[This post is from Marin’s point of view.]
“Whoa, Marin. You look like you’re about to throw up on my shoes.” Cameron blinked, then shook himself. “Oh. Oh, that’s—it’s not what you think.”
“You just said you had to leave,” I blurted. “What the hell else is that supposed to sound like?”
“It sure as hell didn’t mean what it sounded like.” His lips thinned. “I’m sorry.” He glanced from me toward Thom, J.T., Seamus, and Leinth. “All I meant is that someone has to go back south on a trading run and I’m volunteering. We’ve left them waiting for us for too damned long with everything that’s been going on. Someone needs to go down there and make sure that they’re still alive and show them that we’re still alive. I don’t know if they’ll be worried, but they might be. We’re the only friends they’ve got right now.”
I sucked in a breath, my stomach starting to settle. I knuckled my eyes, leaning back into Thom, who wrapped his arm tightly around me. “So you’re thinking to go down there alone? To do what?”
“Talk,” he said. “Trade? That kind of thing.”
“Right,” I said slowly, chewing hard on my lower lip.
Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?
Thom’s arm tightened around my shoulders a little more. “You can’t go alone,” he said.
“You’re not going with me.” Cameron took a deep breath. “And honestly, I’d be curious to know who you’d intend to send along with me on this trip if I don’t go alone. I mean—it’s not like anything will come after me if it’s just me, right?”
“Do you really want to take that chance?” Seamus asked, his brow furrowing. “I know I don’t, not with your life. We’ll send someone with you. Maybe someone from the Wild Hunt.”
“No,” Leinth said softly. “No, I’ll go with him.”
