Chapter Twelve

“You Don’t Like to Help Pretty Women?”

Both men stood unmoving, assessing each other like animals anticipating an attack.

Lance was certainly anticipating one any second now.

The odds were not in his favor; that much was certain. He was outnumbered, five to one. Well, four to one. In all honesty, he didn’t consider the man in the coat and hat much of a physical threat. His henchmen, on the other hand…

“Look,” Lance said, “for the last time, I’m not keeping your daughter.”

The fae man’s eyes narrowed. In the past few minutes, since he opened the door, Lance had gathered a few details about him and deduced some more. The man was Henri, leader of a fae clan north of this side of Frost Mountain. They were a powerful clan, and the woman Lance had been harboring for the past couple of weeks was none other than Henri’s own daughter.

Julia.

“A lie,” Henri spat. “You have my daughter. I know it.”

Lance stared down at the man, then around at his men, and found himself unsure how to respond. Henri obviously didn’t believe his claim that Julia wasn’t here. What was worse, he seemed to think Lance had somehow “taken” her. The man’s tone alone filled Lance’s mind with the threat of danger.

What was he to do? Tell Henri that his daughter was inside? Julia had come to him for a reason. He couldn’t give her up. She’d become his responsibility…and more.

“I don’t have her,” Lance said, moving to shut the door. “Now, if you have nothing else to ask…”

“Father?”

Henri’s eyes widened, riveted on something over Lance’s shoulder. His heart sinking into his gut, Lance turned just in time to see Julia brush past him and leap at her father, throwing her arms around him.

“Oh, Father!” she cried. “You came for me! I was so terrified. I got lost out here, and then I was taken. I thought he might never let me see you again, but here you are!”

Every cell in Lance’s body froze. Taken?

Over his daughter’s shoulder, Henri glowered at him. “Guards! Seize him!”

***

He awoke with an inaudible gasp, his hand flying to his forearm. His fingers brushed the jagged scar absently. He was greeted with darkness, and for a moment, panic flared through his chest. Then his eyes fluttered open.

It was still somewhat dark, but soft moonlight filtered into the cave, illuminating his surroundings. A cave. Yes. He was in a large cave with a somewhat narrow entrance. And he wasn’t alone. Another figure sat leaning against the wall adjacent to him.

“You’re awake,” said a voice. “You were dreaming.”

Lance blinked. Mallory was smiling down at him. He pulled himself into a sitting position. “ You’re awake. I was beginning to worry. You’ve been unconscious ever since…”

He didn’t need to complete his statement. He could see in her eyes that she remembered, too. Some of it, at least. Like the sudden attack. The fight with Boris.

It had been two days since the Fae Hunter had found them again. Boris had returned more murderous than ever, and it had been even more difficult trying to hold him off. If Lance hadn’t shifted when he had, Mallory would be dead by now. He’d managed to deal the hunter several blows and slash at him before he’d taken off, his green eyes flashing with fury and disbelief.

Lance could still remember the man’s words. This is not over. I will find you.

And Mallory? The poor fae woman had been knocked out. For the past two days, Lance had carried her up the mountain, eventually stumbling on a cave to settle in. She was awake now at long last.

“I’m hungry,” she said, clutching her stomach.

Lance blinked at her again. Then he sat up and reached for the duffel bag filled with their clothes and food, handing her some. Mallory took it from him and immediately dug in, her eyes lighting up with relief.

He watched her for what seemed like forever until she spoke.

“Thank you,” she said.

“If you’re still hungry, you can have some—”

“No.” She shook her head. “Thank you for saving my life. Again. You fought Boris off, didn’t you?”

Her eyes scanned his body as if looking for any new cuts. Lance had sustained a few superficial injuries during his battle with Boris, and they’d mostly healed. Nothing to worry about.

He nodded. “I did.”

“That bear…”

“That was me. I had to shift. He was going to kill you. I couldn’t let that happen.”

As the words left his mouth, he felt his chest tighten. They were lucky all Mallory had done was pass out. A few seconds later, she might have ended up with Boris’s blade in her chest. If Lance hadn’t shifted and attacked when he had…

He suppressed a light shiver. “How’s your head?”

She went to touch it and winced, which was answer enough. She reached into her pouch. “I’ll dress it and hope I don’t have any complications. I doubt I can get surgery on Frost Mountain.”

She chuckled at that as though she’d made a joke, but Lance didn’t laugh. He stared down at the trousers he’d pulled on after shifting back to human form the other night, remembering how his fingers had trembled as he approached Mallory’s inert form, a single thought repeating in his agitated mind: Let her be alive. Let her be alive.

