“Of course I can tell,” she responded dismissively. “Why, the boy’s in love with her! He’s hardly going to spear her.”
Merletta didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or amused, but there was no time for either. Heath had reached her, and he seized both of her hands in his.
“Why did you say it might be the last time? Talk to me, Merletta.”
“I’m all right,” she assured him, squeezing his hands. “I just don’t know what’s going to happen when I—” She cut herself off, frowning at the bandage around his arm. “What happened to you?”
“I narrowly escaped getting trampled by a runaway horse,” Heath said quickly. “But that’s not what we’re talking about.”
“It is now!” Merletta protested. “What happened?”
Heath hesitated. “I’ll tell you about it…later.” He glanced at the group, seeming to notice the presence of a stranger for the first time. He cast a questioning glance at Merletta, then inclined his head politely to Eloise.
“I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Heath.”
“I’m Eloise,” she said firmly, looking him up and down. “August’s wife. And I’m very glad to meet you. I can see at a glance why Merletta’s ready to throw her world away to defend you. Although that doesn’t mean it won’t get her killed, of course.”
Merletta felt irritated by the older woman’s words when she saw the troubled crease that appeared between Heath’s eyes.
“Come on,” she said, tugging on his uninjured arm. “If you only have ten minutes, let’s not waste it.”
She pulled him into the jungle, just far enough to be out of earshot of the others.
“Ignore her,” she said, lowering herself onto a fallen log.
“You know I can’t,” said Heath quietly.
There was plenty of space for him to sit next to her, but he remained standing, looking down at her out of eyes that seemed much too serious for his twenty years.
“Am I a danger to you, Merletta?” he asked bluntly.
“Only to my heart,” she joked.
But Heath wasn’t interested in lightening the mood. She could practically taste his intensity in the air as he suddenly dropped to his knees beside the log, staring into her eyes.
“I thought you died because of me once before, Merletta,” he said, laying a hand on her knee. “And I don’t think I could survive that again.”
His touch was warm on the skin just below Merletta’s scaled skirt, and she felt her heart leap erratically. Trying to master herself, she laid her hand over his, matching his tone.
“Heath, no part of the danger around me is your doing. And I resent the suggestion that knowing you isn’t worth every bit of the risk.”
Heath looked anguished. “You think I don’t feel the same way? But when you’re far away, deep underwater, I can’t do anything to help you. I hate sending you back to people who’ve tried to kill you more than once, knowing there’s no way I can protect you!”
Merletta hesitated. She appreciated his concern more than she could say, but it changed nothing about her reality. Limited though their time was, it didn’t seem like the moment to tell him her plans.
“It seems I’m not the only one needing protecting,” she pointed out. “What happened to you?”
Heath pushed himself up from his knees and lowered himself down beside her on the log. “It’s a concern,” he acknowledged. “It happened a couple days ago. Unless I’m completely mistaken, someone tried to kill me and make it look like an accident. The same someone who orchestrated the attack against Percival, I think.”
“Heath, that’s terrible!” Merletta grabbed his shoulders, scanning him more carefully.
“Not so easy when you’re the powerless one, with the other in danger, is it?” Heath asked dryly. “Don’t think you can distract me, Merletta. Why did you call me here?”
“Thank you for coming, by the way,” said Merletta, not quite meeting his eyes. “I wasn’t sure Rekavidur would bring you.”
“Well, I wasn’t sure, either,” Heath acknowledged. “But although he didn’t admit as much, I could tell that, like me, he was intrigued by the information that you thought you were going to die imminently.”
“I didn’t say that,” Merletta corrected quickly. “I said it might be the last time I could come to Vazula. I’m hoping it won’t be, but…”