Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Ryker
When Val spotted us, she smiled tremulously as she rose. Her eyes continued to flit over the woods, and I turned to study the forest; something must have spooked them, and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with anything sneaking up on us.
Eventually, Val’s attention shifted back to me. Her face was haggard and drawn; she’d lost weight since I last saw her, and she only met my gaze for a second before her dull brown eyes flitted nervously to the forest again.
“Is there something out there?” I asked.
Val glanced at me before shaking her head. “I… uh… I don’t know. I thought I heard something.”
“We’ll keep an eye out,” Callan said.
I nodded to him before smiling reassuringly at Val as I approached. “It’s good to see you. It’s been a while.”
Val clenched her hands before her as she gazed at the woods before looking at me again. “I didn’t think I’d ever make it back,” she said. “Things have been chaotic since you robbed the duke.”
I studied the trees as Val’s eyes continued to dart around them. I’d never seen her so unsettled before. “What do you think you heard?”
Her eyes flew back to me, and she blinked rapidly as she twisted her hands before her. “We kept hearing things moving through the trees, but we couldn’t see anything. I think they’re fucking with us.”
“Probably just some buxon or birds,” I assured her.
She bit her bottom lip before replying. “Yeah, probably.”
“Have things really been that bad since the robbery?” I asked to distract her from the woods.
I suspected it was more than the noise of the forest that had her so rattled; she’d lost at least ten pounds, and it hadn’t happened since arriving here today. She’d been on high alert for a while.
Did we thrust all of Tempest into fight-or-flight mode when we robbed the caravan?