Page 6

Chapter 6

Elliot

E lliot’s arms held the girl as steadily as possible given the bumps of the road. He kept up a steady stream of reassuring murmurs, knowing he needed to keep her awake. But he hardly knew what he was saying.

He kept shooting sideways glances at Avery. She was drenched from head to toe, but was she injured? Nothing in her manner suggested injury or pain, but he’d been trailing her for days, and she was tough. From her reaction in the water, he suspected she would hide any injury of her own while there was a child in more immediate danger.

They had almost reached the hamlet, children trailing behind them, before it occurred to him that he could have abandoned her and left her to rescue herself from the stream. If he’d done so, it would have given him several clear minutes to access her cart. It probably would have been the smarter move.

But she had looked as if she was in trouble, and he wasn’t willing to leave someone to drown just so he could reclaim his candelabra. He didn’t want to exchange his life and future for someone else’s. And it was a good thing he had acted so promptly since he hadn’t seen the girl. Avery would probably have rescued herself eventually, but would she have done so in time to save the girl? Quite probably not.

He looked at her again and caught her sneaking a look at him. He quickly turned away. Could she tell he’d just been considering abandoning her in a stream so he could rummage through her cart?

He was closer to the cart and its contents than he’d ever been, so why did he feel a little dizzy? Looking at Avery was almost as disconcerting as stepping too far from the remains of the candelabra. He was sure he looked like a drowned rat, but somehow she looked even more arresting while soaking wet than she did dry.

At least she was no longer looking at him like something she wanted to scrape off the bottom of her boot. Although that might have been due to the shock. Should he be talking to her as well as the girl? You were supposed to talk to someone who’d just been through a traumatic incident.

But what could he say? When he’d seen her in the stream, he’d revealed himself without thinking, but now that his brain had caught up with his actions, he was in trouble. Once the girl was safely handed over, Avery was sure to go back to threatening him. Given he’d been following her for days and had attempted to steal from her twice, it was possible she might even turn him over to the closest guards.

Water dripped from his hair into his eyes, and he shook his head, spraying it in all directions. It hit both the girl in his lap and Avery, making them gasp, and he winced.

“Sorry,” he murmured.

Avery nodded silently in response, not giving him any opening for a conversation.

He sighed. Could he blame her after how strangely he’d been acting? He kicked himself for the hundredth time for not approaching her openly in the beginning. The kind of girl who worried about the health of thieves and rejected rescue so someone else could be rescued instead might actually have heard him out.

The first houses appeared, and several adults caught sight of them, raising a shout as they noticed the three wet passengers. Avery continued deeper into the hamlet, and by the time she had stopped and Elliot had carefully climbed down, a crowd had formed.

The parents of the girl fell on him with more shouts and cries, and he reassured them that she was breathing and conscious. He was glad to hand her over, and only once she was safely transferred did he notice how cold he was.

Someone draped a warm blanket around his shoulders, and he turned to smile his gratitude at an older woman. Looking around to check that Avery had also received one, he found her in earnest conversation with the girl’s parents. She didn’t even seem to notice that she was shivering as she spoke, making her words shake.

Removing the blanket from his shoulders, he placed it around hers instead. She drew it close, not looking up to see him.

He stepped back. He hadn’t seen the girl fall in, so Avery could give the parents more information than he could.

Another blanket settled over his shoulders, and he gave a second grateful smile to the same woman.

“Thank you,” he said, and she beamed at him.

“Broke my heart to hear that girl was traveling alone,” she said. “I’m glad Avery has someone she can rely on now.”

Elliot immediately flushed, stammering over his reply. He hadn’t considered how their arrival might have looked to the villagers.

“Oh no,” he said. “It’s not…I mean, we’re not…”

The woman patted his shoulder. “Modest—as a hero should be!”

“Hero?” a light voice asked from behind him. “Perhaps.”

He turned to see Avery, an expression on her face he couldn’t read.

“She’s with the healer now,” she told him. “But it sounds like she should be fine. Thanks to you.”

He shook his head instinctively. “You’re the one who directed me to her.”

The blanket lady sighed sentimentally. “Does my heart good to see the two of you.”

Avery stared at her in astonishment, and Elliot quickly put his hand on her arm, steering her back toward the cart. There was no need for Avery to hear the woman’s theories. He was almost certain they would put her back up—if it was possible for her to turn any further against him than she already had.

“What are you doing?” Avery asked suspiciously. Her eyes narrowed as they neared the cart. “I’ve already warned you about getting anywhere near my cart.”

He instantly stopped, letting his arm fall. He hadn’t been thinking about their destination, just about getting her away from the villager.

But even though he said nothing, an uncomfortable look passed over Avery’s face. “Not that—I mean, I know you’ve already…That is to say…Thank you for your assistance at the stream.” The last words were delivered stiffly, accompanied by a pained look.

Elliot smiled broadly. “You’re welcome.”

“Since you saved that girl,” she continued, still stiff, “I’m going to assume you weren’t following me but just traveling in the same direction.”

“Actually,” Elliot said quickly. “About that?—”

“You can travel where you like,” Avery continued determinedly. “But if I fall in any more streams, don’t worry. I can swim.”

She climbed onto her cart and retrieved the mare’s reins.

Elliot put his hand on the horse’s neck. “Avery! Wait.”

She froze at the sound of her name, and he held his breath, hopeful. But after a moment of silence, she flicked the reins. The mare began to move, ignoring his presence, and he had to step back or be knocked down by the cart.

“Avery!” he called after her. “Please let me?—”

But there was no point calling after the back of the cart. She clearly wasn’t coming back.

“Blast.” He heaved a sigh, his shoulders slumping. His brief hope hadn’t lasted very long.

Already he could feel the pull of symptoms, and he knew he would have to start following her if he didn’t want to end up incapacitated. A light breeze brushed against his wet clothes and made him shiver.

He looked down at himself and then after the retreating cart. He shook his head and chuckled. The girl did know how to make an exit. She was as wet as he was, but you wouldn’t guess it from the way she’d taken off.

He gathered the blanket she’d left behind on the road and folded it neatly with his own. He left them in a pile at the nearest doorstep. He needed to get moving before the villagers tried to stop him and accidentally brought disaster. He just hoped Avery would stop soon and find a place to change. When she did, he would?—

His eyes widened as he looked around at the empty road. He couldn’t do the same thing because his pack was still in her cart. Along with his boots.

He wriggled his toes, grimacing. It was going to be a painful trip.

His head spun, and the beginning of a headache drummed against his right temple. He started walking. Boots or no boots, he couldn’t linger any longer while the cart got further away.

He had hoped Avery might have stopped at the first stand of trees beyond the hamlet, but something was driving her forward. His feet were battered and sore by the time he finally felt the lessening of his headache—his first indication that he was closing the gap with the cart. She must have stopped at last.

He didn’t even try to be subtle as he limped off the road into the stand of trees that appeared in front of him. Without boots, he had fallen far enough behind that she should have had time to complete her clothing change before his arrival, and he was too tired and sore to stop for niceties.

The cart came into view, the mare still hitched to the front, and his eyes went straight to the empty bench. The children had put his boots and pack underneath, and they were probably still there.

He had nearly reached the side of the cart when someone grabbed his arm, spinning him around. He caught a glimpse of Avery’s scowling face as she twisted his arm and slammed his back against the wood of the cart.

“Enough!” she hissed. “Why are you following me? If you can’t give me a convincing answer, I’m going to have to take measures to ensure you can’t follow me any longer.”

He felt the prick of a dagger point against his right leg.