Page 28

Chapter

Sixteen

TESSA

I wake up to birdsong and a chill in the air. My arm is asleep because I lay on it, and my nose is cold, but I’m warm all over, which feels lovely compared to yesterday morning, when my body felt stiff and half-frozen as I rose from my makeshift camp.

I blink, and the first thing I see is the fire pit, which has been altered sometime during the night. The fire burns merrily on one side, throwing off delicious heat, while the coals have been raked over on the left, and a spit placed above them. Two rabbits are roasting, already browned.

When did he manage to do all this?

Instead of rising, I pretend I’m still asleep and watch Arlon, son of Takmor, from my nest of blankets.

He’s rearranging his pack, moving slowly to avoid making any sounds that might wake me.

He’s being incredibly considerate, and if I’m correct, he also let me sleep through the night instead of waking me for my watch.

Last night, he told me I was his mate. Everything I said in reply was true, of course, but I can’t quite get his shattered expression out of my mind.

When I told him I didn’t want a mate, he looked…crestfallen.

I don’t want to hurt the man any more than I already have. Now that I’ve spent the night under his watch, dead asleep while he guarded me, I’m almost certain he doesn’t want to hurt me, either.

But his expectations of me are a different matter.

If he’s picturing me as some perfect wife who will go back home with him, join his family, and pop out a number of babies like his sister did, he’s mistaken.

I read some of Irrin’s letters to him over the past two days, and I can say with certainty that is not the life I want.

I’m not made to live quietly. I don’t even have any skills that would allow me to lead a regular life with honest work.

I’ve been sneaking and stealing for as long as I’ve been an adult, and I’m damn good at it.

It’s not a bad life, at least when I’m not on the run from a gang of murderous henchmen.

The thought of the Ravens sobers me. Arlon has asked why I broke into the gang’s headquarters, and I know he’ll press for more soon.

The truth is, I still haven’t figured out Damen’s code.

As skilled as I am at picking locks and scaling walls, numbers always trip me up.

Miss Bea, my old governess, used to sigh over my inability to manage anything beyond basic sums. But I always preferred adventure stories to algebra.

I’ve made no progress cracking the code, and now that I seem to have a travel companion, I might as well ask for his help.

He seems like a practical man, moving through his tasks with a quiet efficiency I can’t help but admire.

While I’ve been lying here, he’s already packed his bags, set out bread and cheese to go with the roasting rabbits, and unstrung his hunting bow, wrapping it in oilcloth to protect it from the morning drizzle.

And then there’s the fact that he went hunting and returned with two fat rabbits without waking me.

“If you’re awake, we might want to get an early start to the day,” he says without looking at me. “By my calculations, we should get to the other side of the plateau by this afternoon, and if we’re lucky, we can reach a village before nightfall. I’d like a roof over our heads.”

Heat floods my cheeks, and I scramble upright, pushing hair from my face.

I think I grabbed a brush while I was frantically packing back in my apartment, Etta watching with concern, but I have no idea where I stuffed it.

I gather my curls and tie them back with a leather string, tucking the too-short strands behind my ears.

When I glance up, Arlon is watching me, his dark gaze steady. He looks away quickly, but not before I catch the flash of hunger in his eyes.

Damn it. I’ll have to talk to him again today, make it clear that getting tangled up with me is a bad idea. And if he won’t listen, I might have to ditch him. Slip away in the night like the thief I am.

For some reason, the thought is accompanied by a stab of pain right behind my breastbone. I rub the spot on instinct, then shake my head to clear it of strange thoughts.

“I’m awake,” I tell Arlon’s broad back. “Thanks for brushing down the horses. And preparing breakfast. You didn’t have to do that.”

I can see Clover grazing alongside a truly massive bay horse and a smaller brown gelding.

Clover and the gelding look like ponies next to the tall bay, which makes sense.

That horse must carry Arlon’s full weight and his saddlebags, too.

The horses seem content enough, letting out huffs as they munch on the scarce grass.

The man grins at me, his tusks flashing. “Oh, you think this is for you? That’s my breakfast, little thief.”

