Page 6

Teresa was the most dangerous being on this damned planet.

I stood up to my full height and she stumbled, her mouth dropping open just a bit in clear surprise.

Her gaze darted around. We were ten miles from town. What was she doing out here? I kept the question to myself. I’d learned in the cages under the arena that keeping quiet could give you more of an advantage than horns or claws ever could. People always talked… eventually.

But Teresa didn’t immediately say anything. She straightened her shoulders and kept walking straight toward me. “Good afternoon.” Her greeting was cautious. “I didn’t realize anyone lived out this far.”

I shrugged.

“You’re… Rauf, right?” The way that syllable rolled off her tongue sent a wave of heat right through me.

I kept my expression as blank as death. Perhaps I was addled by her scent and the fantasies our masters had tried to once spin in our minds, but seeing her here felt almost like a fight.

And I won fights.

“My name is Teresa. I just moved into town. I thought I’d hike around to get the lay of the land.” Her words came out in a bit of a rush, like she was worried I might tell her some nonsense about danger or try and forbid her from coming near my land.

She was a free woman, an adult. I had no say over her and I wouldn’t allow myself to consider anything else.

Her braid lay over one shoulder, and I wanted to take the end of it in my hand. I could picture her close enough to taste, her palms against my chest while I bent to kiss her. My body responded before I’d managed to get my mind off her mouth. I shifted the hammer in front of me and thanked the damned thing for once.

She started to look back the way she’d come, as if she was going to turn back and head home.

“You’re a long way from town.” I had to say something to keep her here and cursed myself for the impulse. I didn’t have to do anything and the last place she needed to be was among the Butchers.

“I like to hike. I mentioned heading up into the foothills to explore but Korfas—” She cleared her throat. “But I guess I should wait until I have a hiking buddy.”

“It can be dangerous up there, even to those of us familiar with the area.”

She rolled her eyes. “Now you sound like him.”

“Take that back.” My horns lowered like I could gore someone in threat. If Korfas were here, I’d fight him on principle. The nerve of this little human to imply I was anything like that sniveling deputy.

“Do you have something against… no, forget I asked that. Are there a lot of homesteads like this out here? I’ve been walking for a few hours and I haven’t seen much of anything since I left town.” She shifted her pack higher on her shoulder and glanced toward the house. It was a fair question. From the road she’d have seen the fence and a few outbuildings, with the rest of the farm tucked behind a rise.

“Most of the bulls live in town or just around it. We like our space out here.”

“Understandable. I didn’t realize a town that small could be so crowded.” She reached into the pack on her back and pulled out a bottle of water, drinking it down greedily. I watched a drop that escaped her mouth and traced its way over her chin and down her neck.

I tore my gaze away.

But Teresa was looking at me like she’d caught me staring. My shirt collar had slipped to one side while I worked, leaving the scar on my neck uncovered. Her gaze followed the old claw marks from my jaw to where they disappeared beneath the cloth. I’d caught plenty of people looking at them, usually just before they decided to give me more room. Teresa stepped nearer to the fence. I could feel sweat drying along my neck, and I wanted to know what her fingers would feel like there.

“Do you want to know how it happened?” I tilted my head to the side so she could get an even better look. It should have terrified her.

Teresa’s gaze turned assessing. She raised her hand up like she was going to touch the silvery skin before pausing and letting it hover in the air. “Claws of some kind, I’d imagine. Feline, perhaps. In the arena?”

I held still. She was close enough now that I could see a fleck of dirt caught in her braid. All she had to do was stretch her fingers a little farther. She lowered her hand instead, giving me time to speak. I’d expected her to flinch when I offered to tell her.

Now I was the one having trouble looking at her. “The arena was life.”

A thin cry came from up the road. Teresa turned before I did. It came again, weaker this time, from the scrub along the outside of the fence. Teresa had already started toward it by the time I picked up my hammer and followed.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Something in pain.”

Teresa hurried up the road. I went around the end of the fence to catch up, and we found a glow-goat half hidden beneath a thorn bush. One hind leg stuck out across the dirt, but nothing held it there. Teresa set her pack down well clear of the thorns and dropped to her knees. I laid the hammer by the fence and crouched on the goat’s other side, keeping the branches off her back while she got a look at it.