Pathfinder's Way (The Broken Lands, #1)

by T.A. White

Lowlanders were dangerous. Crazy too. Shea had dealings with them in the past, but it was always with one eye on the exit and a hand on her weapons. You just never knew what they were going to do. One time, they had set fire to her clothes. While she was still in them.

“No harm will come to you from our hands, lady,” Fallon told her quietly. That depended on his definition of harm. A man and a woman’s ideas on harm often differed.

If the woman, Shea, had wanted to make him lose interest in her, she should have simply surrendered. Now, she presented a challenge. Prey to be hunted.

One day she was going to get control of herself and stop doing stupid shit to save ungrateful idiots.

“That would be like trying to stuff a rain drop back into a cloud.”

He gave her a stony look. She wished she could achieve that level of withering scorn and disappointment with just a look.

“You’ve been acting like a little bitch since I bandaged you up.” “You call that bandaging? More like a mauling,” Shea muttered.

“You have to be the quietest Lowlander I’ve ever met. Usually you have to hit them upside the head to get them to shut up. With you, it’s the opposite. I feel like I have to knock you upside the head to get any words from you.” Shea shot him an expressive look and guided her horse out of arms reach.

Seeing the answering grins peeking out of the lather both men now had on their faces, Shea couldn’t resist a bit of payback. “I hope you three took a piss when you got out of the water.” “Huh?” “You know there are little fishes that will swim up your pisser and lay eggs. Only way to get that out is to take a piss right after getting out. Forces them back out.” Buck shot a wide-eyed glance at Eamon, “He’s kidding, right?” Shea hid her grin as she headed after Clark. “You’re kidding, right?” Buck shouted after her. “Am I? Guess you’re about to find out,” she shouted back. “Son of a–-“ Shea chortled when both men stopped what they were doing to find the nearest bush. Sometimes revenge was oh so sweet. It never paid to mess with a pathfinder.

“I plan to bring your insubordination and general bad attitude to the attention of your superiors,” Cale said vehemently. “In that case, you’ll want to make sure your concerns are sent directly to Mathias. He’s the one who deals with issues of this nature. If you give it to Thomas or William, they’ll forget all about it as soon as you’re gone,” Buck told him helpfully.

She’d never put much stock in her looks. They were always just there. Like the sun or the sky. Neither helping nor hindering. Her strength, speed and capability were infinitely more important.

“You should find your feet. The old man likes to kick people when they’re down, and all of his recruits have been trained to do the same.” Shea grunted. She didn’t think she could get up again. The man who had been beating, oh excuse me, sparring with her, took several determined steps towards her, and she popped to her feet. Guess she could get up after all.

She kicked, punched and wiggled her way back to standing and quickly backed up as he rose to his feet. He didn’t look happy. Shea backed up even further. The dark expression on his face was a bit scary. Guess she shouldn’t have kicked him when he was down. The biting probably didn’t help either. Trying to dig her fingers into his eyes had been a low blow. Even she could admit that. This was practice. Some things were just off limits.

“You are a constantly evolving puzzle. It drives me mad, and for someone like me, who can guess an opponent’s move before they even make it, that is more attractive than a fragile thing like appearance could ever be. You ask why you. How could it be any but you?”

Basically, Shea was to be at Fallon’s beck and call. She was so good at taking orders, too. She’d be dead in a week. If Fallon didn’t kill her, the other guards just might.

Without another word, he headed for a pair of horses at the front of the line. The first was a sleek, black stallion, prancing and tossing its head. At a glance, Shea could tell he’d be a handful. Willful, spirited, and probably temperamental. No thanks. Her eyes went to the second. She couldn’t quite call it a horse. It could best be described as a short, furry pony, with a barrel chest and thick stocky legs. It chewed enthusiastically at a piece of grass at its feet. Compared to every other mount out here, it was the ugly step cousin of horses. It didn’t belong at all. Fallon immediately headed for the stallion, which meant the squat creature was Shea’s. Great.

But mostly, because you are mine, and I crave the same commitment from you.” He snarled such sweet words in such an angry voice, as if he wasn’t thrilled with these reasons but accepted them none the less.

I’m not the one fleeing from the consequences of my actions. That would be you. Seems those pure bloodlines you have don’t protect against common defects of character.

“Fallon lives to keep the people he cares about safe. He’s done all this to build the foundation of something that will guarantee the survival of the family he intends to have someday. You willingly jeopardizing that is not going to go over well.” “Family?” Caden sighed, his intense gaze meeting hers. “You. And whatever children the two of you create.” Shea’s faintness returned.

Family. Her. And Fallon. She’d just begun to accept that they might have a chance at a small romance. That she might have some feelings for him. That she’d miss him if he was no longer in this world. Last night. She’d accepted that fact last night. She wasn’t ready for the rest of it. And definitely not the tiny people who would depend on her for everything. No. Just no.

You could accomplish some truly heinous things once emotion has been tucked away. Anger dies, eventually, if you sate it with enough blood. Hate fades. Grief dwindles. There are reasons behind emotion. Such is not the case with true detachment.

“This woman is going to rule at my side as I conquer these lands and lead my people into a golden age of prosperity. Our children will rule long after we have left this world and their children after them.” Shit. He really did plan on children. No, she hadn’t agreed to that yet.