Eventide (Meratis Trilogy Book 2) (18 page)

“Lad has a point,” said Michael. “We don’t have time for more delays.”

“We’ll bring her with us,” said Brady, ignoring Jayden’s rant and Michael’s argument.

Jayden’s eyebrow rose. “Excuse me?”

“This woman just tried to kill Jeff. You’re not curious about why?”

“Lots of people want to kill Jeff. I’m sure you’ve had your moments.”

Jeff narrowed his eyes to glare at Jayden, and Brady hid a smile behind a cough.

Michael didn’t bother to hide his grin. “I guess you have some items to discuss. Let me know what you decide in the morning. You going to sleep in here, lad?”

Jeff glanced at the blood-spattered sheets and shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Michael started to strip off the sheets. “Then I’ll camp out here for the night. Darcy and I’ll take turns staying awake with the girl. We’ll leave the door open so we can see the hallway as well. Sound good?”

Jayden nodded. “Come and wake me if you need a reprieve. There aren’t many hours until sunrise and we could all use some rest.”

Harold, who Jeff had almost forgotten was still in the room, approached him again and said, “Get some sleep and don’t poke at the cuts. We’ll take a look at it tomorrow morning.”

Jeff extended his hand for the man to shake, but Harold left the room without acknowledging him, reverting back from efficient physician to first counsellor’s man.

“Strange man,” said Cassie. She hooked her arm through Jeff’s. “Come on, you can use my room. Not likely I’m going to get much sleep tonight either.”

They wished Michael and Darcy a good night, and Jeff cast a last look over his shoulder at their prisoner. Her eyes remained fixed on him, like she was trying to see through him. The sweet smile remained on her lips and Jeff shuddered, thinking how closely that sweetness had come to killing him.

Jayden and Brady followed them into Cassie’s room, and they shut the door.

“You noticed it, too?” Brady asked Jeff. “Her reaction to Raul’s name?”

Jeff nodded. “He’s more than a passing rumour to her.”

“Did she say anything when she…?” Brady asked.

“Not a word. Just went straight for the cutting.” Jeff grimaced and the cut across his cheek pulled. The excitement wearing off, the pain started to kick in.

Brady rested a hand on his shoulder. “We can talk tomorrow morning. Try again to question the girl. Get some rest. Did you want someone to stay in here with you?”

Yes
, Jeff wanted to say, but what right did he have to ask her? So he said, “No,” and could hardly keep the smile off his face when Cassie rolled her eyes.

“You can’t be alone after what happened. I’ll stay with you. You two get some sleep.”

Jayden frowned. “I doubt I can. I may try and have another word with our mystery woman. See if I can get more out of her while Jeff’s not there.”

Brady and Jayden closed the door behind them, and Jeff and Cassie remained standing in the middle of the room, their closeness awkward now that the urgency was gone.

After a moment, Cassie said, “They’re right, you know. We should try to sleep.”

She climbed on the bed and squished herself against the wall to leave more room for Jeff. He hesitated a moment before settling himself on the other end, offering her the space. He thought how nice it would be to have the warmth of her body against him, instead of trying to keep her distance, but for tonight was satisfied with sharing a bed with her. He’d dreamed of this moment for two years, and now it was only happening because someone tried to kill him.

Cassie rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow.

“How are you feeling?”

Before he could say “Fine,” she added a firm, “Honestly.”

Jeff paused to consider his real answer. “Better now.”

He stared up at her furrowed brow and warm eyes, her lips so close to his. He reached up and swept the hair from her face, brushing his knuckles against her cheek. She tilted her head into his hand, and Jeff’s heart, already knocked about from the events of the evening, once more picked up its heavy percussion.

Her breath grew shallow and his sped to match hers. His mind blank, he could do nothing but smell the memory of her brown sugar lotion and feel her warm breath on his face. Jeff licked his lips, anticipating the feel of hers, and he knew this time he wouldn’t let her go. This time would be forever.

