“Are you hungry?”
He lifted his gaze to where she stood at the foot of his bed, and smiled. “I’m a warrior, Mae. We’re always hungry.”
She smiled back. “Then get up, handsome. There’s a restaurant in the next building.”
He knifed up to stand next to her with an ease born of hours of physical exertion in his old life. Sotiris’s spell had held his body in the same shape as when he’d been cursed. Not out of charity, but because he’d wanted the four warriors to remain alive to suffer, not die quickly within their prisons. But now that Dragan was free, he was going to need a lot more physical activity than what he’d been getting if he was to maintain his peak fighting form. Thus far, he’d spent every hour since his freedom either sitting in the SUV or trying to sleep.
With that on his mind, he caught Maeve’s hand as they exited the hotel. Her fingers squeezed his as she looked up at him, her expression one of wary pleasure. He thought for a moment before asking a question, wanting to avoid insulting her with unintentionally clumsy words. For all that he knew this country’s English, Maeve was right. All language was inherently nuanced.
“I want to ask you a question,” he said finally. “It’s an honest query, so please don’t be offended if I use the wrong words.”
“Of course,” she said instantly, nudging his arm with her shoulder. “Ask.”
Dragan considered for a moment, then said, “You appear to be in excellent physical condition—”
“Well, not excellent,” she protested. “But I get your point. Please continue.”
“In my world, I trained daily with the blade, with my horse, with whatever weapons came to hand, so that I was always prepared when called upon, by either the goddess or Nico. In this world . . .”
“Ah, yeah. In this world, our society is so focused on ease and convenience that unless you’re in professional sports, or on active duty military, which would be more the kind of training you’re used to, you have to work at staying in shape. Some people run, some go to the gym, lift weights.” Her voice trailed off when she saw the look on his face. “Problem?”
“I’m going to need more than running.”
She laughed. “I guess you will. Maybe if, when, we find Nico. Was he a warrior, or just a sorcerer like Sotiris?”
“There was no ‘just a sorcerer’ in our battles. Nico and the others he faced—”
“Others? It wasn’t just Sotiris?”
“No, Sotiris was just the most powerful, the only one who presented a genuine challenge to Nico’s rule. And they were both warriors.”
“Like your brothers? I’m guessing they were like you back in the day?”
“Back in the day,” he repeated, tasting the words. “The four of us were the most feared warriors of our time. Is that what you mean?”
“Exactly. So I’m guessing your Nico will have figured out the answer to the problem of training.”
He nodded, his mood lightening at the thought of reuniting with Nico, and his confidence bolstered by Maeve’s belief that it would happen. “So what’s this restaurant?”
“Typical coffee shop. We can eat there, or take it back to the room, whatever you prefer.”
“What do you want?”
She smiled up at him again, and he discovered he liked being with her like this—her fingers, slender yet strong around his, the open pleasure of her smile warming him from the inside. And he knew he’d do just about anything to keep her safe and by his side. It was more than he’d ever felt for a woman.
As they reached the glass door to the restaurant, a young male pushed it open and shoved his way out. Dragan tugged Maeve back against his chest, holding her there with an arm across her shoulders from behind, while giving the offender a dark glare.
“I apologize for my son,” a voice said, drawing Dragan’s attention to an older man exiting behind the young one. “Boys, right?” The man offered a weak smile that was more embarrassed than friendly.
Dragan noted privately that the “boy” was old enough to have been considered a man in his world. A growl started low in his chest, too low to be heard, but Maeve must have felt the vibration, because she pushed back against his chest, as if to keep him in place, and gave the man a dismissive wave of her hand.
“It’s okay,” she offered pleasantly. “It’s dark. He probably didn’t see us.”
“The hell he didn’t,” Dragan muttered against her ear, but she pinched his thigh, surprising him into silence as the man hurried past with a furtive glance.
Ignoring the father, Dragan turned Maeve to face him. “Are you all right? He didn’t hit you?”
She shook her head. “It was no big deal. This is suburbia. It’s full of rude teenagers and hardworking parents doing the best they can.”
“Your rude teenager would have been a man in my world. Actions like that would have gotten him killed.”
“Thank God we’re not in your world, then, huh? Come on, let’s eat, before you start taking out the local teenagers.”
MAEVE ENJOYED A glass of wine with her dinner that night. It wasn’t the greatest wine she’d ever tasted, but it wasn’t bad for a chain hotel restaurant. Dragan certainly enjoyed it, drinking two glasses and praising its flavor, while also criticizing its low alcohol content. She stuck to the one glass, conscious of her limits and their still-precarious situation. There’d been no sign of Sotiris, but she didn’t for one minute believe he’d given up. He wasn’t the kind to accept defeat graciously.
“Do you think those vampires were sent by Sotiris?” she asked abruptly, the sudden thought threatening to destroy more than just her mood.
Dragan eyed her thoughtfully, giving every appearance of taking her question seriously, before shaking his head in the negative. “No. If it had been just the three of them, I would have given the possibility greater credence. But that sheriff and his deputy were also vampires, and they just wanted us gone. Sotiris is smart enough to have suborned the local authorities to do his bidding. Knowing that whoever he sent would have to face me, as well, he wouldn’t have trusted the three who attacked. Obviously, I can’t offer you certainty on this, but my considerable knowledge of Sotiris, and of killing in general, tells me they were no more than inexperienced thugs, who saw a lone woman and thought her an easy target.”