Where was that shaking coming from?
The Shepherd tried to pull away, but the hands gripping his shoulders were strong.
“Shepherd!”
There was the Wanderer! At last! Why couldn’t he see him in that riotous tower of stolen hearts?
“Wake up, Shepherd! You’re having a nightmare!”
The Wanderer shouted in his ear.
Finally, the Shepherd was able to force his eyes open.
The Wanderer leaned over him, quaking his shoulders until the Shepherd sat up and brushed his hands away.
He was trembling. That dream really had been a horror. He shook his head and rubbed his face.
“From what I heard you say, I take it you were back at the tower.”
The Wanderer’s voice was gentle.
Suddenly flooded with shame, the Shepherd looked away.
Even if the Wanderer had already figured out there was far more to the story the Shepherd had told him of the night he saw Woman kill the Sorcerer of the Caverns, his friend still must have been shocked from the revelations of the night before.
They had had no chance to talk it over. They had been so exhausted after the elaborate dinner and Adrianna’s tale, both retired to their quarters and their beds immediately.
“Yes, I was. What did I say? If I may be foolish enough to ask?”
“You were pleading with her to spare my heart. Where was I?”
“I don’t know. I wondered the same thing in the dream.”
“I take it you lost the fight.”
“I did,” the Shepherd replied. “Fortunately, you woke me up before your heart got eaten.”
The Wanderer smiled.
“I’m sorry,” the Shepherd said in a quiet voice. “I should have told you the truth years ago. All of it.”
The Wanderer took in the Shepherd’s apology for a moment, nodding slowly. Then he shrugged.
“Thank you, but it hardly matters now. I suspect everything went for the best – or as good an outcome as could be hoped for. We may not be here now if you had. I’d probably still be your talking Wolf.”
The Shepherd paused, then admitted his friend had a point.
The Wanderer nodded again, then hesitated with a subtle frown crossing his face.
“Are you ever going to tell me about her?” the Wanderer asked softly.
“I don’t know.”
The Wanderer smiled again and pointed to his breast.
“This heart wants to know. And this heart has a right to know.”
The Shepherd smiled.
“Such an obvious truth is impossible to argue with. But I wasn’t joking when I said I never talk about her.”
“Whether you like it or not, I don’t think you have much choice. Adrianna is relentless when it comes to getting what she wants.”
“So what if she is? I’m leaving today.”
“You would be a fool to do that, Shepherd.”
“I have to get back to my sheep.”
“I can take care of your sheep,” the Wanderer retorted. “How long were you with Ella Bandita?”
“She was not that wretched creature when I knew her!”
The Wanderer’s eyes widened at the hard edge that had come into the Shepherd’s voice.
He looked away from the Wanderer staring at him with raised brows.
“How long?”
“Five years.”
“Was this was the love ‘that wasn’t meant’ as you once put it.”
“Why must you ask the nosiest questions?”
“Why won’t you answer them?” the Wanderer retorted. “So, was my Ella Bandita your woman?”
“Yes.”
“Am I also correct in the assumption that you haven’t known a woman since?”
“Now that is none of your business.”
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’ You’re staying. You need this.”
“The last thing I need is to keep company with a courtesan. I’m not a fool.”
“I insist you stay, Shepherd.”
“Last time I checked you were never the master of me.”
“In this particular instance? Like Hell I’m not. That very partial truth you told me was partial enough to be a lie. You owe me.”
“A lie for which I just apologized for. Since the greater good was served – and you said so yourself – I owe you nothing.”
“That’s a paltry way to pay a much larger debt. Not just to me, but to yourself. This part of your life has been chasing you since the day I found your drawing of Ella Bandita.”
The Shepherd was silent.
“It’s time for the story to come out,” the Wanderer persisted. “You might as well get lots of practice in with Adrianna before you tell it to me.”
“How many times do I have to say no?”
“This is not for you to refuse, Shepherd. I demand it of your integrity.”
The Shepherd swore under his breath.
