Page 58 of Ruthless Scoundrel
Jasper carries me down the mountain path without another word. He just holds me close. Holds me like I’m precious. There are people waiting at the gate when we get to the town. Jasper says something in Wolish to them, and then takes me in.
I failed, once again.
I’m never going to get back to them.
I’m never going to know if Alyse is alive.
I’m never going to be free.
Chapter seventeen
Jasper
Reina could’ve died.
The weight of her in my arms reminds me that she isn’t dead, but I need to get her into the room she damaged so I can take off her binds and heal her. She’s cut everywhere from the rocks, and a bruise is forming on her cheek.
Why the fuck did she do that?
I understand her need to be free, to get back to her people, but to risk the eksteinvas caves…I pull her in closer, tucking her head under my chin as I remind myself that she’s not dead. She’ll be fine once I get her back to the room.
The village is settling down for the night and the rain has calmed to a drizzle. I find my way back to the White Sail without issue, using my scent and hers to guide us. The windows of the tavern have been boarded up against the storm, and it’s smoky inside. The revelry quiets when I enter with Reina in my arms.
The bartender points at me. “She destroyed the room!”
That’s an overstatement if I ever heard one. She broke a window and a headboard, hardlydestroyed. But I won’t tell the man that. I need to get off this damn island without additional fuss, and with those three men I just killed…
I walk to the bar and put my leg up on a stool, then balance Reina against my thigh. I reach in my pouch and remove two rubies. “There, that will cover it and our stay, plus a meal.”
He frowns deeply. “Three rubies. One you’ll get back if she doesn’t destroy anything else.”
I sigh and produce the last ruby from the pouch. That leaves us with just seven gold coins and two diamonds to get passage all the way to the little seaside Illyan village closest to the false king’s island. I could count the extra ruby but I don’t trust Reina not to throw something at me when she wakes up.
We’ll make it work. The princess is good at roughing it.
I look over my shoulder and find the woman I’m pretty sure is the captain. She’s put away all her papers and has a bowl of stew in front of her. I hoist Reina up in my arms and scoot my way through the crowded tavern as the conversations resume.
The captain doesn’t glance up from her meal. “Later.”
I drop one of the gold next to her. “How about now?”
She looks at me and finishes chewing her tough hock of bread. “What do you want?”
“Passage to Illya.”
Her dark eyes comb over us, stopping on the pistol laid across Reina’s stomach. She kicks out the chair next to her. “Sit.”
I readjust Reina and take the offered chair.
“Who are you?” Captain Alejandra asks as she returns to her meal.
“Jasper Luvine. I’m a bounty hunter.”
“And who is she?”
“Amaya Ravensword. She’s a wanted criminal in Illya.”
Alejandra looks up at me, her expression dubious. “You don’t cradle a criminal like your dearest love.”
