Page 35

Her mouth dropped open. Had he just killed a man?

He moved away from her then, pulling out his sword and walking toward the foot of the cave.

She turned and watched in fascination as he pulled a cloth from the saddlebag and began to wipe the blood away. Was she really watching this?

“It matters to me,” she said at last.

Finished, he tossed the cloth into the fire and placed his sword on the ground next to one of the bedrolls in the mouth of the cave.

“No,” he said finally. “I did not kill him.”

He sat and nodded toward the empty bedroll next to him. “We’ll be leaving at first light.”

Oh my God. For real? He was just going to go to sleep after that?

“Tristan,” she said, attempting to remain calm. “What happened?”

She made her way toward him slowly, cautiously. Not that she was afraid of him. It was just . . . she’d only seen two men fight, really fight, once in her life. During her senior year of college, some jerk catcalled her right in front of her boyfriend in a nightclub. Without saying a word, her boyfriend hauled back and punched the guy in the face, the sound one she could still remember. They were promptly tossed out of the bar.

Sure, she hadn’t seen anything happen this time, but she’d seen the outcome on his sword. She sat and waited, staring at him expectantly.

“A shoulder wound,” Tristan said. “It was enough of a warning, and at least I’ll be able to sleep now.”

“What do you mean?”

“They knew we were here, so I planned to stay awake to be sure they didn’t return. Most likely they’d only planned to steal the horse—”

“But how did you hear them? I couldn’t hear a sound. Well, I barely could anyway, even when you were down there.”

Hannah pulled a blanket over her legs. Though it was a scratchy wool one, at least it would keep her warm.

For the first time since he returned, Tristan smiled. And while his bedroom eyes had been something to contend with, this was much, much worse.

“I have many skills, my lady, that you’re not yet aware of.”