I nodded.
That was good too.
Except for one thing.
“So, with the attack, it was probably directed at you,” I guessed.
It was his turn to nod. “I have been thinking on this, Maddie, as it doesn’t make sense. The only thing I can consider that does is that they fired their dart to make a statement. That being that they didn’t have to use the mightiest weapons in their arsenal to make their first strike. The men who attacked us in Vasterhague were skilled. I do not like to think, if you hadn’t intervened, how that would have ended.”
I knew my face said “I told you so” when his lips curled up and his eyes lit with humor so I decided not to say it out loud.
He kept going.
“Lees reports that the men here were equally skilled. Although, thankfully, no one was wounded, this was because my men are more skilled and also knew the lay of the land.” He paused before, his voice deeper and rougher, he stated, “And I do not like to think of what might have happened if that wasn’t the case.”
I shifted a hand to his neck. “Then don’t think about it, sweetheart.”
He held my eyes and again nodded.
“What I’m saying is, they took those attacks seriously. They did not send easily bested adversaries. They planned to succeed. And this would make quite the statement, that they could get to me, to you, to my children, invading my home and taking all of our lives without even using all the power at their command. It would be such a statement that it might strike fear. Frey, Lahn and Tor are not men who are easily cowed by fear or maybe ever cowed by it. But I think it’s safe to say, if their wives or families were in greater jeopardy than we originally thought, that would do it.”
The more he talked about these men, Frey, Lahn and Tor, the more I knew I would like them.
“Are we done with that topic?” he asked.
“Just one more thing,” I answered.
“Speak it,” he ordered and I grinned.
Then I queried, “Where’s Derrik? I’ve seen all the guys and not him since that night in the gardener’s shed.”
A shadow passed over his features before he replied, “He is away on assignment. A self-imposed assignment, but he is away on it.”
I didn’t get the feeling Apollo was happy about this.
“Self-imposed?” I asked.
“He was not commanded by me to take this assignment. I do not wish him on this assignment. He is under my command but he is still his own man. I had no choice but to let him go.”
I studied him closely.
“You’re worried,” I guessed softly.
“Indeed,” he agreed.
That meant I was now worried and I wanted to know more.
But I didn’t want to make Apollo tell me more when it was clear he didn’t like talking about it.
“Okay, then, let’s stop talking about that,” I offered.
“I would be obliged,” he accepted, his voice soft. “Now are we done with that topic?”
I nodded.
His hands started roaming.
“I have one more topic,” I reminded him.