Seth pushed the grate open. Then, knife in hand, he launched himself over the lip of the well. Landing on hard-packed earth, he crouched, scanning for movement.
He saw only what Raider had described: a stable yard to render the fake well inconspicuous and, beyond, fields of barley, where the grain-heavy heads bowed in the moonlight. Raider landed silently beside him.
The stable held a number of well-conditioned horses, these clearly kept ready for Prince Rahim’s emergency use. Stealing them, however, was out of the question. It would make their route obvious, and horses, with their hoof prints and droppings, were too easy to track.
They walked through the moonlit fields, angling toward the trade road that would take them east. No one shouted for them to stop. No hoof beats came thudding after them. No word was spoken between them.
After a few hours, the road met a slender river and its small town. A vineyard sprawled at the far edge of it. By Seth’s recollection of the empire’s maps, this river flowed into the great Burudu, which rolled south to the empress’s sea-city of Kastari.
Kastari, however, lay a week away by foot. Right now, they needed to rest. They needed food too. After the exposure of Raider’s identity had landed him in Prince Rahim’s dungeon, Seth had been forced to act quickly. Securing supplies had been too risky, so he’d grabbed their gear and sprung Raider from his cell.
“We’ll have to steal food,” Raider said as Seth led the way to a grove of olive trees along the river bank.
As much as Seth hated the idea of stealing, Raider was right. Purchasing food was out of the question. They couldn’t be seen.
“I’ll do it,” Raider added and turned to go.
Seth’s heart leaped into his throat. “Wait,” he called.
Raider halted. For a second, he kept his back to Seth then turned to face him. Moonlight filtered through the leafy branches to sketch Raider’s shape in the darkness. It wasn’t enough. Seth needed to see him this one last time.
He clicked on the arcane lamp, splashing light over Raider. He got a mere second’s glimpse of Raider’s face: beautiful, startled—then angry. Raider reached him with two quick strides. He grabbed at the lamp, clicking it off. His hand lingered, exerting the slightest pressure on Seth’s belt. No more than that.
When Seth grabbed him around the waist and hauled him close, Raider gasped. When Seth crushed their mouths together, Raider froze—then he melted.
Seth kissed him like a starving man who knew this was his one chance to eat. He devoured Raider with heat and hunger, sweeping his tongue greedily into Raider’s mouth.
Though Raider accepted the kiss, softened to it, he didn’t return it with the fierceness that Seth was used to—and he broke it before Seth was ready.
Raider turned his face away even as his fingers tightened on Seth’s belt where they had come to grip it. He was trembling and making a sound that Seth didn’t like, one of anguish. That sound terrified Seth. He knew what it meant.
Raider pulled away and said, “I’ll be back soon.”
Seth didn’t believe him.
Maybe it was good that it was dark. Maybe it was good that Seth’s sense had returned enough that he left the light off. Because how could he bear to watch Raider leave him, knowing that he wouldn’t come back?
CHAPTER 2
WHEN RAIDER RETURNED to Seth thirty minutes later, he found the Curator sitting where he’d left him. It almost looked like Seth’s knees had given out, dropping him on the spot, like he hadn’t moved the whole time.
Seth made a sound somewhere between surprise and pain when Raider slipped from the shadows into the moonlight. He didn’t get up, only stared uncomprehendingly at the jute sack that Raider set before him. Then he looked up at Raider, still uncomprehendingly. Raider dropped his gear and scimitar.
“You …” Seth breathed.
Raider’s throat tightened as he suddenly understood the kiss. That kiss had shattered him. He hadn’t expected it, not after everything that had come to light. Not after what Seth had said to him in Aqarat.
I wish I’d never met you, you lying piece of shit.
Raider didn’t blame him for that, not really. He had lied. A lot.
But Seth had lied too, hadn’t he?
Seth had always claimed to know nothing of the book’s contents, but too many things suggested otherwise. The timing of Seth hiring him, which he’d done only after seeing Raider’s quicksilver. The way things had played out in Rahim’s dungeon.
Seth must have known. He must have been intending, all along, to see Raider in a cell, to see him punished.
And yet …