Page 41 of Kings of Sherwood

I look from one dirt-spattered, wild-eyed man to the next, and I can tell pretty quickly: no. Relief crashes over me like a wave.

But I’m not sure I can say the same about the guy they have with them.

LJ’s got him by the shoulder, and it looks like his hands are tied behind his back. He’s tall, ish, but compared to the three of them, he looks tiny: just a kid, in a soaking-wet T-shirt andragged-looking cargo pants, dark hair pasted to his head and his eyes wide with terror. And...a little confusion, seeing me.

“What the hell happened out there?” I ask, scooping my hair out of my eyes. Behind me, Tuck discreetly stands and retrieves my clothing as the other three all mutter various beginnings of explanations.

“Hang on,” Rob says, cutting through the noise. “Let the lady get decent first.”

As if on cue, LJ claps a massive hand over the kid’s eyes. I blink once, then take the invitation and drop the blanket to pull my sweats back on, ignoring the intrigued gazes of the three patrollers.Later, please.An arm’s length away, Tuck hurriedly pulls on his own jeans.

“Okay,” I say, lifting my arms to demonstrate. “All good.”

LJ removes his hand. The kid stares into the middle distance.

“So who the hell is that?” I ask, gesturing at the interloper. “Who the hell are you?” I ask him directly.

The kid looks at the three of them as if asking for permission, then quickly seems to decide it isn’t coming.

Then they all speak at once.

“We found him trying to stalk us—”

“Out in the middle of the goddamn forest—”

“—little toy gun of his—”

“—almost broke his ankle trying to run—”

“—nearly passed out—”

Tuck looks at them, then at me. “I’m making coffee.”

I nod. “Good idea.” I look back at the bedraggled group from the forest. “Can we start again?’

This time, only Rob speaks. His auburn hair looks almost dark brown from the rain, and there’s a smear of mud on his left cheek.

“Kid’s name is Nick,” he says. “Or so he claims. Roving around looking for trouble with his BB gun, trying to round up the bad guys for a payday.”

“So a bounty hunter.”

Will snorts. His usually styled hair is a silvery mess, flecked with dirt. “If you can call it that.”

“It was a dumb idea.”

The kid—Nick—speaks so fast I barely can make out one word from another. He looks terrified to even be talking, glances at the ground. “Really fucking dumb.” He looks back up, even more terrified. “I mean, um, pardon my language.”

At that, LJ actually chuckles.

“She’s heard worse,” Will says mildly.

“She’ssaidworse,” Rob adds. “Anyway, obviously we apprehended him, and—”

I wave a hand to shut him up. There’s something smudging this kid’s T-shirt—too reddish for mud. I step closer, look from the shirt into his eyes.

“Are you hurt?”

He darts a glance in each direction, like he’s evaluating whether or not to tell the truth.

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