A Girl Named Calamity (Alyria 1)

I rolled around some more, but I was still too hot to sleep. Weston had already seen me without pants on, so what would he care if I took them off? I rolled it around in my mind but decided I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be proper; the last time had been an accident . . . kind of.

After I’d rolled around a little more with my eyes wide open, I saw him moving towards me and knew whatever he would do wasn’t going to be good. My heart rate sped up.

“No!” I shouted when he grabbed my pants leg. My eyes went round when he took his knife out and cut a slit in them before he ripped it all the way around my leg and pulled it off. I stared at my really short pants leg while he did the same with the other. It was disconcerting having an assassin rip my pants to shreds, and I had the urge to scoot away, but I forced myself to stay still until he finished.

He pinned me with a hard gaze. “I swear if you roll around one more time, I’ll knock you out.”

A frown pulled on my lips but I only lay back down. By now, I was used to his surly attitude and didn’t grumble about it, because the breeze on my legs was too satisfying. I stared at the stars while I cooled down. I sighed as no gold flew across the sky. Nobody wants to fall in love tonight.

When I was drifting to sleep, I caught a reflection in my silver cuff. The fire blazed, and a bare muscled back was in view.

I slept soundly with a wolf as my guardian.

* * *

I spent a long time washing the sweat off my body in the stream the next morning. I put my newly shortened pants on and with the length of my shirt, it looked as though I wasn’t wearing any at all. That would surely get some attention on the road. I tucked my shirt into my belt on one side, so I at least looked a little respectable. Then I rolled my eyes; nothing about this outfit was respectable.

“You need to take the cuffs off,” Weston said while I was eating some of my rations for breakfast.

I was surprised that he hadn’t mentioned anything about them until now. I thought about what to say and knew I couldn’t tell him anything about the magic; I had no idea where he stood on the matter. He watched with curious eyes while I tried to think of a good answer.

I settled with, “I can’t.”

Good thinking, Calamity.

He turned his back on me and packed some things into his saddlebag. I was glad because it was hard to think with his eyes burning a hole through my skin. “You can’t wear them in the city we’re going through today. It will cause too much attention.”

“I’ll wear my cloak, then,” I suggested.

“You will draw more attention wearing a cloak.”

I frowned. “Why?”

What could be so interesting about someone wearing a cloak?

“Take them off,” he ordered,

turning to pin that killer gaze on me.

“No,” I countered. My heartbeat quickened, but I acted as composed as possible after blatantly defying an assassin. My composure vanished when he started to walk toward me. I jumped up and stumbled back a few steps. “I can’t take them off!” I cried. He looked down on me for a moment before he grabbed the other half of my pants on the ground and ripped them into long strips.

“What are you doing?” I croaked. He had long strips of cloth in his fist when he walked to me with purpose. What was he going to do? Tie me up?

How could I have trusted an assassin? I was so stupid! I walked backward, but his strides were longer and he would have reached me in only a couple more steps. A cold sweat covered my skin while he got closer until I couldn’t take it anymore. I turned to run but a vice grip wrapped around my wrist before I could take another step. I pulled at it with no avail.

“Stop,” he spoke with such force that it was hard not to listen to the word. I paused long enough to realize what he was doing. He tied the cloth around my cuff so that no silver was showing. He did the same with the other while my heart still drummed.

I stared at his retreating back after he finished with my fists at my sides. “You could have told me what you were doing, you lunatic!”

When he turned to the side, I saw the small smile pulling at his lips.

An angry flush covered my skin.

The bastard thought it was funny.

CHAPTER EIGHT

DISCOVERY OF THE BREEZE