Free Coven: a dark medieval paranormal romance (Witches of the Woods Book 2) by Steffanie Holmes

the last moments we have together, and I don’t want to taint them. Besides, I don’t feel as if it’s my story to tell. Perhaps Maerwynn will. She’d probably delight in it, but I wouldn’t ask her, either.”
    “You’re being very mysterious. What did you speak of with her this evening? You both looked so serious when you came to the fires. If you just tell me, I’ll be better able to protect myself from her.”
    I shook my head. “I cannot speak of it, Ada. You must trust me. I don’t like to keep you in the dark, but the less you know, the better.”
    “Why?”
    “Why?” I turned away from her. I didn’t want to look at her face when I said it. “Because there is a price on your head. If the worst should happen, and you are captured in Lord Benedict’s Great Hunt, you will be tortured by men not as kind as I. If I tell you nothing, then you will have no information to give. The ignorant cannot succumb to torture.”
    I heard her gasp. “I … didn’t think of that.”
    I turned back around, my chest tightening as I saw the fear on her face. I cupped her cheek in my hand. “Oh, my love. Forget I said anything. That’s not going to happen. I will protect you, just as I have promised. I’m an old warrior, and I must always look at the worst possible outcome. I’m responsible for more than just your life, now. Maerwynn’s secrets are in my hands, too. I cannot take that responsibility lightly.”
    A tear rolled down Ada’s cheek. “I just don’t like being in the dark.”
    “Neither do I, my love.”
    I closed my eyes, and a weariness washed over my body, the aftermath of our lovemaking. I wanted to hold the memory of her beautiful body writhing in ecstasy, keep it close to me. It was a much more pleasant thought to fall asleep on than that of torture and death.
    Ada fell asleep quickly, her head resting in my armpit, her beautiful body curled around mine. I stared at the ceiling. Even though my body ached for rest, I could not sleep. For now the task that lay before me settled upon me with creeping darkness. It would be easy to find my father, but to kill him? Rotstrom castle would be heavily guarded, and even if I did find my way through, when I faced my father, would I truly be able to take his life? Could I force myself to commit such an abhorrent act as patricide, even if it was to protect Ada?
    I did not know how I would do it, only that it must be done. But even when I had killed my father, I would still not be free. Not until Clarissa was also dead and the blood oath she had forced on me was broken, and the price had been taken off our heads.
    I heard a creak, and I whirled my head around to face the door. The heavy wooden door creaked open on its hinges, swinging toward me while the moon cast a long shaft of light across the bare dirt floor. As I watched, a shadow passed over that shaft, a halo of white hair glowing around it like an aura in the moonlight. I could just make out the glint of Maerwynn’s eyes. She beckoned me with a long finger.
    I rose from the bed, slipping my arm out from beneath Ada’s cheek. Maerwynn ducked under the door frame, and turned to check I was following. I thought to grab my breeches, but decided against it. Maerwynn wasn’t used to seeing me naked, so maybe it would unnerve her a little.
    I followed her out of the cabin, down the winding path, and on to the rock shelf where the empty fire pits sat, the ashes turned over- ready for the next meal. Maerwynn turned to me, a vicious grin spreading across her face.
    “You look as if you’ve been having a pleasant evening,” she said.
    “That is none of your concern,” I growled.
    “It is my concern. Or have you forgotten my rules? Men are not to sleep in the cabins.” She pointed to three open hammocks handing from the trees beside the lake, where her three male servants snored loudly.
    “Where’s Tjard, then?” I demanded.
    Maerwynn pointed up the hill, at a cabin I recognized as belonging to the