Page 44 of High Stakes and Soulmates (Fanged Mistakes #3)

“I wish that was true. I wish it more than anything,” he says.

“He can’t walk in the daylight, but at night he’s unbelievably fast. You saw how fast he heals.

I believe the only way to kill them is to stake them in the heart or remove their head.

I never told you that because I never wanted you to try.

You are very talented, Ezio, but against a man like him…

it takes so much more than talent. Aim Valley toward the lake.

There’s a small boat that will take us part of the way.

It should cut the distance we have to travel in half.

The man who agreed to help us said it was all set up.

It’ll give Valley a break, too, if she’ll get on it.

It’s not much of a boat—will she panic?”

“No, she’ll be good,” I assure him. I rub Valley’s neck, hoping that to be true.

He nods.

Before the sun hits the highest point in the sky, we reach the dock and he hurries me over to the boat he’d been told to go to. The man takes one look at my horse and shakes his head. “If she panics, she’ll flip the boat.”

“She won’t panic,” I promise.

Arturo rushes forward. “Is there a saddlery on the other side?”

“Into the town some distance,” another guy responds.

“Then we have no choice but to take her,” I say as I dig into my purse and pull out money. “We have to take her; we have to keep moving. We can’t waste time buying a new horse and we can’t waste time fighting this.”

“You’re going to waste a lot of fucking time when she flips the boat. She might be used to big boats and ships, but these ones move and bob with the smallest shift.”

“She’ll be good,” I insist.

He eyes the money and snatches it. “Your funeral,” he says, even though he’s going to be on the boat with us.

He must think the money I offer is enough to make it worth it.

I lead Valley, who is covered in a sheen of sweat, over to the dock.

She steps onto the boat and it immediately shifts under her hoof, causing her to draw back.

“Hey, girl. Come on, you’ll be just fine,” I assure her. “You’ll be just fine.”

She snorts, head lowered while she assesses the situation, but she tentatively walks on as the captain watches me. I think he assumed she would refuse after her initial unsteadiness, yet once she’s on, she’s uncertain but still. And if she’s still, it doesn’t bob and shift.

“That’s my girl,” I say, rubbing her sweaty neck as the boat begins to move. “That’s my girl.”

She snorts again, not pleased with the situation, but I know she’s never let me down yet. And she’s not going to now.

“You have to be exhausted and in so much pain. Let me stand with her,” Arturo urges.

“She trusts me most. I’ll join you in a second. She’ll calm down here in a bit.”

He nods and takes a seat, and once Valley takes a deep breath and licks her lips, I know she’s finally submitted to this new style of moving.

With Valley relaxed, I go over to Arturo and sink down, absolutely drained. My mind is exhausted, my body aches… it feels like I’ve forgotten how to breathe until just now.

“You can lie on me,” he says as he takes hold of my arm so he can examine my broken hand. “I wish I knew how to help your hand, but the moment we get somewhere safe, you need someone to fix that.”

“Okay,” I agree.

He dutifully doctors my leg while I lean against him. Once he’s done, I take his hand with my good one and hold it between our legs so the others don’t take note of it.

Quietly, I murmur, “I never thought I’d get to see you again.”

“Hopefully, we get to see each other again and again until we grow old together.”

“That would be nice.”

“Why was my book in your bag of ‘necessities’?” he asks.

“Because it’s your favorite book… and I wanted a piece of you.”

“Where are we going when we get to the other side?”

“Far, far away,” I assure him. “To another country. To some place he’s never heard of or traveled to.”

“Well… he picked me up in my country, so he’s traveled far. I questioned if he was originally from there, but his accent was foreign to me. He could be from far beyond the ocean, for all I know… I just hope he won’t follow us that far.”

“Me too,” I say. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get away and we’re going to be safe from him. We’re going to buy a small house somewhere. Maybe a bit of land to farm or raise animals. Or do you want to be in town? What do you want to be now that you’re free?”

“I… I don’t know,” he realizes. “I never thought I’d get to be anything other than a servant. What about you?”

“Something mundane…”

“What about a sheep farmer?”

“I could be a sheep farmer.”

“Or you could grow crops? Or woodwork… or smithing… or do you want something more specialized?”

“Anything,” I decide. “Anything but killing.”

“We’ll find you something. We’ll get that small house… I’ve always wanted a dog. I could be anything, as long as I get to be it with you. I’ll help you with whatever you want to do.”

“You could do so much more.”