Why did it bother him so much, though? He still could hardly believe how much things had changed since the day he’d pulled her out of the snow. At first, he’d been reluctant to help her. And what had happened since then? He’d devoted his time and energy to taking care of this woman, risking his life multiple times to make sure she was unscathed.

After what happened with Julia, he didn’t think he ever wanted to see another fae person again. Yet he’d done that and more, much more.

Hadn’t he learned from his mistake? He glanced at the scar on his forearm. The jagged mark had been a reminder of his error for the past two years. Now, his body was covered in several other battle scars. He’d willingly fought Boris both times.

Why? Because, as much as his mind told him he was making another foolish mistake that would most likely get him killed, he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that perhaps this time was different. This wasn’t a fae woman trying to deceive and lead him into trouble. Mallory was lost, most definitely distraught about her fate in this dimension she’d been forced into. Worse still, she was being hunted for merely existing.

Those facts did not sit quite right with Lance.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Mallory asked just then.

He frowned at her. “What’s a penny?”

“It’s money. It’s an expression, see.” She gesticulated wordlessly for a moment. “Never mind that. What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” he told her.

“Is it Julia?”

The silence that followed in the cave seemed to multiply more than twofold. Lance gazed wide-eyed at her. “How…?”

“I heard you say her name the other day,” she replied with a shrug. “You were dreaming. Is she someone you know? A sister, maybe?”

He shook his head. What was he supposed to tell her? That Julia was the reason he’d resolved never to trust a fae person for as long as he lived? That his misplaced trust had resulted in his initial dislike for her?

“She wasn’t my sister.”

“Oh.” A look of realization flickered across Mallory’s face.

“It’s a bit complicated,” he admitted.

She sat up straighter. “Well, I’m all ears. It doesn’t look like we’re leaving this cave anytime soon, anyway. You might as well spill.”

The look she gave him was expectant. Lance breathed a sigh. “Okay.”

He began to narrate his encounter with Julia right from the moment she appeared on his doorstep, begging him to help her, to the day they were rudely interrupted by her father and his henchmen. As he spoke, he could feel a tightening sensation in his gut.

“She told her father that I’d kidnapped her,” he said. “That she’d been lost and wandering on the mountain, and I’d taken her.”

“Whoa.” Mallory’s brows rose slowly. “That…that’s…”

“Evil?” He gave a dry chuckle. “Her father, Henri, ordered his men to attack me that day. I fought back, but I was outnumbered. They left me for dead on my doorstep. I survived, but I’ve got a permanent reminder of the trouble she brought into my cabin and my life.”

He held out his arm, revealing the jagged scar Henri had given him.

“I’m so sorry,” Mallory said, looking horrified. “I can’t imagine what you must have felt that day.” She let a moment pass in silence. Then: “That’s why you don’t like fae people, isn’t it?”

The question held him for the next few seconds. Guilt washed over him as he held her gaze.

“I…don’t hate you,” he said finally.

“But you don’t like me, either,” she shot back. “Right?”

“I didn’t like you at first,” Lance admitted. “I wanted nothing to do with you or any of your kind. But then…”

“You’ve been helping me ever since that day,” she said, “You’ve faced what probably counts as the devil on Frost Mountain—twice—and leaped off a cliff for me.” She smirked. “Doesn’t sound like the sort of thing you’d do for someone you didn’t like.”

Lance couldn’t resist a grin. “You’re right.”

She cocked her head slightly to the side, and he briefly wondered if her heart was thumping in her chest as hard as his was right now. In the pale moonlight, her dark eyes seemed to sparkle like miniature stars.

“So…?” she said. Her voice was gentle, but he thought he detected a note of expectation in her tone.

“So what?”

“Why did you do those things for me?”

He sighed, and truth came bursting from his lips before he could stop it. “Because I don’t dislike you anymore. As much as my mind tells me not to, as much as my mind tells me I’m making a big mistake, I’ve started to like you, and it’s…why are you smiling like that?”

She leaned closer, her gaze locked on his eyes. “Well, it’s because I feel the same way about you. To be honest, I’ve spent most of my life looking over my shoulder, trying to take care of myself. But you helped me. You’ve been helping me since I got here.”

“That’s why you feel the same way about me?” he asked with a frown.

In reply, she laughed. “I mean, you’re not so bad-looking, either.”

“I could say the same about you. You are…beautiful. It’s one of the reasons I was hesitant to help.”

“What, you don’t like to help pretty women?”

“No, it’s because after Julia…” He trailed off, realizing she’d been making a joke. Mallory was staring at him with a big smile on her face, her eyes glowing like supernovas. Lance felt a light tug in the depths of his stomach.

“If it makes you feel better,” she said, her grin widening, “I’m not going to tell lies about you and get you in trouble.”

On that note, she brought her lips to his, and Lance felt his world turn upside-down.