe passage for any of us.”
I took in a breath to interrupt him, but he ploughed on.
“All I can promise is that I will put her life and safety above my own.”
Well, that shut me up for a good ten seconds.
“You… You’re saying you’d put her life before your own? You’d die to protect her?” I asked in astonishment, wanting to make sure he hadn’t used some phrase that had translated poorly and really meant something else.
There was no boasting or hint of bullshit in his reply when he answered, “Yes.” His gaze was on Killian as the boy went into the outhouse. “For either of them.”
With a sigh that made it sound like he carried the whole world on his shoulders, he added, “Foolish as it probably makes me, it’s the truth. Are you satisfied?”
Oddly… I was.
It didn’t seem like there was anything left to say. At least, not tonight. I nodded and then walked away.
