Torr made a full circle of the area before he came back to where she waited, trying to pull herself together. “I saw the light when everyone vanished. Brenya?”

“Yes. She said she was taking everyone to the southern village.”

“She didn’t take everyone. You’re still here.”

“She wanted me to tell you that she has the crystals and that we should come get them when the time is right.”

“I would have figured that out on my own without her using you as a messenger.”

Grace refused to let his curt tone insult her. She’d helped him in that fight, and nothing he could say would change that. “That’s not the only reason she left me behind. She gave me information.”

“What information?”

Knowledge about the Hunter and its connection to the Solarc had come to her suddenly, as she’d needed it. Just like Brenya had said.

While that little piece of the puzzle was now in place, Grace could feel more of them, still hidden in her mind. They were there—their weight was easily recognizable—but she couldn’t reach them at will. Like all the bits of memory she’d recovered, the knowledge would come to her when it came, and there wasn’t a thing she could do to speed up that process.

Rather than telling him she didn’t know what the information was, she lifted her chin. “I’ll tell you when you need to know.”

He stalked up to her, his jaw set in a way that made her want to turn and run. Only the certain knowledge that he wasn’t going to hurt her made her hold her ground.

“You’ll tell me now,” he ordered.

“Nope.”

His big hand circled her throat. The touch was firm but careful. His fingers were so long they reached all the way around to her nape, where the heat from each fingertip branded her. His thumb grazed across her pulse, making an army of tingles march down her spine.

He stared at her mouth for just a moment too long—long enough to make her think about kissing him again—then looked into her eyes. “I can make you tell me, Grace.” It was a threat, but not to inflict pain. This threat was much more deadly, his gaze and touch promising her something far more potent than pain.

Pleasure.

Her voice shook when she spoke, and she knew he could feel that weakness vibrate against his palm. “You can try. I’m sure I’d enjoy your effort. But everyone is counting on you to drive back the invasion.”

He was quiet for a long time, his only movement the steady rise and fall of his chest. She wondered if she should step back, away from his touch, but she liked the feel of his hand on her skin too much to move. Even angry and covered in cuts from battle, he still possessed a mesmerizing kind of beauty that made it hard to look away.

“Apparently they’re counting on us,” he said. “Whatever information Brenya gave you, it has some purpose.”

Grace nodded. “I’ve never known her to do anything without at least three reasons.”

“And she probably never tells you any of them when you ask.”

“Now you’re catching on.”

He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. Then he nodded to himself, as if he’d made some difficult decision. “First we bury the dead. Then I’ll take you as far as the southern village. If Brenya isn’t willing to answer our questions, then we won’t cooperate with her until she does.”

“Everyone does what Brenya wants. That’s just the way the world works.”

“Well, I’m from a different world. She needs me. It’s time she starts acting like it.”

Grace stifled a groan. His plan could end only one way: badly.

Chapter 21

Torr gave Grace a list of things to collect from the village while he dug the grave for the Athanasian woman.

It didn’t seem right to bury her so far away from her home and family, but it was the best he could do for now. Maybe Brenya would be able to send her home, but even if she did, chances were it would bring up questions better left unasked.

He felt Grace approach a moment before she spoke from behind him. Her presence burned through him like a brush fire, destroying all other thoughts. Even the bad ones.

There was a kind of quiet magic in her that he’d never encountered in anyone else. She gave him peace in a life that had been filled with far too much war.

“I like the spot you picked,” she said. “It’s pretty here.”

The small clearing just inside the tree line had a thick carpet of ground cover the color of sapphires. It was far enough away from the village not to risk contamination of their well water, but still within sight of where the Sentinel Stone had recently stood. A canopy of shimmering leaves shaded the area, and the rest of the forest gave it a sense of privacy.

“I thought so, too. Do you think she’d approve?”

“I didn’t really know her, but I’m sure she would.”

“You didn’t know her?”

“She just arrived through the stone this morning. I would have gotten to know her over the next few months, while she carried her child to term.”

“She was pregnant?”

Grace nodded. “The women who come here almost always are.”

Torr grieved for both the lives lost here today, but didn’t allow himself to linger or wallow in it. There was too much to do, too many more lives at stake. “Did you get what I asked for?”

“I got the food and water, along with a few medical supplies.” Her gaze fixed on his chest, and the blood and dirt covering him. “You should let me use a few of them on you. Some of those cuts are deep.”

As he watched, a hairline cut opened along her arm, in the exact spot where he was injured.

She was healing him again without even trying. He didn’t dare call her attention to it for fear that she would realize that they were connected by the healing disks and start asking questions. Worse yet, she might start using the power purposefully. So far, her accidental healing of him had been minimal. That could change at any moment.

“I’ve had worse. They’ll heal fast,” he said casually, hoping she’d forget all about his wounds. “What about weapons? Did you find any?”

“I searched Brenya’s hut. There were no more crystals or anything that looked like a weapon. Mostly just books, jars and bottles. All unlabeled.”

“I was sure she’d have some kind of stash in there.”