his sister’s sudden need to challenge Keeley because of her attachment to demon wolves was beyond him. There seemed to be no animal the woman didn’t have a fondness for, and she was not about to let some flames shooting from eye sockets stop her.
By the mighty horse gods of the east, Keeley Smythe wasn’t anything like he’d been expecting.
“You’ll have to get through the sister before you can get to the girl,” they had been warned. “She of the steel and stone.”
There were not many women who were blacksmiths in the Hill Lands, but some tried to follow in their fathers’ footsteps before finding a mate and settling down to bearing children and hard times. But of the very few he’d met in his years, none—absolutely none—had been like her.
She carried that battle hammer with the ridiculously sized head around like it weighed nothing. But he’d seen the damage it—and she—had done. That thing was as heavy as it looked and yet she wielded it effortlessly. Wide shoulders, muscular arms and thighs, and a tattoo of one of the blacksmith guilds made her a woman to be feared. Not dismissed as something in their way.
The witches should have made their warning stronger. Because if this woman decided her sister wasn’t going anywhere . . . her sister wasn’t going anywhere.
Yet despite the obvious strength of her body and the willingness with which she battered soldiers into the ground for no more reason than to help a boy she didn’t seem to know and, perhaps, a little early-morning entertainment, the smile she flashed at the thing standing by her long legs proved that she liked this animal. Liked and protected it the way she did the wild horses in the valley and the sheep on her neighbor’s nearby farm.
In other words, she wasn’t evil. Because those who were evil didn’t care about anyone but themselves. They certainly wouldn’t risk their own lives to protect demon wolves with eyes they had to make sure they didn’t put their hands near.
“Would you like to come to town with me?”
Caid looked over his shoulder at the blacksmith. The wolves were gone, as was the soldier, although they could still hear his screams from the forest, hysterically begging for death.
She smiled at him. “I’ll take you to my shop. You can have some food, something to drink. Relax for a bit before you get back on the road. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
With a nod, Caid agreed. “We’d appreciate that.”
“Well, I do owe you a lot. You protected me and my young friend here . . .” She glanced at the boy. “Samuel? Right?”
“Yes. Samuel,” the boy replied.
“Let’s go, lad. We need to get something on that neck of yours.”
Hefting the head of her hammer on her shoulder and holding the steel handle in her hand, she started off, speaking to them over her shoulder.
“I think you’ll all like my town. It’s a lovely place.”
“Come on,” Caid said to his sister, motioning to Farlan and Cadell. “We’re going with her.”
“And we’re just going to ignore the demon dogs she’s friends with?”
“Demon wolves and yes.” He turned his sister around by her shoulders and pushed.
“I’m in charge,” she reminded him.
“And our father always says if you have to remind your team of that . . .”
* * *
“I’m Keeley by the way,” Keeley told her new friends. She walked backward so she could speak directly to them.
“I’m Laila.” The female Amichai pointed at the dark-haired Amichai. “This is my brother Caid.” She pointed at a shorter but wider blond male. “This is Farlan.” She gestured at the male with light-brown hair and an extremely scarred jaw. “And this is Cadell.”
Facing forward, Keeley said, “Welcome to all of you.”
“So we’re just going to pretend those wolves don’t exist?” Laila asked.
“That’s exactly what we’re going to do!” Keeley joyfully replied. She’d just survived a battle and she felt pretty good about herself. Why ruin it all by fighting a woman she barely knew?
“Are you a witch of the dark gods?”
“Me? A witch?” Keeley had to laugh. “I have one loyalty aside from my family and it’s steel. That’s where my heart and love are.”
The female suddenly cut in front of Keeley, blocking her from going farther.
“Then how did you call those things to you?”
“Laila,” her brother warned, but she merely held her hand up to him.