Page 65 of Born for Lace

“Thank you.” Dropping mybeibao, I take a big breath and move to the nets, getting straight to work.

The cascading waterfall creates white noise. It helps the silence that ensues between us to be relatively comfortable.

We aren’t discussing Lagos.

And I’m thankful.

Recalling what my Ward taught me once when I accompanied him on the river, I repeat the process until the nets are in the water. I sit back down on the fold-out chair and wait, feeling pretty proud of myself. “I can take care of myself, I think. What do you think?”

Tomar smiles. “Sure.”

“Doubt it.” Lagos’ deep timbre thrums through me, settling at the base of my spine, just to remind me what my body does when he is around.

Squirming, I hide the warmth that hits my cheeks. I don’t turn to acknowledge the great Xin De brute, but every hair on my body rises, so he must be close behind me.

“Ignore him.” Tomar turns back to the fish and starts cutting it down the centre, removing the insides and replacing them with salts he has drying on a silver plate. “The truck ready?”

“As it will ever be.”

As quickly as Lagos entered, he vanishes, leaving a heavy silence that not even the splashing waterfall can soothe.

“I apologise for our earlier conversation, Dahlia,” Tomar says. “I… I don’t know what came over me.”

My stomach flips again. Why did he have to continue this? We could have pretended it never happened. “It’s fine.” My voice shakes so I gently chew my lower lip, feeling the small split. It doesn’t hurt much today. I stare at the white screen of water all around us.

“We’ll just forget about it, then?” he states in an easy tone—maybe too easy.

I nod anyway. “Sure. Hey, what do you do with the catamaran when you go above ground?”

His gaze hits the cavernous ceiling and pans the tent of water around us. “We leave it here.”

“Right here?”

“It’s a secret.” He winks at me, and I let myself smile at him again. “It’ll only be for a few weeks. Lagos and I will return, and you’ll be at the Common Community, safe.”

“So…” I find my lower lip again, worrying it between my teeth, as I think. “You’ll be back to check on Sweets and the others? To make sure they are safe and provided for?”

His brows draw in over a serious gaze. “Why wouldn’t they be safe, Dahlia?”

My forehead tightens as unease grips me, and after a long moment of silence, I finally ask, “Aren’t they in danger of The Trade now that… That they found me—us? Didn’t they? That is what happened at the cove. That man…”

“Ah.” He nods. “Lagos didn’t explain. Of course, he didn’t. Sorry, Dahlia. He isn’t a talker. I should have known he wouldn’t have. They sent a Shadow after you. That man, he was Shadow.”

My jaw drops. “Like Spero?” I sink further into the chair and hold myself, my fingers creating little circles on my arms. It soothes me. Even though the man is dead, my lungs begin to squeeze. He was fast, strong, and… charming. That is the worst part. He was clever. I even liked him. Panic turns to acid in my chest, burning me, tightening and squeezing my lungs. I’m scared of him, of them. That is what a Shadow is, what Spero will be if they take him. The kind of being that kills an old man and beats a girl bloody. “That man was a… was a Shadow?” My voice wobbles even as I try to hold it steady.

“Yes.” He looks across at me, freezing with one hand on a fish and the other on a knife. “He is dead, and I won’t let you out of my sight again. You’re safe.”

I breathe out steadily.

Safe. Safe.

And Spero is, also. I can’t allow that night and that man to be venom permanently in my veins. Not a wound that can be opened. I won’t allow it. “And Sweets? Is she safe?”

“They won’t send Marshals, not to The Bite,” he says. “They’ll send more spies, and they won’t find you there. I only hope they leave The Bite alone after that.”

“You hope?” I whisper. “And if they don’t?”

“I don’t know.” He drops a fish into one of the tackle chests. “We will keep you safe… Shall we check your net?”

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