Page 78 of Gilded Locks

Grace shivered in memory of the heat of his whispered threats, but didn’t retreat.

“And you,” the sheriff growled at Garrick. “We will discuss the company you keep later. Spend enough time around a Robbins, and you’ll end up like that boy over there.” The sheriff pulled hishand away from Lizzy and marched toward the jail cells in the town hall, gesturing for the patrolmen holding Cyrus to follow.

Grace rushed to Lizzy, gathering her in her arms, all anger between them forgotten. Lizzy melted into Grace, crying.

Garrick stared at his father’s back with heaviness. Grace looked at him over Lizzy’s head. Their eyes met, and Garrick averted his gaze.

It hurt Grace more than it should, but she didn’t blame him. He was a Clairmont, and she was a Robbins. No matter how he cared, he had loyalties that would change how he treated her.

She turned away, rubbing Lizzy’s back.

“The prisoner will stay in his cell for a day,” the mayor said. ”His family will have time to prepare for an audience with the sheriff tomorrow evening. If you can prove he is not the villain who calls himself a savior, he will be released, and we shall investigate the next-best archer, and if necessary, the next.”

The angry crowd silenced as the implication settled in. The mayor would imprison every one of them, one at a time, until he found someone who could not prove they weren’t the Rogue.

Grace clenched her hands into fists. No one was safe. They hadn’t done a thing to help anyone.

What morale the people might have gained had been stomped on, ground to dust, and scattered to the wind.

“On your way!” the mayor shouted, then turned and exited without presenting any rewards to the winners.

Some Fidarans left immediately, the majority of them supporters of the mayor, but most stood there, dazed. People trickled out a few at a time, families clumped together, stumbling and empty. Elizabeth’s parents came over and ushered their daughter and second son away. Grace heard Lizzy’s mother sobbing as they walked.

“Grace…” Willa had come to her, pulling a somber Garrick behind her. Grace looked at them. Her unexpected friend, anda man who had come to her brother’s aid when she’d least expected it.

“Thank you.” Grace smiled at Willa. “Both of you.” On impulse, Grace stood on tiptoe and kissed Garrick on the cheek. “Be careful.”

She turned, neck flushing, and sought out her family. Behind her she heard Willa say, “You romantic dunderhead.”

Grace found Russell, Mother, and Father a moment later.

Without a word, the four of them began the trek home. Russell, in stark contrast to his mood at the start of the day, didn’t say a single word as he walked, head drooped.

It wasn’t until she was in her room that Grace remembered she had a meeting she couldn’t miss.

She wished with all her being that she didn’t have to talk with James tonight. Life felt too heavy, and she was too tired. But she must. The disaster around her didn’t eliminate the need to confront James about his previous actions. In fact, it made their meeting all the more important.

So she made her way across patrol-less fields to the abandoned shed at the farthest edge of town and huddled in a ball in the corner to wait.

Chapter 19

Waiting for the Rogue, Grace stared aimlessly at the shed. She may have been the first to investigate abandoned buildings for signs of the Rogue, but she had not been the last. Patrolmen had been through here. Countless muddy footprints splattered the dusty floor, fragments of splintered shelves sprinkled atop them.

It was a reminder of the destruction Grace had seen in the Leroux home.

The memory made her shiver and she pulled in tighter, laying her head on her knees.

Her eyes drifted shut. Almost immediately she saw Garrick’s smiling face staring back at her.

She opened her eyes and rubbed at her face.

Now was not the time to be thinking about Garrick. The Rogue could be here at any moment.

Tonight. Tonight, she was going to get some explanations. Several of them. Unmasking the Rogue was no longer about prevention of disaster. Disaster had come. And it wasn’t about besting him. She was far too tired for games.

She had to look the man behind the mask in the eye and see for herself if he was being honest when he told her whether or not he had been behind the vandalism.

James. His name felt flat in her mind. The Rogue, on the other hand… Referring to him by that title still evoked happy memories.

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