Page 35 of Dishonor Among Thieves
Odile pointed to the bedding on the settee. “Who will keep watch?” she asked.
“Me,” I said, but Neo’s voice carried over mine as he said, “We both will.”
Odile nodded. “If he shows any signs of distress, wake me.” She covered her mouth as she yawned. “I have a key to this room and will let myself in when I wake to check him if you’ve not summoned me before then.”
After Odile left, I heard the lock turn. I took my place in the armchair beside Elgit, but since Odile had anointed his hands and tucked them beneath the covers, all I could do was worry my charm and watch the gentle rise and fall of the goblin’s small chest.
“It must be nearly midnight,” Neo surmised, suppressing a yawn of his own. “We should rest in shifts. One at a time. If there’s any change in his condition, one of us will be awake to alert Odile.”
“You sleep,” I told him, my eyes never leaving Elgit’s wrinkled, craggy face. He looked so vulnerable, so lost. Deep in the valley a soul had to travel alone. I couldn’t, just couldn’t look away. Couldn’t leave him. “This was my decision, bringing him here. I’ve disrupted your entire household. Created needless danger, simply because my heart couldn’t…” I broke off and shook away the words. “Please, Neo. You sleep. Spend what’s left of the night in your bed. I’ll stay here and keep watch.”
Neo stood beside me, peering down at the goblin through tired eyes. “We may have disagreed at first, but you were right,” he said, his rich, low voice surprisingly close to my ear. “You stood by your heart.I only followed your good counsel. Please, offer no more apologies. And no sacrifices, Brex. Your husband will take you up on the offer of first sleep, but I’ll wake soon to relieve you. And if I don’t, you’re to wake me so you don’t drive yourself into illness. Are we agreed?”
“Yes,” I said, my lips suddenly so dry, I desperately needed to quench my thirst. I dropped the blanket on the chair and stood to refill my mug of water.
“Brex.”
I turned to him, stunned to see my husband’s arms held partway open. Inviting me. Waiting for me to go to him.
I didn’t hesitate but leaned into his hold and let his arms surround me, holding me so close I could feel the echo of his heart hammering in his chest. I drew a deep breath, taking in the heat of him, the scents of smoke and blood, the lavender from his bath and a brighter smell, like citrus. I laced my arms around his waist, not at all sure what to do with my hands. He buried his face against the top of my hair, the heat of his breath warm against my damp scalp. I felt his body move, the thin clothes still wet from my hair providing very little coverage.
This felt different. Despite my exhaustion, I felt every bit of my body come to life. The cold tile beneath my feet, the grip of his fingers as they slipped beneath my hair. The thin fabric that separated my breasts from his body.
Something must have shifted for him too. I felt him tense before roughly releasing me.
I stepped back and nodded at him. “Goodnight,” I whispered, my nerves raw and my body fluttering with confusion. I poured myself some water with a shaky hand and then reclaimed my seat beside Elgit.
Neo strode to the bedding Antonia had piled on another settee. The well-cushioned piece of furniture was pushed far into the dark corner of the room. I could hear him sink onto it then toss and turn, adjusting the covers. And I could have sworn the last thing I heard before he fell silent were the words, “Goodnight, wife.”
I returned to my chair when a thought occurred to me. I crept back to the far corner of the room, where Neo’s breathing was not yet steady and slow.
“Neo?” I whispered.
“Hmmm?” He was awake, but only just.
“Why do you keep the inside doors locked when you sleep? Why are we locked in for the night?”
He sighed, and I heard the covers move aside. “Sit with me.”
I dared not sit with him. I was so tired, if I joined him on that luxurious makeshift bed, I’d be asleep within second, I was certain. But a weaker part of me craved the warmth his nearness offered. If he was going to share something surprising, something terrifying—as if anything could be worse than what we’d seen tonight—I wanted to be close to him. I couldn’t explain why, but after what we’d seen tonight, I felt allied with him. Bound in a much more real way than that of our contract marriage. I perched on the edge of the settee, trying not to take up too much room.
He remained in the darkness, his eyes and face hidden by pockets of shadow. “Haeloc, the name that Elgit uttered in the sanctum,” he said, sounding exhausted. “He is a vampire raider. A dying vampire raider. I don’t know what I was thinking going to work for him.” He sighed, and I could almost picture the sag of his shoulders. My fingers itched to comfort him, but I resisted the foolish instinct and simply listened. “I went to work for him after my mother passed. As you already know, she’d spent most of the Oderisi wealth after her second partner, a wife, fell ill. The woman was human, so that was a futile endeavor from the start. But as I believe you know, love does not understand the meaning of futility.”
I swallowed hard and clutched the charm from my sister in my hands.
“After my mother passed, I did what I could to cut expenses. Reduced the household staff, took up whatever work of the manor my brother and I could manage ourselves. We even sold off some of the furniture and rugs.” His voice was low, tinged with shame. “But it wasn’t enough to manage the crofter’s salary and maintain our meager farm, support Dale and Antonia, stay current on our taxes… I started taking jobs, dangerous jobs, for pay.” He breathed deeply, chuckling softly to himself. “And I surprised myself. I loved working. The risk, the reward.”
“When you say working…do you mean raiding?” I asked. It wouldn’t help me to understand him if I wasn’t absolutely clear. “You were…stealing?”
“Not at first,” he said, rustling his legs under the blankets. “At first I took dangerous work. Brokering deals between goblins and humans, for example. But then yes, eventually, my old friend Trond—the one I met in Fish Head End—told me about a man looking for someone to salvage sunken ships. The sea trolls ruin close to a third of the cogs that try to run cargo along the coastline. I thought I’d be diving, sailing. Maybe fighting trolls. So Trond made the introduction to a local lord named Rekker Haeloc. As soon as I met him, I knew I’d made a profound mistake.”
I looked across the sitting room. A single lamp was burning near the ailing goblin, illuminating his small form. He was breathing and wasn’t moving, so I relaxed a bit, scooting back farther until I felt the solid form of Neo’s legs behind me.
“What was your mistake?” I asked.
“Haeloc was a vampire with ties to my family. Once upon a time, he’d been in love with my mother. But her heart had already been claimed by the woman she would take as her second spouse—ahuman.”
I could hear the rough scratching sounds of Neo rubbing his face. He moved back on the settee, leaving a bit more room, so I moved back as well, tucking my feet beneath me and leaning my rear end against his thighs.