Then she blinked and turned her head to stare off across the room, lost in thought.

“Hey, where’d you go?” he asked.

Cassie refocused on him, and as she tilted her head, her hair fell over her shoulder and caressed his face. “I can’t, Jeff. One panicked night isn’t enough to make everything okay.” She pressed a kiss onto his forehead. “Get some sleep.”

Her words cut deeper than the assassin’s blade.

She turned to face the wall and, although they still shared a bed, Jeff felt alone.

Chapter Eleven

I
n what felt like no time at all, the sun shone through the open curtains directly into Jeff’s face. He raised his arm to block it out. When his hand went numb, he rolled over onto his side to pull the comforter over his head. Then let out a sharp cry and returned to his back, holding his breath until the pain in his cheek eased.

As the memory of last night came back to him, he reached up to run his fingers along the cut on his throat. Someone had tried to kill him.

It was hard not to feel special about something like that, but it was the sort of special that made Jeff want to crawl under the bed and stay there.

But more had happened last night than the attack. He ran his hazy thoughts through what had happened afterwards and remembered. Cassie. Her side of the bed was empty, but the smell of her remained, clouding his head as much as the alcohol had the night before.

Now fully awake, he swung his feet to the floor and stood up, stretched his arms up until his shoulders popped. With hesitant steps he made it to the door, proud not to have fallen on his face.

The corridor was empty, but he heard familiar voices raised in conversation downstairs in the common room. The conversation stopped on his arrival, and his face grew hot with self-consciousness.

He raised a hand in greeting and took a seat next to Brady on the bench. Darcy, Jayden, and Cassie sat on the other side, Michael presumably still upstairs with the stranger.

“How’s the survivor this morning?” Darcy asked.

Jeff noticed with chagrin that the soldier had changed from his family tunic with the grizzly bear to a red tunic with gold embroidery at the sleeves. No doubt to look even more dashing.

“Surviving,” he replied. “The cuts only hurt when I move.”

“Glad to hear it. Better clean up before we go out in public though. People might think you’re the walking dead.”

Jeff felt the blood rush out of his face and looked over at Jayden to see the same expression. Not a funny joke for them anymore.

“You’re right,” said Jeff. “I’ll do that. Harold’s supposed to take a look before we head out.”

“Harold? That lump of clay?” Darcy snorted.

“He saved Jeff’s life last night,” Cassie cut in. “I’m glad he was here.”

Darcy flushed, abashed. “You’re right. I apologise for being flippant. I’m glad the woman was stopped in time.”

“Did she ever say anything?” Jeff asked.

“Silent as a tree. She did throw up on my boots, though. Harold has quite a strong arm. The goose egg on her head might break records.”

Jayden’s mouth twisted. “I tried again, as well. Nothing but stares.”

“I guess we’ll stop by the jail on our way out of town and see about dropping her off?” Darcy asked.

“She’s coming with us,” Jayden said.

“Really? But—”

“It’s not up for discussion. She tried to kill one of our own.”

Brady smiled, and Jeff felt a warm pride course through him.

Darcy didn’t argue. He looked unconvinced, but amused, as though preparing for an “I told you so” moment during the remainder of the trip.

They wrapped up breakfast, and Darcy waved farewell to the innkeep behind the bar.

“Don’t we need to clear the bill?” asked Cassie.

“On the house. The joys of working in the queen’s name.” Darcy gave her a wink. Jeff noticed how he rested his hand on her back to guide her outside and suddenly wondered where she’d spent the rest of the night last night.

In front of the inn, Harold and the stablehands had the horses tacked up and ready to go. The talking skeleton, looking slightly more alive in the morning sunlight, saw Jeff and plodded over to him.

“Let me see.”

Jeff tilted his head back and cringed as the advisor’s man leaned in close and poked around the wound, the dried blood cracking under the pressure.

