Page 39 of Ties of Deception

I stopped, barely resisting the urge to turn and look back. “Somebody is following us?”

He nodded and rubbed his chin. “I suspect he has become very curious about who we are. Either that or he just wants money, and we’re walking alone approaching midnight.”

My heartbeat rose. “But nobody can know that I visited Flavia’s house, or she’ll be punished.” Had I failed to protect her after all? I had so badly wanted to help. I would never forgive myself if I’d made things worse for them.

He looked into the distance and smirked. “Don’t worry. He just needs to be so preoccupied with whoIam, that he forgets about my mysterious and beautiful companion altogether.”

I didn’t recognize the streets of Yienna well enough yet to know the way back to the villa, but I knew we were getting close. “We shouldn’t lead him any closer to my family, then.”

He rolled his shoulders. “Excuse me for a minute.”

He stepped back toward the nearest building and out of the pools of warm light. He almost seemed to melt into the shadows. I couldn’t help looking behind me and trying to spot the figure lurking nearby. But there were too many uneven walls, water butts, and planters flanking gates. Too many places to hide. Then the sound of something hitting wood made me jump. It was followed by the sharp scraping noise of boots scrabbling against stone.

Ethen dragged a man out from behind an atrium pillar, locking his arms behind his back with one hand. With his other hand, he held a tiny dagger against the man’s throat. He was whispering something into the man’s ear, and the much shorter mortal looked terrified. Ethen’s face had transformed into the hard, menacing mask I’d become so unfamiliar with, after initially assuming it was all he was.

I folded my hands in front of me awkwardly and waited for Ethen to return to my side, since he clearly didn’t need any help.

At last, Ethen released the man who collapsed to the floor before scrabbling away. Then he sauntered back to my side, the dagger already gone. His face was cheerful once more—all traces of his deadly visage had vanished.

I opened my mouth then closed it again, not sure what people normally said in these situations.

Ethen shrugged. “Money. He was after money and thought if he threatened you, a wealthy-looking woman, I would just give it to him as your guard.” He laughed. “Poor fool.”

I looked around the shadows in case anyone else followed us. Ethen offered me his arm. I looked at it for a moment, knowing he had promised to never touch me again unless I agreed to it. I made my decision and looped my arm around his.

He was taller than me, which meant his arm naturally took some of my weight. He turned his face away from me, but I could tell he was grinning because I had accepted. I tried not to let his reaction warm my insides.

He spoke while still facing away, but his free hand patted my fingers. “Let’s get you home. Thank you for an enjoyable evening.”

Hmm, he was easily pleased.

I didn’t speak again until we were back at the villa wall, but I kept my hand locked on his arm, his touch making me feel more grounded in the world.

Chapter

Fifteen

Today was the first day I was allowed to do petitions since the incident, and I knew the empress—plus potentially every important person in Yienna—would be observing the results.

I tried not to be nervous or fidget as Flavia fastened the tops of my tunic with a golden broach. It glittered with green and red gemstones. Nerves wouldn’t help me feel happier and the empress had said one of her people would be taking extensive notes on how well I Blessed my petitioners. I still didn’t know what exactly being retired involved, though Ethen had mentioned he suspected that goddesses’s souls were destroyed when they were no longer useful. Was retirement what he was referring to? I made a mental note to ask him more next time. I still had so many questions.

I noticed one of my hands was shaking and dragged in a deep breath. I had healed all those people in the hospital just by walking past them. I had fixed Flavia’s husband’s leg. I could do this. Ethen had shown me that I could do this, and I had shown myself.

Flavia gave me a small smile. “Are you feeling all right, my lady? After what you did last week, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You’re much more powerful than you know. Is there anything I can do to ease your nerves? Chamomile tea perhaps?”

I shook my head.

Flavia frowned and looked me full in the eyes. “Lady Purity, you healed a man’s leg that had set wrong. He wasn’t a standard petitioner like the ones you’ll be seeing today. You didn’t even have anything around you to make you happy. Today will be easy for you. You can be calm.”

I nodded, sucking in a deep breath. “Thank you.”

I turned to my dressing table to select some jewelry and blinked in surprise. A bracelet I didn’t recognize that was out of its box, lying in the center of the table. It was a simple gold band. Beneath it was a folded sheet of paper.

My heart stuttered. How had he—how was this even possible?

I looked over my shoulder, but Flavia was folding away a shawl. I angled my back so she wouldn’t see what I was doing and unfolded the note.

‘This bracelet used to be yours. You inherited it from your mother. When you were nervous about something, you would turn it around and around on your wrist. Not once, in all the time I’ve known you, did you ever back down from a challenge. You fought until the end. And you won. Always.’

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