Willing Sacrifice by Shannon K. Butcher Page A

to be around him.
    Maybe that was what Brenya meant when she said some things were best left forgotten. Maybe she knew that if Grace remembered her love for him, it would put her life in danger. If she loved him, she’d want to be near him. And the humans who were near men like him were almost constantly in jeopardy.
    There were no Synestryn here. If there had been, Brenya would have warned him. Even if she hadn’t, his blood would have drawn them out that first night.
    This place was as close to safe as he could imagine finding, and within a day of his arrival, Grace was already damaged.
    There were no safe places in the universe, and even if there were, Torr’s vow to fight and protect would not allow him the luxury of staying there long. He would be compelled to return to Earth, where he could perform his duty. Because of that duty, danger was a part of his life, as it would be for any woman who chose to be near him.
    If he truly loved Grace, he needed to find a way to let her go. And if there was one thing he knew to be true without a single doubt, it was that he loved her.
    They entered the village, greeted by several children. One of them was the tiny girl with the white-blond hair who’d almost been eaten by the lizard he’d killed yesterday—the girl Tori had scooped up and saved.
    The little girl wrapped her arms around his leg and held on while he kept walking toward the hut where Grace had tended his wounds. Each step had the girl squealing with delight, until a second child joined in the game and tackled his other leg.
    The extra weight slowed his steps, but he welcomed the delay. He couldn’t help but smile in the face of their simple joy. It had been years since he’d had much of a chance to play with children, and he’d forgotten how healing they could be for the soul. There was something about their innocence that made the world clearer, hard decisions easier and heavy burdens lighter.
    By the time Torr reached the hut, Brenya appeared, gently shooing away the children.
    “How damaged is she?” Brenya asked.
    He set Grace down on the cot and let her go. The patch of skin that had been against hers went cold. A sickening sense of loss churned in his gut, and he had to fight the need to hold her close again.
    “I’m fine,” said Grace. “I think it’s just a sprain.”
    Brenya glared at Torr. “You allowed this.”
    “I did,” he admitted, unwilling to lie to the older woman.
    “It wasn’t his fault,” said Grace. “I did this to myself.”
    “And he allowed it.”
    Grace looked at Torr. “Tell her that’s not true.”
    “But it is,” he said. “It’s my job to protect humans. You got hurt. That means I failed.”
    She rolled her eyes. “For heaven’s sake. If you two think that’s true, then you’re both messed up in the head.”
    “You would protect him?” asked Brenya.
    “I’m just telling the truth. I stepped off that cliff of my own free will. Even if Torr had wanted to stop me, he couldn’t have. End of story.”
    Brenya’s face turned a furious shade of red. She lifted her hand in a demand for silence. “I do not want to hear more. I already know too much.” She touched Grace’s ankle, and the swelling and bruising disappeared.
    Brenya leaned on the edge of the cot, sagging.
    “Are you okay?” asked Torr as Grace said, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
    “I did what I must,” said Brenya. “Now go and help see to dinner.”
    Grace lowered her head. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”
    Brenya waved her away. The second the door shut, she turned on Torr. “That woman nearly died to save you once. Did you not think she would do it again?”
    “She saved me before because she loved me. She doesn’t even know me now. I never thought she’d willingly throw herself off a cliff.”
    “You make excuses?”
    “Of course not. But I can’t see the future. I can’t predict what crazy things she or anyone else might do.”
    “There is no need for magic to predict