“Looks all right. Make sure one of the healers washes it out well tonight and it should heal nicely. Might leave a scar.”

“Thanks,” said Jeff. “Really. For everything last night. I wouldn’t be standing here if you hadn’t noticed her come in.”

“Hmph,” the man replied. Behind the noise, Jeff understood the message as,
If you’d listen to me in the first place, it wouldn’t have happened at all
.

Jayden and Michael came out of the inn, the strange woman awake and glaring murder between them. Her gaze fell on Jeff, and her scowl morphed into a wide grin, a promise that she hadn’t given up. Jayden gave her arm a jerk, and she snapped at him. She growled deep in her throat, and then laughed when he pushed her ahead.

Jeff swallowed and took the long way around the yard to Allegria’s side. The prisoner acted more mad than mean. Just his luck that her sights were set on him.

Michael picked her up, not difficult to do as she was just over half his height—petite if firmly built—and plopped her side-saddle at the front. She flung out one leg to kick up at him, but he stepped out of her reach and wrapped one arm behind her knees to keep her legs together as he and Jayden bound her feet. He mounted up behind her, and she smiled at him, blinking brightly with eyes so blue they matched the cornflower sky. A second later she lunged, teeth aimed for his nose. After that, they gagged her, until all possible weapons had been shut away.

“Remember that this was your idea,” Jayden pointed out as he walked by Jeff.

“You’ll thank me later, I’m sure,” Jeff replied to the warrior’s retreating back. A finger rose in answer.

“Last night I said we’d reach the Keep by this afternoon,” said Michael. He threw a cloak over a plain black tunic to keep off the morning chill. “Let’s prove me wrong and get there earlier, all right? Sooner I get this gal off my horse, the happier I’ll be.”

A few minutes into their ride, Darcy broke the silence. “By the way, do you guys remember my card game last night? Turns out it wasn’t a waste of my time and twenty flavens.”

“They knew something about Raul?” asked Cassie.

Darcy scrunched up his face in apology. “No.
But
they did tell me we must not be too far off. On the way to the inn yesterday afternoon, they apparently passed a toppled hay cart. Driver and a passenger left for dead next to the road.”

Cassie gasped. “That’s horrible!”

“Why do you think it’s related to Raul?” asked Brady.

“The men at the table were deep in their cups when I spoke with them, so the details were a little vague, but they remembered very clearly the corpses were drained of blood.”

Jeff stared ahead at the empty road and wondered how many times they would come so close to Raul only to miss him. He hoped the queen’s men had more luck. He felt someone watching him and turned his head to see the assassin’s sharp gaze narrowed in his direction. Accusing him.

He wondered if it was such a good idea to be talking about Raul in front of her.

Jayden prompted his mount and sped into a faster trot.

The last leg of the trip was almost too calm. The assassin only tried once to escape, and Jeff had been impressed by how well she bided her time. She waited until Michael’s arms were no longer around her to throw herself from the horse. She managed to roll down a hill into a small stream.

Unfortunately for her the water had no current, and she only ended up hopping along the shore, her greying clothes soaked through. It took all of three minutes for Michael to dismount, grab her back up and throw her over the back of the saddle. Her arms and legs draped over the sides, and he tied her wrists to her feet under the horse’s belly.

After that, the ride went smoothly, right up until the road heading to the Keep. Jeff’s jaw went slack as he took in the destruction along the lane. Blackened homes beside dead crops, the dense forest nothing more than green shoots in a mess of charred tree trunks and ash.

His eyes started to sting with the pain of it.

“Where is everyone living?” he asked, thinking of the Tavens, the Hunters, the other families he’d met on his first visit.

“Many still live within the walls of the Keep,” Brady replied. “We lost so many people under Raul’s siege, we’ve needed as many survivors as possible close by to get the basics running again. Rebuilding homes, reforming our trade connections to try and keep revenue steady. The rest have left to stay with family in other towns until they can afford to rebuild. With the drought last year, no one has the money.”