The Wind's Call (The Broken Lands #4) - T.A. White Page 0,80

slowly, the salty, smoky taste of the dried deer filling her mouth and leaving it parched and dry. She rustled through the bag again, relieved when she found a water skin. Withdrawing it, she uncapped it and tilted her head back, taking a healthy swig.

She almost choked as the tart taste of alcohol filled her mouth instead of the water she'd been expecting.

A warm chuckle left Caden when he caught sight of her expression.

"Why do you have whiskey in your saddle bags?" she asked as he rubbed down Nell. The piebald leaned into the strokes, enjoying the attention after a long day.

Caden’s hands were gentle as he cared for the stallion, crooning softly to him as Eva took another, smaller sip from the bladder.

"Our lives are hard. Sometimes whiskey makes it go down a little easier," Caden said, not looking away from tending the stallion. "There's another bladder with water in it, if you’d prefer."

Eva couldn’t argue with his logic. She could certainly use a little of the whiskey’s medicinal effects after the day she’d had.

*

Caden movements were sure and confident as he tended Nell. The piebald had proved himself a more than worthy partner, and after the difficult night and day deserved more than the little Caden could do for him.

He wasn’t surprised when Eva chose to tip her head back and take another gulp of the whiskey instead of digging for the water. Most Lowlanders in her situation would have been curled up into a ball by now. Not Eva. She was made of sterner stuff.

Hell, many of the warriors he knew wouldn’t have handled her situation with the grace and calm she had.

Even back at Wayfarer’s Keep, when faced with the combined attention of Fallon and his council, she hadn’t faltered. The respect that had grudgingly bloomed then had only deepened over the course of their journey.

Every obstacle she overcame, every time she confronted the Lowlanders or the warriors and came out the winner, added to his esteem.

She’d shown more determination and spirit than most, meeting him head on even when he knew he scared her.

He didn’t know when he’d come to look forward to her stubborn glare when she was angry at him, but it had quickly become the highlight of his day. Enough so, that he found himself prodding at her temper just to see what she’d do next.

For a man like him, who never questioned his assumptions and relied on his gut, it was unsettling to realize how much he’d misjudged her.

Finished brushing Nell down, Caden stepped away from the piebald, slipping the brushes and cloth into his bag before setting the horse loose to wander. Caden knew he wouldn’t go far.

He paused when he caught sight of the way Eva had huddled in on herself, staring at the piebald with a fixed look that spoke of shock.

Looked like her day was finally catching up to her. He was surprised it had taken this long.

He dug through his bags, pulling out a large jacket and slipping it around her shoulders as the fox snuffled around her feet, scratching at the dirt and sniffing before moving on.

"It seems he's adopted you," Caden observed, pulling the jacket snugly around her neck.

"Yay me," Eva said tiredly.

Caden's teeth flashed appreciatively. There she was. She might not be quite herself, the day’s adventures having taken their toll, but she wasn’t defeated either.

He knelt, gathering sticks and tinder for a fire and getting it burning before moving toward Eva. "Let me see your arms and legs."

"Why?"

There was a bite to her words. The polite barrier she kept between herself and others faded and worn from exhaustion.

This experience hadn’t broken her, only left her a little bruised. There was something admirable about a survivor who refused to bow. He’d always had a weakness for those who’d taken the shit life handed them and rose to their feet anyway.

"Because if you have any cuts, we need to tend them so they don't get infected,” he patiently explained. While he was grateful for the brief glimpse of an unfiltered Eva, he couldn’t allow her to put herself in danger—even if that meant inviting her anger.

Her frown was suspicious and held every bit of the doubt he knew she wanted to heap on him. He didn’t begrudge her the sentiment, knowing he’d earned her wariness.

More so, because it would make slipping inside her shields that much more satisfying in the end.

He resisted the urge to smile back, knowing she’d take it as him mocking