Free Warrior's Rise by Brieanna Robertson

“Always a tough guy.” Her tone was sarcastic, but not really mean.
    He snorted. “Would I get more sympathy from you if I rolled around and wailed, ‘oh the pain, the pain’?”
    She gave a dry laugh. “Not at all.”
    “See. So why waste my energy?”
    She smirked, then looked down and sighed. “Look, I’m sorry I blew my top at you earlier… I kind of overreacted.”
    He stole a sidelong glance at her. “You think?”
    “It’s just…” She huffed. “You see, I’m a collector and those are all my own personal weapons. I have them custom made by someone who makes sure they are authentic, as they would have been in the middle ages. They’re not like the dull bladed props you get in the catalogues. They’re very dangerous.”
    He frowned. “So why do you have them here?”
    “Where else would I have them? I live here.”
    He blinked. “You live at the camp?”
    She glanced over at him and nodded. “It’s not just a camp. It’s my home. I don’t have anywhere else to put them. That was why the door was locked.” A worried frown creased her brow and she looked down. “The lock was really broken? You didn’t break it yourself?”
    He let out an exasperated sigh. “No, I didn’t. It was busted when I got there. Breaking and entering is not a criminal pursuit I’ve managed yet.”
    She looked up at him and smirked. “Well, you’re still young.”
    He rolled his eyes. “Right.”
    Her smile grew and she stood. “Well, I have to go. Dinner’s soon. Be sure you come and eat something, Logan, okay?”
    His eyes widened and he looked up at her in surprise. A slow smile spread across his lips.
    She arched an eyebrow and put a hand on her hip. “What?”
    He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just…” He grinned. “That’s the first time you’ve ever called me by my name.” He shrugged. “It’s nice.”
    A touch of pink colored her cheeks and it must have appalled her because she stepped away from him and seemed to get flustered. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” she grumbled. “I just can’t yell at you every hour of the day. It’s exhausting.”
    He chuckled. “Well, thanks. The reprieve is nice for my ego and my ears.”
    She rolled her eyes and tried to look irritated, but he could see the small glimmer of amusement in her eyes. “Dinner,” she stated, then turned and swaggered away.
    Logan smiled and picked his flowers up as he started back towards his cabin. As he passed the kids’ bunk, Aki came tearing out, calling his name. He turned and glanced at her over his shoulder.
    “Hey, Colt brought a portable DVD player with him!” she exclaimed. “We were all going to watch Lord of the Rings . You wanna watch with us?”
    He arched an eyebrow. “Which one?”
    She shrugged. “We’re just gonna start from the beginning and make a marathon of it.”
    “Yeah,” Colt said, appearing next to her. “With you out of commission and all doped up on pain pills, we can’t really do anything for the rest of the day so we’re just hanging out. Figured we’d have somebody go snatch us some dinner and bring it back.”
    Logan smiled, touched that they even cared. Especially when, only twenty-four hours prior, he’d been telling them all what a bunch of freaks they were. “No, that’s all right. Thanks, though.”
    Colt snorted. “Come on, man. What do you have better to do?”
    “Come on, Counselor Logan!” Lucy’s voice shouted. She came out to stand next to her friends moments later. “We’ll let you have one of the beds. You can just hang out.”
    He smiled in spite of himself. “Guys, I’m not really a Lord of the Rings type of dude.”
    Colt rolled his eyes. “Who cares? Come on. Just hang out with us, would you? All we’re asking you to do is sit on your butt and stare at a screen. I’m sure that’s something you can manage.”
    He gave a curious frown. “You’re just trying to make up for shooting me, aren’t you?”
    “Totally,” Colt replied without