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mean right now. I meant when we’re out there…Do you hunt? Do you know plants? How far can you hike in a day? How strong are you? Are there any…differences about you I should know about?”
    “Why do you need to know?” he asks, suspicion lacing his words.
    Maybe not helpless, but he sure is difficult. He was pretty quick back there in the clearing and strong enough to subdue me, I’ll just assume he can hold his own physically and I’ll just have to teach him some of the other stuff.
    “Nevermind.” I roll my eyes and spin around, retreating to my room.
    After quickly throwing together two packs, I make a list of things I need to run to the market to trade for. By the time it’s complete, Lir is settled back on the couch, his eyelids drooping. The injury must have taken more out of him than I thought.
    “You stay here and rest. I’ll to the market and get some more supplies.”
    “And I was so looking forward to seeing your primitive bartering center,” says Lir. One side of his mouth slides up. “I am sure I can see it another time.”
    I roll my eyes, not responding to his insult, and stomp out the door. My feet hit the dirt at the bottom of the steps before a thought makes me pause. Now that his wound has been cared for and he’s eaten, what’s to stop the alien from just sneaking off and leaving me here? Is he really even sleepy? Could he be faking? I have no reason to trust him. Back up the stairs.
    I tilt my head in the doorway. “Don’t run off. There are bears.” Lir’s chuckle follows me back out and my cheeks heat. That must have sounded incredibly stupid. Hopefully it will still deter him from trying to get out of our deal.
    The market, located just inside the South gate is made up of some permanent shops, but it’s mostly traders from outside that Dane allows to enter. Once they’re cleared, the traders are permitted to set up stalls just inside the gates. Some of the more…unsavory…ones set up shop outside the gates sometimes, but I stay away from them.
    It feels like people are staring at me, their eyes crawling over me like little bugs. Well, they always stare a little bit, but this time they aren’t even bothering to hide it. What? So I’ve never gone to the market without Jace. Do these sheep really have nothing better to do than worry about me?
    I stare at the ground. Who knows what they’d do if I actually spoke to them. I’ve barely made it past the main stretch of shops and into the rows of trader stalls when someone calls my name from a stall to the left with animal pelts lining its display.
    I have no use for the pelts— Jace brings plenty of those home— but there’s still something at the stall that interests me.
    My eyes dart to Matt, all long limbs and shaggy brown hair, and then to the kestrel perched on his arm. It’s his birds that bring down the small animals whose furs are set out. He strokes the kestrel’s chest with one finger. “She’s nearly fully trained now, Jax. Do you want to hold her?”
    I don’t really have time for it, but I’ve been eyeing that bird since the first time he brought it out and I’m sure he knows it. I shake my head. “Maybe another time,” I say.
    He smiles, one side of his mouth twisting up further than the other due to the puckered scar running from his jawline nearly to his temple. “I’ve been training a hawk too, a Harris, just like your necklace.” My hand goes up to grab the pendant. How much attention has he been paying to me? “If you’d like…” His voice trails off. He huffs out a breath and meets my eyes. “If you’d like you could have her.”
    Whoa. His words may be offering me a bird, but his face seems to be offering me something else. I take another step back. I’m sure, if I were looking to be Promised, Matt would be a good candidate, young and, despite the scar, attractive, but that is just not in my plans.
    A creeping discomfort works its way through my body. He’s not standing too closely and