Grounded By Love (The Giant Wars #2)(34)

A brightly lit campfire greeted her eyes.

Turning to her he took her arm within his strong grip and led her over to the fire, to take a seat before it.

Claira sank to her bottom, legs crossed, and she let out a long exhale of breath. She made sure there was barely any space between where Kaeldar had taken a seat and where she was seated.

Her skin again crawled, as she felt the weight of the rock giants' gazes on her. They had to be curious why Kaeldar had her. As food was passed around, their eyes slowly left her. Now it was her turn to watch them as they talked, drank, and ate.

Eventually, a jar of something was passed around. Kaeldar took a deep swallow of whatever it was, and then held it up before her.

“Would you like some?” He asked.

Claira lifted her shoulders in a shrug. She didn't even know what was inside the jar, so how would she know if she wanted some?

As he handed it over to her, he cautioned her. “Take only a little at first, it is strong.”

She eyed him, as she tipped her head back and took a swig of the liquid.

Liquid fire!

Sputtering, she handed him the jar. Coughing she tried to catch her breath. Her throat felt like it was burning. She couldn't help but wince and let the tears pool in her eyes.

“Strong?” She croaked out of her poor throat, a hand clutching it. It was a demon contained in a bottle.

If that was supposed to be some sort of ale, then it was stronger than anything she’d ever tried. It would clean wounds like nothing else she knew of. It would be painful, but it would do the job.

Kaeldar passed it to another rock giant sitting beside the fire.

“Thank you.”

A hearty laugh escaped him. “I said take a small amount. It's what you get for being greedy.”

She frowned at him, but could see the glint of merriment in his eyes. “It wasn’t like you warned me. It sounded more like a challenge.”

He smirked, while he shook his head.

The jar made another round, and when Kaeldar offered it to her, she took it. Every eye was resting on her, and she didn’t want to appear weak. It might be a strong drink, but she had to start impressing them somehow.

A few scoffs could be heard from around the camp, as she accepted the jar. She knew they must have seen her first encounter with the liquid. She scowled. They had no faith in her. Taking a deep swig, she scrunched her face, as it burned down her throat.

“Might want to watch that, your pretty lips might get stuck that way.”

Her pretty lips? Claira's mouth dropped open, and she turned to him in shock, the burn forgotten. Before she could say anything, he handed her a rabbit leg.

Glad for the distraction, she took it from him. She needed something else in her stomach other than their liquid fire. She was already feeling the effects of the strong alcohol.

The juice dripped down her arm, as she held it aloft and dug in. Even if the rock giants intimidated her, at least they knew how to roast meat over a fire. She took a second piece, as night fell, and the large campfire became the only source of light.

Claira was actually starting to feel a little comfortable. She’d had several swigs of the jar. Every time a jar ran out, they always seemed to have another on hand.

The rock giants didn’t appear to care about her presence anymore either. They were having too much fun play fighting and joking around.

But eventually the attention turned back to her, as a rock giant warrior rose from the other side of the fire and headed her way. Claira thought he’d just pass by, since Kaeldar was sitting next to her.

As she glanced up from her position, the rock giant stopped beside her. His large hand landed on her shoulder, and he pulled her up. She was like a piece of soft clay in his hand. She feared moving because she could end up dislocating her shoulder with the strength he was applying. So she held still, while her heart stuttered in her chest.

His gravelly voice penetrated the night air, as he spoke to the still sitting Kaeldar.

She was amazed. Kaeldar looked unconcerned about the current situation she was in. Although their language consisted of growls and low sounds, she thought he sounded too calm when he eventually spoke to the rock giant who was holding her by the shoulder.

The rock giant slurred something back at Kaeldar. Clearly, he’d been taking some sips from the jar of liquid fire as well.

Her pulse spiked through her body, as adrenaline rushed through her. She felt his hand clamp tighter on her shoulder. At this rate, he was going to cut off blood flow to her arm.

Kaeldar growled back deeply and rose within the blink of an eye. He might be a well-built man, but he was faster than she would’ve ever guessed.

Either the giant who was holding her was dimwitted or too intoxicated to realize he was pissing Kaeldar off. She could read the displeasure within those dark depths of his eyes.

She almost felt like telling the rock giant he should back down before it was too late.

Kaeldar's hand reached for his sword, yet another warning to the rock giant to back away and sleep off his drink.

Looking between the two warriors she was able to see they were reading each other, silently. It was down to which one would make the first move or which would back down first.

Whatever the rock giant read in Kaeldar’s eyes made him abruptly let go of Claira. Rolling her shoulder, she darted over to stand beside Kaeldar, but he stepped towards the other giant and growled in his face.