Page 15 of Heir of Ashes

“Excuse me?”

He looked at me, his face set in a grim expression. “I imagine if I take you to whatever destination you have in mind, you won’t be so hell bent on ditching me whenever. Plus, there’s a chance once you scratch off whatever chore you have on your list, I’ll have a better chance of keeping you around.”

“Whatever gave you that idea?”

He shrugged, just a lift of his right shoulder. “I want something from you. In return, I’ll reward you handsomely for your troubles. And I’ll personally deliver you safely to wherever you want to go.”

I was silent for a moment, wondering what he could possibly want from someone like me. What was with these people? First Remo Drammen, now him?

When my silence stretched too long, he gave me a cursory look. “You know, I thought after all these … incidents,” he said with a sardonic grin, “you should’ve guessed I don’t work for the Society.”

Yeah, I’d figured as much. I played along. “You don’t?”

“No.”

“Then who do you work for?”

“No one.”

“Then why …” I gestured with my hand, making a wide motion to encompass everything that had happened.

“I want something from you.”

“And that is?” I prompted when he didn’t elaborate.

He stared straight ahead at the road, clearly choosing his words. “The Society kidnapped a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago. It is my understanding that you escaped the place,and that you are familiar with the grounds and security system. I will deliver you safely to wherever you want to go in exchange for your help getting my friend back—”

“No.” No way was I going back to that place. Not willingly. I shuddered at the idea.

He slowed and pulled over, turning to give me his full attention. I wondered if it also served to emphasize that if I wasn’t helping, then there was no need for me to go on with him. I looked around at the endless road. Even if he left me stranded in the middle of nowhere, he wouldn’t be able to sway me. I set my chin and stared back at him.

“No?”

“No.”

“You don’t even know what I’m asking you to do or how much I’m willing to pay for your help.” At the shake of my head, he trailed off, narrowing his eyes at me. “I don’t think you understand the gravity of your situation. The Society is so afraid of you that they have been sending mercenaries after you left and right. Rumor has it you’ve stolen some dangerous information from their archives, information that could be used to unbalance the power seat of the preternatural hierarchy.” He paused for effect. “If that rumor spreads further to higher ears, the Society will be the least of your troubles.”

I’ll be damned. I hadn’t seen that coming. But thief status aside, no way in hell was I going back to the PSS to help someone’s friend, not even for the balance of the entire world.

“If you help me,” Logan pushed, no doubt reading my silence as uncertainty. “I can get you off everyone’s radar. Plus, I guarantee to get you out of there safely.”

I shook my head again. “It doesn’t matter. My answer is no.” After a second, I added, “If it were something else, maybe I could help you. But this … going back there … I can’t.”

He stared at me for a long time, his gray eyes flat, almost cold. I stared back, not letting him intimidate me an inch. Was he going to tell me to get out now and finish my journey on my own? If he thought that making me walk the rest of the way to civilization was going to bend me, he was sorely wrong.

“Look, I’m sorry about your friend, but there’s nothing in this world you could offer me that would convince me to go back there.”

“You do realize,” he began slowly, “that I’m not the only one besides the Society capable of tracking you down? I can keep those people away, help you disappear after we’re done rescuing my friend.”

It would have been wonderful to have someone protecting me, sharing my burden for once. The thought that he’d help me disappear and find a place where I could pursue my life, not afraid every time I turned a corner was alluring. If it had been anything else he was asking, I’d have jumped at the offer.

“Yeah, I figured it out.”

“They won’t stop coming after you. I can help you vanish completely from their radar, arrange for a different ID, a job, a home somewhere no one would be able to find you.”

My anger bubbled at his careless words. “Look, I’m not going back to the PSS even if they hire every single assassin in the country to go after me. I’d rather be free and fighting for my life than be stuck in a cage and helpless.”

He stared at me for a long time, then pursed his lips and looked away. I could tell he hadn’t expected me to resist his offer. Well, he was in for a rude awakening because there was nothing he could offer me, nothing in the whole world that would entice me enough to make me return to the PSS of my own free will.

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