Mist's Edge (The Broken Lands #2) - T.A. White Page 0,62

the screen.

“What happened? Daere asked.

“A note was left for me.”

“What was in the note?”

“It was from my people. They asked me to come home.”

Daere gave a long whistle, the sound surprising from a woman Shea had always thought of as reserved and proper. “That would do it.”

Fallon burst out of his tent, roaring for Caden and Darius—the note, the wretched, loathsome note, clutched in his hand. The familiar need to tear and rend ate at him. With no enemy in sight, he forced the feelings down. When he was younger, he didn’t have such control, and with no outlet for his emotions, they would build up until he savaged any warrior in striking distance. Henry had helped him find ways to channel that bottomless anger, turning it into fuel for battle, and later conquest.

He could control it now, but this note and all it stood for tested that.

“Darius, Caden.”

He would wipe this interloper from the face of this world—this person who had dared invade his home, who had threatened to take his Telroi. No. This would not stand. He would end this insignificant maggot in such an unpleasant way that Shea’s people would never chance sending another person to steal her from him again. There would be cautionary tales told about this individual after Fallon got done tearing him apart with his bare hands.

Caden and several of Fallon’s Anateri approached at a run, their hands on their swords as they scanned the area for threats.

“Fallon, what is it?” Caden’s expression was cautious. He was the only one to look at Fallon, the rest of the Anateri were busy focusing on any incoming threats.

Their efficiency helped to calm some of the turbulent rage Fallon felt.

“This,” his voice nearly a hiss, he thrust the note at Caden.

Caden took it as Fallon paced back and forth like a caged animal. The other guards were careful not to get too close, giving him the space to move as he needed. Wilhelm and Trenton waited by the entrance to Fallon’s tent. They’d come to attention when he burst out of it, but hadn’t moved from their guard positions.

The sight of them doing their job helped clear Fallon’s mind further, enough that he was no longer thinking about doing bodily harm to the guards who had let this interloper slip through his security to leave that note on Shea’s pillow.

What if she’d been there when this person invaded their space? What if he’d convinced Shea to follow him home? Fallon could feel that crouching rage begin to consume him again at the thought of losing her.

It took Caden seconds to read it. Like Fallon, he read it more than once. “I’m not sure I understand.” His words were cautious as he looked up at Fallon.

“They want her back. She found it on her pillow in our tent—someone came into our home and left this on her pillow. They trespassed on our private space.”

“Fallon.” Darius approached at a quick pace. “I got word that you wanted me.”

Witt, one of the Highlanders who had been part of the group caught with Shea, followed behind Darius. He looked curious and his face was filled with trepidation at facing an enraged warlord. The years had carved crow’s feet into the corners of his eyes, and his mouth was bracketed with deep grooves. He was a serious man, one who weighed every word twice before it left his mouth.

Fallon had given him to Darius to keep an eye on when it was clear that the man had a bit of a soft spot for Shea. To Fallon’s surprise, Darius had found him useful and used him to spot check his men. He was good at finding the flaws in their training and had a good head on his shoulders.

“Give him the note,” Fallon ordered.

Caden complied, handing Darius the note.

“How did they get into our quarters, Caden?”

Caden’s face was grim and his eyes filled with a burning anger that almost matched Fallon’s own. He took any perceived failure as a personal deficiency. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

“You do that, and then you make sure this never happens again.”

Caden gave a sharp nod and turned to one of the guards who’d followed him when Fallon had called. “Find me the two men who were on duty this afternoon. I want them in front of me in the next five minutes.”

The other man nodded, his face equally grim. All of them knew that the lives of the two men who’d