Page 40 of Of Blood and Banes
I can’t help the grin lifting my cheeks as I watch Archie. He looks back at me, his brown eyes shining as he mirrors my smile.
He continues, “If she were selfish, she wouldn’t have risked her life for those civilians. Just as she wouldn’t have risked her life returning to Blackfell to try and rescue me.”
“Or me,” someone says.
Everyone turns to the voice.
Marge slinks through the group, her staff tapping rhythmically until she stops in the center of the crowd. “When we were attacked in the middle of the night at the outpost before Blackfell, Katerina came to the healer’s quadrant to defend me. She didn’t even have the proper training the lot of you do. The fact that she risked herself for me when she barely knew who I was spoke volumes. You don’t have to trust the rebels—you only have to trust Katerina.”
More silence.
Cole pushes through the crowd, his heavy footsteps splitting the silence. He stands next to me, facing the squad in a wordless declaration. Marge hobbles toward me next, dipping her head as she stops at my other side, then turns to face the rest of the group. Archie follows, then Melaina who tugs Darian along with her. Gavin. And one by one, Arterians join the line of people beside and behind me.
Nolan is the last one standing before us, his gaze flicking from person to person. Finally, after he’s undoubtedly weighed his options, he dips his head before tightly mumbling, “I suppose I have no choice.”
I can’t help but smile. Sethan’s wrong. Leading out of fear is poisonous. And leading out of respect will have to be earned. We have to start smaller.
Instead, I lead out of a hesitant unity.
CHAPTER 14
LATE NIGHT RENDEZVOUS
Lost to dreams of blood and fire, my sleep is interrupted by a force smacked over my mouth. Flashing my eyes open, I instinctively arch up off the bed and grapple for the hand covering my mouth, then slow my fight as a pair of hazy amber eyes fill my vision.
Cole.
He shakes his head, throwing strands of his auburn hair around his face as he holds a single finger up to his soft lips.
Quiet…got it.I flash a glance off to the right where Darian’s back is to us, his slow breath the only movement in his dark figure. I sweep my gaze over the windows, the door. How in the hells did he get in through the locks without making a peep? And why is he out past curfewagain?
Cole removes his calloused hand from my mouth finger by finger, his eyes still burrowing into me, reiterating the need for silence. I nod, and he leans away from where he stands at the edge of my bed before holding out an open palm for me to take. Slowly, I pull the sheets off my body and slide my legs over the edge of the bed. Placing my hand in his, he helps me up and motions to my boots on the floor. I glance up at him, arching an eyebrow.
After all the years we’ve known each other, we don’t need words to communicate. He dips his head to the boots again. I slide them onto my feet, lace them up, and as I straighten my spine, he wraps my cloak over my shoulders and attaches the clasp at my throat. Once I’ve slid on Marge’s gloves, he grabs me by the hand and leads me to the door. He opens it and scans the streets in every direction before pulling me out of my room with him and closing the door. I squeeze his hand, silently questioning what’s going on.
He squeezes back—it’s okay.
We edge along the front of the building, my heart thundering in my chest.Where is he taking me?He whips to me, pressing a finger to his lips. His eyes fall to the floor, finger still pressed to his mouth and stance rigid as he strains to listen. After a few still seconds, he leads me wordlessly down street after street to the northern part of Midkeep. Once we cut down a corner into an alley bathed in shadows, he turns toward me, but I beat him to the punch before he can say anything.
“Why the hells are you pulling me out of bed after curfew? Don’t you realize it’s a breach of?—”
“Not for me,” he interjects before I can get far. “I didn’t agree to the blood pact.”
“Yes, but I?—”
He grabs the space between my neck and shoulder, leaning his face down closer to mine so I might listen to him. “Look, I don’t know how much time we have, but I saw something earlier in Sethan’s office when he and I were discussing getting our weapons back.”
“Tawny said we were supposed to get them back earlier today. Did you piss Sethan off?” I ask.
“No. I’ve been told maybe tomorrow. It makes some of his soldiers nervous knowing we’ll be allowed to have them back.But that’s beside the point. I need you to see something, and I don’t think you’ll believe me until you see it for yourself.”
“What is it?” I whisper.
He suddenly whips his attention back to the main street, then pulls the both of us down into a crouch and shuffles me back into the wall. Our direct sight line of the main street is blocked by two stacks of wooden crates. His hands still grip me between my shoulders, his laser-focused attention caught on the street beyond the crates. That godsdamned fidget sparks in his fingertips, dancing in my muscles and spiking my own anxiety.
What happens if we’re caught? They can’t kill me…or at least I don’t think they will. But what about Cole?
A steady fall of footsteps approaches, growing louder and louder until they reach their peak and begin to fade away. Cole finally turns his face toward me, and we are close enough I notice sweat beading on his forehead. Though I’ll admit, out of the two of us, he’s much more functional than I am under pressure.