I blink, my mouth falling open as I try to think of a protest, but of course he didn’t hunt to feed me. Why would he? I’ve done nothing but be unpleasant to him. Yet he’s the one who followed me, so I expected us to at least share the burden of camping together.

“I’m joking,” he quips a moment later. “Gods, you should see your face.”

I grab the first thing to chuck across the fire pit at him but pause as I realize I’ve got hold of something soft. Looking down, I find a linen shirt clutched in my fist—but I have no clue how it got there.

“I’ll take that.”

Suddenly, Arlon is standing over me, and he plucks the shirt from my fingers.

I stare up at him, my cheeks flaming again as I realize he must have tucked it under my head after I’d fallen asleep.

Damn it. And that’s his blanket I was covered with.

It kept me warm overnight, and now I feel like an idiot for having unkind thoughts about the man.

It’s a relief to see that he’s flustered, too.

His face has turned a darker shade of green, and he turns on his heel, then busies himself with plucking the rabbits off the spit.

He quarters them with efficient cuts of his long hunting knife, then silently offers me a piece.

I take it with a quiet “Thanks,” unable to look him in the eye.

The meat is tender but crispy on the outside, cooked to perfection.

Apparently, there’s no limit to what he can do.

I feel woefully inadequate all of a sudden.

My skills, which I’ve always prided myself on, are severely limited.

What good is lockpicking when I don’t even know how to catch a rabbit, let alone skin or cook one over a fire?

“What are you thinking?” Arlon asks quietly.

I look up to find him studying me again. I wish I could say his attention is unnerving, but right now, he’s staring at me like I’m a puzzle to solve.

I shake my head, not wanting to share.

“All right, I’ll tell you what I’m thinking, then.” He takes another bite of meat and chews thoughtfully, then adds, “I’ve considered your claims from last night and decided you were right.”

My eyebrows shoot up at that. “Oh? Which claims were those? Because I’m quite certain I’m always right.”

He smirks and offers me more food, and I take it because it’s good and free, and we’ll be riding through the day.

My acceptance has nothing to do with the way his quiet attentiveness makes something warm stir in my chest, or the way his smile deepens the faint lines at the corners of his dark eyes.

They’re a rich, loamy brown, flecked with warm bronze.

He’s incredibly handsome, and I think he knows it.

I duck my head and focus on my meal. The last thing I should be doing is admiring a beautiful man.

My luck with those has never been particularly good.

I don’t want to make another stupid decision at a point in my life where trusting the wrong person could mean the difference between surviving and dying at the hands of my pursuers.

I can’t get distracted, not by good food, nor the other small gestures Arlon has been making since we met. Despite his claims that I’m his mate, I still don’t understand his motives for being here, in the middle of nowhere.

“I’ve decided that you need to get to know me better,” he tells me triumphantly. “Which is why I’ll tell you anything you want to know. You only have to ask. We’ll have plenty of time on the road today.”

“So you’re set on following me?” The words tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them. “If you want your money back, I can’t give it to you. I spent it all to settle a debt in Ultrup.”

I’m lying again, and it feels wrong, but I need him to understand that he’ll get nothing from me.

His gaze slides over to my saddlebags, then back to me. He lifts one dark eyebrow as if questioning my claim, as if he knows I’m lying. Does he?

“Did you go through my things?” I demand, spine straightening.

Arlon shakes his head. “I didn’t. But when you chucked the bags on the ground last night, I heard the coins clinking in there. You’ve still got the money, Tessa. So how about we stop lying to each other?”

Embarrassment shoots through me, hot and unpleasant, and anger follows on its heels. “I won’t apologize for who I am.”

“I didn’t ask you to,” he retorts, frowning. “I only asked for the truth.”

Damn him. Damn my stupid feelings, too. I’ve been a thief for too long to succumb to guilt and shame, and yet this man’s sharp gaze has me questioning my actions. It’s deeply unpleasant, and I don’t want to think about why my life has turned out the way it has.

“I’m a thief,” I snap. “That’s the truth. If you don’t like that, you’re welcome to leave. I didn’t ask you to follow me here.”

He leans back, studying me in silence for a long moment, enough to make me squirm.

“No, I suppose you didn’t,” he says at last. “But I’m here anyway, so we might as well make the most of it.”