. . changed in the process.”
“The lady seems an active sort.”
“You have no notion. Did you happen to see where she went?”
“Outside, would be my guess.”
“What?” Grim leaped to his feet. “Why did you not stop her?”
“How could I, pray tell, when you could not?”
Grim swore and lurched from the kitchen, down the hall, and threw open the front door. The shield spell he’d erected with such care had been ripped to shreds. Tattered strands of the magical web fluttered in the breeze. Trees had been uprooted and tossed about. Ugly tears gouged the forest floor.
Sassy stood in the midst of the destruction. A petite figure robed in white, she faced Monster Evan. Cinders of light shot from her lambent body and waving curls. Evan was naked. Larger than a mountain troll with thick grayish skin, his arms and legs were muscled tree trunks. In one massive hand, he clasped a broken tree like a weapon.
Terror squeezed Grim’s heart and lungs. One slip of the makeshift club, one misstep by the monster, and Sassy would be crushed.
Behind him, he heard Conall hiss in surprise. “By the sword, is that Evan? If so, he is much changed.”
The monster turned with a startled grunt at the sound of Conall’s voice. His liquid black gaze passed over Grim and Conall standing on the front porch, and moved on.
The creature’s vision was poor. Grim would use the weakness to advantage and whisk Sassy from harm’s way.
“Stay where you are, both of you.” Sassy spoke in a lilting singsong. “If you move, you’ll startle him. Evan won’t hurt me, will you, Evan?”
Evan swung the tree like a mace. “Ebban break woods. Break woods plenty. Witch no get Sass.”
“You were brilliant.” Sassy shone like a miniature sun against the black shadow of the woods. “You chased that bad old witch away.”
“Witch run.” Evan slammed the tree into the ground. “Ebban chase ’way.”
Grim tensed. “Conall?”
“I do not think the creature means the lady harm. To the contrary, he seems inordinately fond of her.”
Fond? The behemoth was captivated; the knowledge soured Grim’s stomach.
Sassy murmured something, and Evan bent closer. Grim strained to hear what she was saying, but her words were spoken too softly, her tone too tender, for him to hear.
Something hot and uncomfortable unfurled inside him. Grim wanted Sassy’s words and the soothing balm of her voice for himself. No one else.
Sassy kept her tone low and gentle. Evan rocked back and forth on his boulder-sized feet, lulled by the melodic drone. The titan’s grip on the crude bludgeon grew slack, and the tree hit the ground with a thud.
Grim’s insides unknotted but half a turn. One danger gone, but Sassy could still be trampled beneath the giant’s heel or torn to pieces like a cloth doll.
By the sword, the lady needed taking in hand. Never, in the aftermath of a thousand battles, had he been so exhausted or rattled. Rules were in order. Hard and fast rules with severe consequences if broken. First and foremost, Sassy would consort with Evan no more. The demonoid was too dangerous and unpredictable.
With a coo of delight, Sassy patted the behemoth on the foot. Her shining form blazed brighter. The glow spread from her body to Evan’s and traveled with the swiftness of Greek fire. Evan bawled like a wounded bullock and dwindled to his former shape and size.
Conall clapped Grim on the shoulder. “There, you see? Beauty has tamed the beast.”
Grim leaped off the porch, stumbling as he landed. Kehv’s toenails, how long before this infernal chocolate ran its course? Regaining his balance, he reeled through the hole in the shield wall. He wanted to shake Sassy senseless.
He wanted to snatch her close and never let her go.
Evan was curled in a shivering knot on the ground. Dark burns covered his pale skin where he’d burst through the shield.
Sassy knelt beside him. She looked up at Grim with tears in her eyes. “He’s hurt. We’ve got to help him.”
She wept for him, for Evan. The hot ugliness in Grim’s belly bloomed and spread, setting his brain ablaze. The unfamiliar feeling shocked him.
A Dalvahni did not yield to time, weather, or foe. A Dalvahni warrior was detached; remote as the mountains of the moon. These things were set in stone, the foundation of his race. A Dalvahni warrior was not controlled by emotion.
You are jealous, the Provider said. I am curious. What does it feel like?
Grim snarled. “Find out for yourself, if you would know.”
Conall gave Grim an odd