The warriors kept me between them, offering me dried bits of meat to eat. I choked down what I could, but my throat was raw from suppressing the cough. They said they’d care for me, but I didn’t want them to decide I wasn’t worth the trouble. If they could not take me soon, would they kill me?

“Sage,” the bearded one caught my chin in a gentle grip. “What are you thinking?”

I shook my head. “Forgive me. I am weak.”

He enfolded me in his arms. I waited, but he did nothing but hold me, so tense my bones might break, against his firm, warm chest. “Calm, sweet one,” he murmured, nuzzling the top of my head. “I expect nothing of you. You have been through too much, too soon, and for that I grieve. But I have long awaited this moment. I wish simply to hold you.”

The reverence in his tone made me blink back tears. I’m foolish. He was my captor. I shouldn’t pity him. But when his large hands threaded gently in my hair, my shoulders and back relaxed.

“How long?” I murmured. Under my cheek, his chest rose and fell in simple rhythm. His wild, masculine scent enveloped me.

He bent his head, so his beard tickled my face.

“What do you ask?”

I raised my head. His eyes had a thick ring of gold around the black pupil, just like a wolf’s.

“How long have you waited for me?”

“Too long.” He gripped me tighter. “Far too long. We are ancient, you will find.” He grimaced. “But we are willing to learn what it is to love.”

I sank against him again, feeling tired, feeling heavy.

His hand danced over my hair, sometimes stroking, sometimes teasing the back of my neck. My body melted into his, drinking in every bit of his warmth.

Rolf returned and I stiffened all over again.

“Hush,” Thorbjorn crooned. “Hush,” and for some reason, my body obeyed. I was dirty, wet, and cold, but somehow, deep in my soul, I knew I was safe. I hadn’t felt that way in a very, very long time.

* * *

I woke with a weight sitting on my chest, threatening to push me deep into the ground. I closed my eyes. It took too much energy to keep them open.

“Sage,” Thorbjorn shook me awake. “We must go. Come, you must drink a little more.”

He lifted the waterskin. Even though my throat felt parched, I turned my head away.

“You will obey.” His stern tone seized me, but then it softened. “Please, sweetheart. We will never order you to do something that will bring you harm.”

With a sigh, I faced him again. If they wanted me to do something, they could force me. So far all they’d done was care for me.

I wondered when that would change.

When he raised the waterskin again, I drank. The wolf sat in the shadows, watching us.

“Good girl,” Thorbjorn said when I took a few sips. “We will go quickly and not stop for many hours. Rolf went out and scouted the way. He stole some clothes for you.” He held them up.

A cloak and a shapeless dress that would scarce cover my knees.

“Those are for a child.”

“Well, we're lucky then that you are a wee thing. Put them on.”

“But—”

“Hands up.”

Thorbjorn had my dress over my head, and had tugged the shift over me before I could protest.

“Much better. I did not like seeing you covered in mud. Besides, the Grey Men can follow the scent.”

He tossed my dress on the fire. And just like that, my old life was gone.

I coughed, chest aching. “What will we do now?”

Thorbjorn lifted me. My arms went around his neck automatically. He smelled a bit like the air after a hard rain, oddly, the scent comforted me. “We head north, to find a safe place to hide. If the draugr attack, Rolf will distract them.”

We left the cave and fled into the gloom.

I did not know whether it was day or night. For long hours, Thorbjorn carried me through the mist. My head throbbed, and my vision swam. At times, I opened my eyes, not remembering when I’d closed them. I squinted through a pinhole of pain, waiting for the fog to lift and the sun to shine again.