Page 27 of Rogue Voice

Bea shook her head, embarrassed. She’d come to hate pastel colors, almost as much as she hated white. If it were up to her, she’d wear only bright colors.

A door slammed further along the corridor, in the direction of her uncle’s suites. Bea sucked in a sharp breath. If her uncle found Rogue here, he might kill them both. She wondered if Rogue understood the risk he was running by letting her come with him.

“It’s okay,” he said quickly, his low voice barely louder than a whisper “We’ll make the clothes dirty when we’re outside. You’ll need a coat, though. It’s going to get chilly out there at night.”

Bea didn’t own a real coat. She handed him her only jacket, which he placed inside his dark backpack. Bea looked around the room she’d called home for the past two years. It didn’t feel like home.

“Are you ready? If you have a passport …”

It was a layered question, and one Bea didn’t feel much like answering, but she couldn’t just not tell him.

“I don’t have a passport, and Uncle Emiliano keeps my ID in his office safe.”To make sure I never leave.

Rogue took the news calmly, and Bea realized that was one of the things she liked the most about him.

“We go, then.”

She wanted to follow but her feet felt glued to the ground. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—do this to him without making him understand what was at risk.

“Wait.”

“Having second thoughts, princess?”

She only just stopped herself from stomping on his foot. “Don’t call me that.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry. What is it, Bea?”

Her name sounded soft on his mouth. Soft, and right. He was still looking at her, so she forced herself to speak. “Are you sure about this?”

“About leaving? Hell, yes, I’m sure, princ—Bea.”

She shook her head. “About leaving with me. My uncle … he … he won’t take it kindly when he realizes I’m missing. I know I threatened to tell my uncle that you’re … that you’re hiding something.” She looked up into his eyes. “But I won’t. I won’t say anything. Even if you leave me behind.”

Rogue’s eyes widened as he took in her meaning. “Are you worried about me, Bea?” he asked. When he put it that way, it sounded so very stupid.

“I’m just …”

“Relax, Bea. When I told you I’d get you out, it wasn’t because of your half-hearted threat.” Right. Of course it wasn’t. Hell, he could have killed her back then if that’d been his intent. “I’m not afraid of your uncle, or of his friends,” Rogue continued.

A shiver ran down her back, despite herself. Her uncle would have her and Rogue killed on sight if he caught them. But if Aguilar caught them, he would make them wish for death before it came.

“Iwillpay you,” she said. “I swear I will.” She pulled at the necklace around her neck. “In the meantime, you can have this.”

Rogue’s eyes went down to her breasts. His pupils widened as he caught sight of the heavy, diamond-studded cross. Fifteen diamonds. She’d counted them once. Each as big as a pea. Her father had sent it to the convent the year of her fifteenth birthday. Bea had hated it on sight. But she’d kept it, smuggled it into the house under her dress, kept it in a little linen bag underher mattress. Because she’d known—intuitively—that she might need it one day.Todaywas the day.

She expected Rogue’s eyes to follow the jewelry, but his gaze didn’t waver. If anything, it seemed stuck on the space between her breasts where the cross had nestled.

“It … it’s yours, if you get me out of here.”

“Put that back and cover yourself,” he growled. “We need to get out of here.”

Maybe he’s not religious. Maybe the cross—Forget it. Do as he says, before he changes his mind.

Bea turned towards the door, but Rogue stopped her with a hand on her arm. His touch was light and warm. His hand didn’t tighten against her skin.

“Not that way. We’re going out the window.”

The window?There was no balcony out of these rooms. If they fell, it would be all the way down to the gravel below. They could die, or at least be severely incapacitated.

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