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That was a relief. She gave a nod. “When do you expect we will leave?”

“Early tomorrow morning.” There was a leashed violence in him, as if he were still straining against the magical cage that had bound him. “I will be rested enough by then.”

That was good. Better than waiting, while Vinest tried whatever it was he would surely try to keep her.

“What’s worrying you?” He slowed as they approached her house, and she realized her steps had shortened and her every move was signaling her reluctance to face Vinest. “What I’m asking you to do is dangerous, but I swear, I will keep you as safe as I can.”

She tilted her head to look up at him. She had gone against many spell workers before, usually hiding what she was doing. She knew it was never safe. “I believe you.”

It was Vinest she worried about. That flare of danger from him that her ring had warned her of.

If anything would set off violence in him, it would be understanding he was losing her.

And she couldn’t even tell the truth about why she had been hired. She would rather not say anything at all.

“Good.” He glanced up at the house as she came to a stop by the front door. “This is it?”

She nodded. “You will have to provide me with a horse. I don’t have one of my own.”

He inclined his head. “That can be arranged. Pack light, but don’t worry about food. I’ll get supplies at the barracks.”

That was good, because Betts would not allow her to take anything from the kitchen. The housekeeper hoarded food as if it were part of the gems and precious metals in Vinest’s safe.

Theo reached out and gently grasped her upper arms. “You saved me, and I cannot say how grateful I am.” He couldn’t stop the sudden shudder that gripped him, and she saw the horror at what had happened to him etched on his face for a moment before he managed to soften his features. “I’m also grateful you’ve agreed to assist me. Thank you.”

He was still holding her, so she lifted her hands and rested them on his biceps, aware of the intimacy of the pose. “I am glad I could help you, and I just today decided to leave my job, so your offer is quite serendipitous.”

Light blossomed from upstairs, spilling out of the parlor window, and she could see from the light that filtered down on them that his features were strained with fatigue.

“Go rest,” she told him, aware that Vinest was most likely looking down at her.

Her lieutenant must have been aware as well, although how, she didn’t know, and he looked up at the window. “You’ll be all right?”

She nodded, aware of the craziness that for the first time since she’d come to live with Vinest, she didn’t actually know if that were true. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“’Til tomorrow.” He turned and walked away, his stride easy and quick, despite the exhaustion that was dragging him down.

He headed toward the bridge, to cross to the Kassia and Cervantes side, and she headed for the door.

To the house she used to think of as home.

CHAPTER 7

She stepped into the house,the scent of chicken pie wafting from the kitchen in the back.

She hung up her coat but kept her bag with her. She would need it to pack some of her things.

“Dinner is over.” Betts met her in the narrow passage behind the stairs.

“That’s fine. I’ll take something up to my room.” Melodie didn’t like Betts, and Betts didn’t like her.

It was a circular problem.

She would have embraced Betts as a friend, as family, but had always been met with sulkiness and annoyance. She had finally worked out that Betts didn’t like her because she saw Melodie as an impediment to getting Vinest to marry her.

It was a pity it had to be that way, but now, it didn’t matter. She was leaving, and the thought of that, from the moment Theo had offered her a job, caused such a massive weight to lift off her, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed she was carrying it before now.

“No.” Betts blocked her way. “Icontrol the kitchen.Isay if you can’t be bothered to show up on time, you don’t get to eat.”