Page 71 of Ties of Legacy

The second peered over his comrade’s shoulder, his eyes widening. “Who are you?” he asked. “You aren’t a Beast.”

Struck by the absurdity of the situation, some of the tension in Elliot’s frame unwound.

“Evidently.” He raised a single brow. “Is that significant in some way?”

“It’s not her,” the first whispered over his shoulder to his comrade. “She’s not the one the boss wants.”

“What are we doing, then?” the second demanded in strident tones. “I didn’t sign up for all this running!”

“Fools! Donkeys! Amphibians!” Frank burst from his branch in a flurry of inanity.

Both men took a wary step backward.

“My apologies.” The first man attempted a bow and nearly tipped over.

“Didn’t mean to disturb your sleep!” the second man said in alarmed voice as Mattie launched to her feet from full sleep with a roar, her hand clamping around the saucepan that she now kept beside her whenever she slept.

Before Mattie could settle on the source of the disturbance, the two men had turned tail and fled. Avery immediately bent double, and Elliot stepped toward her in concern, worried she was winded—or worse, injured.

A laughing wheeze escaped her, and he stopped. She was out of breath from laughter, not pain or exertion.

“Stand down, Mattie,” he said flatly. “It’s just Avery causing trouble.”

She straightened at that. “I wasn’t the one causing trouble! Those men were mercenaries just like we thought.”

“Where have they gone?” Mattie stepped forward, the saucepan held in front of her like a sword and a deadly glint in her eyes.

“They were awfully quick to run away,” Elliot pointed out dryly.

“That’s because they might be mercenaries, but we aren’t their target,” Avery said, wiping tears of laughter from the edges of her eyes.

Understanding made Elliot sigh. “And let me guess, your blasted curiosity sent you off to investigate, and once you were there, you decided to single-handedly rescue their actual target, thus drawing their attention?”

Avery looked over at him, clearly struck. “Yes, actually! That’s exactly it. How did you know?”

“Because I know you,” he muttered, finally replacing his sword in its scabbard, although he made sure to buckle it firmly at his waist. “Did you consider the danger for even a second? Someone is after you, remember!”

“Of course I did,” Avery said airily. “But I couldn’t leave Rosalie tied to a tree! I’ve met her before in Thebarton, and she’s not the sort to be engaged in shady dealings. Cutting her loose was worth the minor risk.”

“Minor—” Elliot broke off with another sigh. Avery had been traveling alone for nearly as many years as he had, so it would be presumptuous to start lecturing her on safety—even if the thought of her going after a group of mercenaries alone made his skin crawl.

“I notice Rosalie isn’t here professing her great thanks,” he said instead.

“That’s because she had somewhere important to be,” Avery said airily, apparently considering that normal. “There was some sort of time pressure. Hopefully she’ll tell me the full story next time we pass Thebarton.”

Elliot was struck silent by her casual use ofwe, as if she thought of him as a part of all her future travels.

“I figured I always had Frank if I needed help,” Avery said, oblivious. She turned accusing eyes on the bird. “But he was here sleeping the whole time.”

“I suppose I should just be grateful you didn’t need him.”

“Grateful is as grateful does,” Frank cawed, flying in to land beside the pack that held the food. He pecked at it, clearly unbothered by Avery’s recent close call or his absence.

“That bird…” Elliot muttered, but he went to open the pack and prepare them all some breakfast. The two men had been eager to be gone, but he still wanted to get back on the road as quickly as possible.

After the excitement outside Thebarton, the rest of the journey proved uneventful. But that didn’t stop the tension rising in Elliot with every mile closer to Bolivere. He knew both women—but especially Avery—could tell he wasn’t himself, but he didn’t know how to describe the tumult inside him.

If he’d been alone with Avery, he might have brought himself to confess everything. But with Mattie there as well, the words kept clogging in his throat. They would both find out the truth soon enough.

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