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Louisastared at him, at his enraged flashing eyes, at his dagger still pointing at her face.Itssharpened tip so damned close, curdling genuine fear in her belly, drawing bitter misery behind her eyes.WouldKilliktruly punish her over this?Wouldhe call the deal off, or would he — would he hurt her?Andwhy was she shaking, why was she on the verge of weeping, why did she keep tolerating this, again and again and again —
“I— wasn’t,” she choked. “Iwasn’t,Killik,Iswear,I—”
Butjust then, there were — voices.Arising swarm of voices and footsteps, and now — a person, lurching into the room.Itwas —Sune?
Butyes, that wasSune, but his lean body was on crutches, and he looked — furious.Hoppingwith astonishing speed straight toward them, towardKillik, and —Louisabit back her yelp — he swung up one of his crutches, and hurled it straight towardKillik’shead.
Killikleapt sideways, easily avoiding the flying crutch, butSunekept hopping toward him, signing toward him, his hand’s movements far too swift forLouisato follow.ButclearlyKillikunderstood, his eyes shifting as he watched, as his hand flipped his dagger upwards, tightly gripping its blade in his palm.
Andthen — then more voices, more people, surging into the room.Cecily, andTimo, and — andUlfarr.AndbothCecilyandTimolunged forSune, both of them loudly pleading with him at once, whileUlfarrfroze in the doorway, his big body utterly still, his eyes fixed blankly onLouisa’sface.
Louisawas still breathing hard, her heart pummelling against her ribs, the cursed wetness now streaking down her cheeks.Anddamn it,Ulfarrlooked shocked, and then aghast, the colour draining from his face — and then he came toward her with jerky, erratic steps, and…
Anddragged her into his arms.
“Ach,Louisa,” his voice rumbled, as he folded her trembling body into his, curved his warm safe arms around her back. “Ach, do not look thus.Donot scent thus.Youare safe here.Safe.”
Oh, gods.Itwas like he’d cracked something, broken something deep inside, andLouisaclung to him, buried her face in his chest.Sankinto the stark, stunning strength of him, the steady solidness of him, the sound of his thudding heartbeat beneath his warm chest.Safehere.Safe.Atpeace.
Butthen —Ulfarrstilled.Stiffened.Hisbreaths caught, his hands clenched onLouisa’sback.Andthen he slowly, carefully drew himself away from her, and turned toward the door.Toward— oh.Maria, andSimon.
Theywere standing immobile inside the doorway, both of them staring atLouisa, and atUlfarr.AndwhileSimon’sface was again grim, disapproving,Marialooked pale, and shaky, and… afraid.
“Louisa?” she said, though her voice wavered. “Couldwe… speak to you for a moment?Alone?”
Therewas an instant’s empty, dangling silence, hanging over the room.AndLouisa’srapid sweeping glance foundCecilyandTimolooking uneasy,Sunedarkly frowning, whileKilliklooked downright murderous.AndbesideLouisa,Ulfarr’sface looked suddenly haggard, almost bleak — but he twitched a nod, and then strode with jerky steps toward the door.Keepinghis head down, and givingMariaandSimona wide berth as he slipped out the door, even as his head ducked lower toward them, his hand clenching over his heart.
Louisa’sbelly twisted as she watched him go, her heartbeat thundering louder in her ears — and thenTimoandCecilysilently tuggedSunealong, too.LeavingLouisaalone withSimonandMaria, and —Killik.Whohadn’t moved in the slightest, and was still tightly gripping his dagger’s blade in his fingers, even the sharpened tip, enough that blood was dripping toward the floor.
“Ishall not stop you, or refute you,”Killiksaid towardSimon, his voice emptier thanLouisahad ever heard it. “Butmuch of this was my doing, soIwish to stay.”
Simonangled a searching glance towardMaria, who sighed, and nodded.Andthen she clutched a hand to her own dagger at her side, and turned towardLouisa.
“I’msorry to tell you this, but you deserve to know,” she said, her eyes glinting with pain, with regret. “Ulfarrcan’t be your mate.Ulfarr’snot — safe.He’s— amonster.”
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Ulfarr’snot safe.He’sa monster.
Louisa’sheart skipped a beat, and she suddenly felt curiously frozen in place, as a distant buzzing swarmed in her ears.Notsafe.Amonster.
Amonster.
Butwait, no,Killik.Killikwas here,Killikknew that couldn’t be possible… right?ButLouisa’sdesperate darting glance toward him found his face rigid, immobile, his eyes slowly sliding shut.Asif he was… resigned.Defeated.
Asif it was… true.
Hehas faced and fostered deep darkness.Shallyou stand tall with the shamedWolfof theSkai…
Louisa’sbreaths were coming rapid and shallow, and she forced her gaze back toMaria’spained, regretful face. “Wouldyou be willing,” she began, “to tell me why?”
Andeven as she said it, there was a strange jolting hopefulness, because — because it didn’t make sense, did it?No, no, it didn’t, and perhaps it was all some kind of awful misunderstanding, something that could easily be corrected…
ButMaria’sexpression didn’t change, and she drew in a deep, shaky breath. “Ulfarr— wanted me, whenIfirst came here to the mountain,” she said. “Sohe — trapped me.Hethreatened me.Hetried to seduce me.Hetried to forceSimonto — share me.Hetried tokillSimonso he could steal me, and our son.Andwhen none of that worked, he — he finallykidnappedme.Hedragged me away, deep underground, alone.AndifSimonhadn’t found us,Ulfarrwould have — he would have —”
Hervoice broke, her head shaking, andLouisacouldn’t look away, couldn’t think through the wild wailing of her heartbeat.Ulfarrhad — done that?Ulfarr?Kind, sweet, considerateUlfarr?Trapping?Seducing?Kidnapping?
Somethingwas jamming inLouisa’sbrain, crumpling in on itself, and she shot another helpless, pleading glance atKillik.Killik, who still had his eyes closed, the blood still steadily dripping from his fingers on the dagger.
