Page 143 of Secrets of Graves and Gold

I dip my head to catch her mouth with mine.

Ivy sinks into my embrace, one hand gripping the front of my shirt, the other rising to trail along my neck. Her fingertips ignite sparks that shoot straight to my groin.

Gods help me, if we didn’t need to be ready to ride out at a moment’s notice, I’d remind her of just how much I enjoy being with her in the most concrete way possible.

I end the kiss but keep my head bowed over hers, our foreheads brushing. “I need you to know that no matter what happens tonight, it’s been my honor fighting these pricks alongside you. No matter how hard the journey became, there was never anywhere I’d have rather been than next to you.”

Ivy swallows audibly. “I don’t know where we’ll go from here, but I really want the chance to find out. I couldn’t do this without you.”

Not just me. It’s all five of us and the strange sort of family we’ve become.

Somehow our joint relationship feels more fulfilling than when I had a woman I was meant to marry all to myself.

A sustained rustling in the forest outside puts me on the alert. Giving Ivy’s shoulder one more squeeze, I step past her to peer out the ruined building’s doorway.

It’s Rheave, making his way toward us on Toast, who we didn’t trust to carry Alek or Casimir appropriately through their charade. The stallion looks typically disgruntled but gives a soft snort at the sight of Ivy stepping out next to me.

The daimon dismounts with a smile. “I saw someone coming from the camp site and signaled Alek and Casimir. The scout didn’t see. I rode back as soon as he was out of view, but the others shouldn’t be far behind.”

“Good.” His report only offers a fragment of relief.

I motion to Ivy. “You should get on your horse. Every minute makes a difference.”

The sun has already dropped lower than I like, though the dusk will make traveling unnoticed easier when we can’t rely on Ivy’s sorcery.

As she clambers onto the obstinate stallion, Rheave collects the bundle of additional arrows he constructed. The blankets and camp gear we leave on the floor.

We’re not bringing much other than ourselves on this mission.

Another set of hoofbeats approaches soon after, announcing Alek’s approach. He slides down from his mount, a little breathless. “We went through the conversation as soon as we saw the man coming through the forest. Obviously I couldn’t look right at him or he’d know we’d noticed him, but he stopped and seemed to be listening to the whole thing.”

He’s only just finished speaking when Casimir appears as well, grinning widely from the other stallion’s back. “And that blasted letter just happened to slip from my pocket without my noticing it. The scout will have plenty to tell his associates.”

He hops down and nudges his steed toward me.

I take the stallion’s reins. “You two keep an eye on the camp site and confirm that the march leaves at the right time. There should be some small indication of their passage when they pass through the forest, if you’re watching closely. Meet up with us while keeping your distance from them, or sound whatever warning you can through the temple and the town if it appears they’re sticking to their original intent.”

Both of my comrades nod, tense but determined.

“Be careful,” Ivy tells them as I prod my horse to pull ahead of hers.

I set off at a trot. “Let’s ride.”

By the time the Seafell Channel has come into view up ahead, the sun has completely set, only a faint glow lingering on the horizon. We approach the water at a cautious distance from the nearby fort that’s my next destination. A hint of brakish salt laces the air.

It only takes a few minutes to find a suitable boat with its oars. The fishermen who don’t live right on the waterfront have favorite places to stash them that I came to know in the time I was stationed near here.

We already carved Ivy a simple if suitable rod, and I find an old net that would only need a little quick mending for good measure.

“The Darium fortress is almost directly across from here,” I tell her in a low voice. “It shouldn’t be difficult to spot—there aren’t any other buildings nearby. Just make sure no one spots you at an inopportune time.”

“I have lots of practice at sneaking around,” Ivy reminds me, but her expression tightens as she looks across the water. “I’d better get going. The sooner the message is delivered, the more likely they’ll act on it.”

She turns to me to claim a hasty kiss and then shoves the boat off the bank, hopping into it at the last moment. In the thickening darkness, it takes less than a minute for the small craft to blend into the shadows wavering across the water.

Rheave has been waiting back with the horses in the stand of trees where we’ll leave Toast for Ivy to collect him. As I approach, he peers past me as if he was hoping Ivy might have returned with me after all.

“Are you sure it wouldn’t have been safer for one of us to go with her?” he asks.

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