Page 67 of Winter's Echo
“I’ll take watch with the trailfinder.”
Larana looked up from her knives. Nicco didn’t turn his head from his vigilance.
“Bax—”
“She’s fine, Nicco,” he said, and I heard his voice soften slightly. “Amarya has been solid since we left the first town.” He looked at me. “Would you have known what the storm was last night before it hit?”
I nodded, too stunned at him defending me to talk.
“Would it have saved the horses?”
I shook my head. “No, they should never have been with us past Skallfen, but…” I remembered the Frosttaken. “But we couldn’t leave them there.” I got back to his question. “The skarveld would have scared them too much. They’d have kicked and fought and possibly trampled us in the process.”
Baxley nodded. “You’re on watch with me.”
“Okay.”
Talk among the others resumed as he turned his attention to his pack. I kept staring at him until a particularly loud screech of whetstone against blade made me look away and meet Larana’s gaze.
Shit. I hadn’t figured out whether any of them were together, but with the look she was giving me now, I was thinking there was a history there, maybe even a present.
How did I tell her I wasn’t interested in her man? Men? I wasn’t subtle. I was terrible at diplomacy, and this was going to be very freaking awkward.
I decided to ignore it. If she had a problem, she could ask me. Until then, it wasn’t my concern. If she was worried that her man, or men, would be interested in someone like me while they were with someone like her, well, that sounded like a trust issue they needed to work out themselves.
I wrapped myself in my cloak, shut my eyes, and went to sleep.
A rough shake of my shoulder woke me up, and I opened my eyes to Nicco staring down at me. Instinctively, I pushed myself away, and his grip tightened.
“Your watch, bunny. Try to behave.”
I was going to kill him in his sleep. My face must have told him exactly what I was thinking because he grinned.
“Not even on your best day, Amarya,” he murmured. He hauled me to my feet and then patted me on the head like I was a pet. “Go watch, and don’t fuck up.”
I made my way over to where Baxley already stood. His cloak wrapped tightly around him, his hood up but not over his eyes, keeping his peripheral vision clear.
“Your boss is a dick.”
I caught a quick flash of white as he grinned. “Not my boss.”
I huffed a whatever and checked my pockets for my gloves. I hadn’t realized I’d taken them off. I never took them off. I turnedand glared across the camp, not sure which one Nicco was in the dark.
“What have you lost?” Baxley asked me quietly.
“Lost? Nothing. Your non-boss has my gloves.”
I saw him grin again. “Want to go get them?” Baxley turned to look, then back at me. “He’s lying with Rana, and she’s not happy when she’s interrupted.”
Interrupted?Doing what?
My cheeks flushed, and I dipped my head in embarrassment. I heard his low chuckle.
“Her sleep,” he clarified. “Don’t mess with that woman’s sleep. She’ll gut you.”
“She picked the wrong job,” I muttered, moving away from him. “I’ll be over there. You’ll know if I need you.”
“Same.”
