Page 53 of The Orc's Thief
“No one came after me when I disappeared.” She tightens her grip on the reins, her knuckles turning white. “No one cared. Not one friend was interested enough to search for me. And my family…”
Her throat bobs as she swallows, pain radiating from her expression.
Lindie must be her closest friend now. I imagine what lengths I’d go to if Sarrai suddenly vanished, or any of my other friends from the clan. I’d go after them too, so I understand this compulsion perfectly.
“I had to know what happened.” She shakes her head and gives me a rueful smile. “So I broke into Damen’s office that night and unlocked his safe. You know what happened after.”
“Aye. The burns.” I scrub a hand through my still-damp hair, which I really should’ve untangled, but I was too eager to get Tessa moving so she’d warm up again. “What did you steal from him?”
She bites the inside of her cheek, measuring me with her gaze. I stare right back, willing her to give me a chance. If she trusted me, we could work together.
When she twists away from me, my heart plummets—only for a second, though, because she’s reaching for her saddlebag. She holds onto the pommel of her saddle with one hand and rummages around in her things, then pulls out a sheaf of folded pages.
“I ripped these out of his business ledger.” She moves her mare closer to Pip and hands the papers over to me. “I figured if he did send Lindie off on a job, he’d write it down, right? But it’s all written in code, and I can’t understand a thing. I’ve been trying to work it out for two days.” She huffs a breath. “It’s annoying, especially because I painted a target on my back trying to get these.”
“That’s it?” I ask, surprised. “You went after the ledger?”
Tessa’s cheeks turn an interesting shade of pink. “Well, I also took his money and some jewelry. I gave the money away, though.”
I snort out a laugh. “And the jewelry?”
“Payment for my trouble,” she quips, wiggling the fingers of her injured hand.
“Right.” I twist Pip’s reins around one hand and unfold the torn-out pages with the other. “Let’s see.”
I study the neat columns of letters and numbers. The handwriting is cramped and nearly illegible in places, but the entries show that Damen takes care with his ledger—and his business. The issue is that the columns and rows aren’t labeled, making it impossible to tell what the numbers signify.
“Huh.” I leaf through the pages, comparing the entries. “Aye, this complicates things.”
“You see?” She leans over and plucks the papers from my hand. “So rude of him. I thought it might be just me. I’m not the best with numbers.”
“Well, I’m no prodigy either,” I admit. “We have a steward at Bellhaven Hill who takes care of the ledgers, and she has an assistant to help her. I’ve seen those books, and they weren’t nearly as cryptic as this. Damen is a paranoid bastard.”
“You don’t say.” Tessa stuffs the pages back into her saddlebag.
“We can study them after we’ve stopped for the night. Maybe we’ll find something if we try together.”
I push away a damp branch hanging over the road, but droplets of water still splatter my cheeks. I wipe them off with the hem of my sleeve, and when I look up again, Tessa is watching me, eyes alight.
“What?” I glance down at my sleeve to check if I’ve smeared something on my face.
“Nothing,” she says, glancing away. “It’s just interesting, how your first thought is to worktogether. You came to get me last night, too, when I would’ve been fine under that tree. Damp, sure, but fine.”
“Well, therewerethe wolves…”
She raises one eyebrow at me. “Were they really a danger? If the pack was so hungry, wouldn’t they have gone after our horses? They were tethered, after all. Easy prey.”
I purse my lips, unable to deny her claim. “Fine, the wolves weren’t a real danger last night. But your shelter was pitiful.”
“Hey, I did the best I could,” she protests. “I don’t have magical eyesight.”
Smothering a grin, I shoot her a mock-glower. “Well, tonight, you won’t need it, because we’re sleeping in an inn. With beds. And a hot meal I won’t have to cook over a fire.”
She sobers, her shoulders dipping slightly. “Ah, I don’t think I thanked you for that, actually. The breakfast, I mean. It really was good.”
“I didn’t mean to say it was a problem. Tessa…” I exhale slowly, searching for the right words, something honest, but not overwhelming. “I don’t mind spending time with you in the wild. I didn’t mind the hunting, the cooking, or anything else, as long as you’re there with me.”
Her eyes widen, then she ducks her head, as if my confession embarrasses her. An unfamiliar sensation grips me, squeezingmy chest, and it takes me a moment to recognize it for what it is. Shame.
