Page 107 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
“Both?” he finally said.
“Both is good,” she replied, squeezing his hand. “Now, let’s hop down and get sorted for dinner.”
She dropped his hand and collected the reins again. Just in time. Donna didn’t wait for anything, not even an awkward but intense confession by the Dark Lord’s right-hand man. The mare had brought them right to the Lonely Hearth Inn and was ready to checkherselfin for some hay and a good brush.
“We’re just staying the night.” Brownie jumped down and tossed Donna’s reins to a nearby stable hand. Then she faced her horse. “Donna, please, for the love of all the gods, let me have this night?”
Her mare gave her a half-hearted neigh that Brownie took well. She hugged her horse before dragging Rufus inside to secure room and board.
“Greetings,” a naga woman welcomed them inside the inn.
“Rooms for me and my companion,” Bronwynn said, then hesitated. “Separate rooms. And board for my horse and wagon.”
“Right this way, miss.”
Brownie followed the innkeeper and Rufus followed her. Brownie felt the weight of his gaze on her back. She enjoyed his company and his personality and his sense of humor. He was patient and kind, and sometimes fierce.
And she’d managed to shove it aside with a laugh until now. But now, it was an uncomfortable sense of pressure that she didn’t know how to handle. In the span of an hour, she’d finally told him her secret, and he’d asked her out. She knew it wasn’t because of his investigation into her family business … probably. But she’d thought of it, and would continue to think of it.
The pressure built enough that she turned to look at him while putting on a dazzling smile to hide her uncertainty. “Can we finish our conversation over dinner? There’s a curry shop around the corner that will make your mouth water.”
She met his eyes again, and almost tripped.
“Alright.” Rufus could, when he was serious, speak in a deep, rich voice that sent shivers down her spine. She quickly faced forward again.
They were shown to their respective rooms, dropped off their respective things, and then met back in the hallway.
There was a moment where they stood facing each other, and then Brownie took the initiative and offered her hand.
For a powerful general, he wasverysoft.
CHAPTER 65
I Want to Be Honest with You
Rufus
In a moment of weakness, I’d thrown my entire plan out the window. And less gracefully than Bronwynn herself could defenestrate, I imagined. My original plan had been simple.
Step one, investigate Bronwynn.
Step two, find her innocent.
Step three, confess.
Specifically, confess that I was investigating her. Then, depending on how things progressed …
Step four, confess.
But what had I done? Betrayed her trust even as she held my hand and dragged me off to go eat dinner together. Bronwynn was grinning from ear to ear, a bounce in her step, as she led me to a shop that smelleddivine. Actually Divine. I only caught the sense because I spent so much time with King Keith’s Demi, quarter-demon self.
“Here we are.” Bronwynn held open the door to a bright blue shop. The spices hit me; mostly garam masala, with hints of cardamom and cumin and cinnamon.
I thanked her and went inside. The restaurant was busy, with three bushy-tailed foxkin waiters that were servicing the front of the house. An elderly foxkin sat at the front and greeted us.
“A table for two, please,” Bronwynn requested, and I noted for the first time that Slake hadn’t followed us. I didn’t remember seeing him leave the wagon.
We were alone, for once.