“I don’t need to do anything more.”

“You could be a scholar or do something with the books you love.”

“Nah. If you herd sheep, I’m going to be right next to you. That doesn’t mean I won’t find a good tree to read under.”

“So I’ll herd sheep and you’ll cheer me on from under a tree?” I tease.

“Exactly.”

Arturo seems at ease for a while, but when the day stretches into early evening, I can tell he starts to get anxious. I try to distract him with tales of what our life will be like—how we’ll be together and how we’ll never have to fear for our lives again.

“I thought this would move faster,” he frets. “He assured me we’d be to the next port in plenty of time.”

“It’ll be okay,” I say as I head over to tighten Valley’s saddle and bridle her. “The moment we hit land, we’re going to be moving.”

“Okay. You’re right. Sorry. I’m just anxious.”

And so am I, but I know I can’t say anything. I need to be confident. And I need to be ready in case we don’t make it there in time.

“There’s congestion at the dock,” the captain announces. “It’s going to slow us considerably.”

“You’re kidding. There can’t be anything that’ll slow us,” Arturo says anxiously. “Fuck.”

I pull him over to Valley. “Get on.”

“What?”

“No, it’s not a dock, but she wouldn’t have to swim far. We’ll get up that slope there,” I say, motioning to it.

“The mud there’s deep, boy, you’d better be careful,” the captain warns. “Let us steady the boat before she jumps.”

“Okay… it’d be best if we weren’t on her back, then. Come on.”

“You’re going to swim it?” Arturo asks.

“Once you’re in the water, grab her tail,” I say.

“Okay.”

I pull her, and she finds that she doesn’t want to move because when she does, the boat rocks, even though they have poles stuck in the ground below the water to keep it steady when she jumps.

“Come on,” I coax her. I pull her forward and she hesitates before leaping into the water.

Quickly, I jump in after her and Arturo after me.

I grab her tail and Arturo grabs on to me as she pulls us toward the shore.

Partway up, the mud starts to suck her down, but she lunges forward until she heaves herself out.

The moment we’re on land, I toss Arturo onto her back and slide into the saddle in front of him.

The moment I settle into the saddle, she’s running. She leaps up onto the bank and bolts when she reaches the road.

Arturo’s hands tighten around my waist.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s getting dark fast. There’s a storm rolling in.”

“You said night, though. We have hours until night.”

“It has something to do with the sunlight… if it gets dark before night… he can come out.”

I urge Valley faster, pushing her harder than I ever have.

I’m sure she’s already tired from this morning’s run, but I can’t let up on her.

Not yet. Her hooves dig into the dirt while she covers ground as fast as she can.

The tremor in Arturo’s hands tells me just how worried he is, but she doesn’t hesitate.

She’d run herself to death if I asked her to.

“We’ll make it,” I assure him when the first drops of rain strike my face. “We’ll make it. I promise we will.”

“I love you. I love you so much. I really love you. And if something happens, I really hope we can be together in another life,” he whispers, his hands shaking harder as each moment passes.

“Don’t talk like that,” I say. “Come on, don’t talk like that.”

Arturo turns quiet, and I see the ocean far in the distance as we race against the clouds rolling in.

“I can see the harbor,” I say.

“I don’t see his ship.”

“The ship we’re meant to get on?” I ask, but then I realize what he means. “Louis’s ship?”

“Yes.”

“He didn’t make it here yet. And even if he did, he can’t get out, right? There’s still enough light…”

“Right. Right. We’re going to make it,” he says, sounding hopeful for the first time since we left.

Thunder rumbles through the sky while the rain beats down harder, making it more difficult to see and making me fear that they’re not going to leave port with a storm brewing.

If they decide they can’t leave… what the fuck are we going to do?

I don’t bother asking Arturo this; we’ll face it when it happens.

Valley is winded and covered in sweat, but she’s not slowing down. She’s determined to do anything I ask of her, and she’s not going to disappoint me.

“Is the man you know going to be on the ship?”

“No. He said his crew knows, though. They’re going to get us out. There! There, they see us. I think they see us.”

“Come on, Valley,” I say as a cart moves out in front of us. Valley crashes into it and stumbles while the woman wheeling it screams. Arturo’s grip on me tightens but he stays seated. Valley regains her footing and I give her a second before I aim her toward the wooden ramp and onto the ship.

“Louis’s ship was seen moments ago,” a woman shouts, yanking Arturo off. “Go. Hide NOW!”