Page 77 of The Orc's Thief
My throat is tight by the time I reach the stables, but I’ve come to an inevitable conclusion, one I’ll have to tell Arlon. I don’t want to, but like he said, we’ve run out of time if peoplewith knife collections are lying in wait for us somewhere on the road ahead.
Arlon looks up when I enter the stall where Clover spent the night. He steps forward and pulls me in for a quick kiss that makes what I have to do a thousand times worse.
“She’s been fed and watered,” he tells me. “The grooms took good care of her. They’re saying the weather should clear in an hour or so, which means we might get to ride farther than we thought today.”
“Hey, I need to talk to you.” I can’t meet his gaze. Instead, I stare at the buttons of his jacket, small slivers of horn, expertly carved with a floral pattern. I never noticed them until now, but their exquisite artistry is yet another reminder that we don’t belong together. He’s from a different world entirely, and I cannot drag him down with me.
Arlon doesn’t allow me to hide. He takes my chin and tips it up until I look at him.
“What’s wrong, Tessa?” he asks, his voice a low murmur.
I swallow the lump in my throat and choke out, “I think you should leave. We have to go our separate ways now.”
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
ARLON
I stare down at Tessa, my blood rushing in my ears. “You want me to leave?”
She drops her gaze to my chest and gives a small nod. “It’s for the best.”
Suspicion rises. I release her, step back, and lean against the wooden slats of the horse stall. “How do you figure that?”
“We-we’ll confuse them if we part ways,” she stammers. “I’ll follow the caravan, and you can turn south, like you told Mistress Maeve we would. They’ll be forced to choose who to follow.”
Ah.
“And you hope it’ll be me?” I test her.
“No!” Tessa throws her arms up, the twin bags—smelling of bread, cheese, and dried sausage—banging against the stall door. “It needs to be me. I’m the one who got us into this mess. You shouldn’t be paying for my mistakes.”
I can’t hold back a chuckle, and she glowers at me, fierce and determined. Still, I reach out and tug her into my embrace, resting my chin on top of her head.
“This isn’t funny, Arlon,” she complains, batting at my sides.
For once, I don’t let her go. “Are you worried about me, little thief?”
“Yes,” she cries against my chest. “That woman hadknives. That’s not a joke!”
“Will you let me come with you if I promise not to get stabbed?” I take her shoulders and move her a step away so I can look her in the eyes. “Don’t you trust that I’m better equipped for battle than any human we might meet on the road?”
“I do, but we could get ambushed by many,” she protests, her hazel eyes wet with unshed tears. “You’re not impervious to arrows, are you? And besides, everything points to the caravan heading for the orc kingdom. You were worried about that, weren’t you?”
She’s perceptive, I can’t deny that.
“Do you think I’d ever let you go there alone?” I demand. “You don’t know what it was like. Don’t ask me to leave you, Tessa. You know I can’t do that.”
Her tears slip down her cheeks, and I brush my thumbs over them, wishing there was something I could say to make this easier for her.
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” she croaks, her voice breaking. “I’d never forgive myself.”
“Ah, love.” I cup her face in both hands and kiss her lips, tasting the salt of her tears. “And I’d never forgive myself if I left you.”
She kisses me back, her tongue brushing mine, then pulls away and wipes her cheeks with her sleeve. “Stubborn,” she grumbles, stuffing the food into her mare’s saddlebags. “I should’ve left you for the rats.”
I grin, press a kiss to her cheek, and head to the next stall, where Pip and Cricket wait patiently for me. “You couldn’t leaveme,” I call over the stall wall. “You knew even then we were perfect together.”
