Fearless (Nameless #3)(49)
Gryphon wasn’t used to looking up at anyone, but the Kodiak before him, outfitted with a long fur cape fastened in front by a single bear claw, stood a few inches taller than him. From massive shoulders hung thick arms covered in black ink. Black paint smeared beneath his eyes framed a wide nose with nostrils flaring as he studied Gryphon.
Murtog, chief of the Kodiak.
“Chief.” Laden stepped between Gryphon and the beast of a man, offering a slight bow and then a hand of welcome. “Thank you for joining us. Allow me to personally see you to your tent. We have men on hand prepared to get you settled before tonight’s celebration.”
“This is the Ram I’ve heard so much about? Where are his chains?”
Gryphon gritted his teeth, but Laden robbed him of the chance to answer.
“He is a guest in my camp, Chief.” Laden didn’t feel the need to explain more, but lifted a hand to usher the chief and the long stream of men in his wake to the eastern portion of the valley, where Ikatou and the other Kodiak already camped. After briefly locking eyes with Gryphon, Murtog scowled and turned to follow Laden.
Zo snaked her arm through his and whispered into his ear, “I think he likes you.”
Her eyes danced with mirth and such flirtatious relief it made his heart double its speed and his stomach turn flips. She squealed as he wrapped her up by the knees and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of grain.
A few passing Kodiak eyed him with disdain, but he didn’t care. He’d never seen her so carefree, so unaffected by the troubles surrounding her. Ikatou’s bellowing laughter followed them as Gryphon ran her up the mountain, putting to shame any of the sprints he’d done that week. When he finally set her feet to the ground she grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt and pulled him against her until their lips met with the energy of a hundred battles.
She had the terrifying power to alter him from trained, self-composed soldier to animal with just a look … a touch. How could he survive without her? Moreover, how could he leave her to meet Ajax and Chief Barnabas knowing there was a very real chance he might never return?
“What’s wrong?” Zo released his imprisoned lips. She had read his emotions a lot since they reunited in the wilderness. Her healing abilities went beyond pushing emotion and healing energy, as before. Now, she seemed to take the emotional temperature, sampling the energy around her as one might sample a tray of desserts.
“Is something troubling you?” Concern shown in the downward sloping lines of her face. Was it possible that she still doubted him? What would she think when she learned about the other mishaps of camp? Would she blame him for those too? The idea that she might not trust him hurt more than Ikatou’s fists.
Her breath tickled his ear as her lips grazed the skin of his neck. “My blood oath is as good as fulfilled, Gryph. We’re together. Joshua and Tess are safe. Everything is finally working out.” A pause. “Isn’t it?” More concern. More uncertainty.
“I missed you.” It was all Gryphon could manage.
That earned him a tentative smile. Such a beautiful smile.
He leaned in and captured her lips once more before pulling her close and resting his chin on her head. For all of his physical and tactical prowess, he never felt as powerful as he did when she was in his arms. But the exhilaration was cheapened by the monumental lie still separating them. Every time he allowed himself to think of a future life with Zo, Barnabas’s sneer pushed hope from his thoughts like a bird from its nest.
A cool thread of peace washed over him, dampening his anxieties about the uncertain future.
Zo again. Reading his fears. Healing him.
“Thank you,” he said, kissing the top of her head once more.
“Don’t thank me.” The light tone of her voice seemed forced. “Every healer charges a fee for her work.”
“Oh really? And what is my fee?”
“A dance at the festival.”
Gryphon’s anxiety flared again, and Zo allowed herself to really laugh.
“Relax!” She patted his chest. “There’s a first time for everything.”
“Did you already comb your hair?” Zo asked. Tess’s hair was so fine that it was usually a nightmare to work through. Today there wasn’t a single tangle.
“Yep.”
The girl was growing up so fast. It wouldn’t be long before Tess wouldn’t need her so much. She remembered looking forward to that day, once. But the lines between sister and mother blurred so much in their relationship, and Zo couldn’t help the twinge of regret that time was passing so quickly.
“Two more braids, and I promise not to touch a hair on your head for a full week!” said Zo, as she wrestled her little sister back into the chair. Zo tied off the final braids with a strip of cloth and connected them in the middle to rest as a blond crown upon her head. As a finishing touch, Zo tucked a few sprigs of lavender she’d harvested from Millie’s garden into the braid.
“There.” She pushed the last stem through. “You’re perfect.”
Tess hopped up, ready to run from the tent, but Zo caught her arm before she could dash out. “You know that I’m done, don’t you?”
Rather than come right out and ask, Tess simply froze, staring at the tent wall—wanting to hear, but not wanting to appear too eager.
Zo sighed. “Now that the Kodiak are here and Laden has the men he needs to fight this war, there’s nothing else the Allies need from me other than my work as a healer.”