Page 71 of The Rebel and the Rose
Her brows raised. ‘So what, then?’
He hesitated, not wanting to say. To give her something she could hold over him, when she had lied to him so readily just now, revealed so little of her true intentions.
No, they were not confidants. Not by a long shot.
Her smile was mirthless. ‘I guess the lack of trust is mutual, then.’
‘I guess it is.’
They could be honest, at least, about that.
And yet, he could have sworn he glimpsed a glimmer of hurt in her eyes. She shrugged it off, arcing around him to where Versini was waiting by the gates, firing invisible daggers at Ransom’s head.
Stalking after her, Ransom called out, ‘Good news! It seems fate has dealt us a new lead. We’ll continue north to Marvale.’
Chapter 17Seraphine
Sera was still smarting when she climbed into the carriage after Theo. Arrogant, interfering Dagger, with his stupidly perfect face. Why did he insist on scrambling her thoughts before she had a chance to sift through them herself? She hadn’t even decided what she was going to do about the provost’s tip before he’d yanked it out of her hands and waved it around for all to see.
‘He caught me in a lie,’ she groaned into her hands. And he was pissed. Worse –hurt. And more emboldened than ever. ‘Marvale is going to be a blood bath.’
‘It was always going to go like this,’ said Theo, calmly. ‘He’d be a fool to think you were on the same side. The minute we find Andreas, things are going to get messy.’
‘Didn’t you see what happened with Nadia back there?’she felt compelled to remind him. ‘Things are already messy.’
‘They’re only going to get worse,’ he said, darkly. ‘Ransom might be indulging his protective side right now, but when all that Shade finally eats through the last of his humanity, that will change. The black stuff already has its claws in him, Sera. You can’t count on his feelings for you. Not above loyalty to his Order. His king.’ His brows knitted, his voice softening when he added, ‘With everything that happened with your father, you know that better than anyone.’
Slumping back in her seat, she gave no argument. Her thoughts turned to what the king had promised Ransom, and the secret deal they had struck in the shadows. Was it worth more or less than her life to him? And how long would it take before his predilection for Shade chewed that up too?
The carriage in front screeched to a sudden halt. Outside, voices rose to an angry pitch. Sera stuck her head out of the window to find Ransom marching Caruso back up the driveway, looking furious.
He yelled over his shoulder, ‘He stole the damn cat! I’m making him take it back.’
Despite their souring mood, Theo barked a laugh. ‘You should have been a Cloak, Caruso!’
Caruso stuck his middle finger up. ‘Too talented for common thievery, Versini.’
Belatedly, Sera noticed the black cat tucked snugly under his left arm. ‘Didn’t take him for an animal person.’
They had barely resumed their journey when the carriagescreeched to a halt again. More commotion outside, as a coachman shouted, ‘Madwoman on the road!’
Theo set down the journal he had been scribbling in. ‘Whatnow?’
Sera hopped out of the carriage just as Caruso was confronting their obstacle. The three soldiers had disembarked, too, and were edging closer with their hands on their swords. Caruso was so tall and broad, Sera couldn’t see around him, but when a familiar shriek rang out, she stumbled in shock.
‘I’m NOT moving off this road until I see my friends!’ At once, Sera recognized the human hurricane that was Val, her furious anger like music to her ears. ‘I swear to Saint Calvin, if you have laid afingeron any one of them, I will gut you where you stand, ice man.’
Caruso cocked his head. ‘Iceman?’
Sera pushed through the soldiers and rounded Caruso to see Val brandishing a rusty corkscrew at the menacing Dagger. Saints help her, Caruso was going to chew her up and spit her out. Not that Val seemed remotely afraid. ‘Icy eyes to match your icy heart, fucker. I know you’re a Dagger, so you’d better move the hell out of— ALL HELL, SERA! YOU’RE ALIVE!’
Sera darted forward, sweeping her friend into a hug. Pressing her face into Val’s shoulder, she inhaled a lungful of jasmine perfume, telling herself that Val was real. She was here. She wassafe.
‘I’m so glad you’re all right,’ she said, pulling back to look her over. Her dark curls fell wildly about her face, which waspaler than usual. Her trousers and sweater were dusty from her travels, and she was carrying a satchel on her back. Apart from looking tired and travel-worn – and vaguely furious – she was in good nick.
‘I knew you’d make it back to us,’ said Theo, hurrying to join them. ‘You’re too scrappy to go down without a fight. You never even got picked up, did you?’
Val shook her head, looking vaguely guilty. ‘I got my cloak on just in time. I ran for the shadows when the nightguards came, then returned to House Armand. I didn’t know what else to do, so I hid in a bush until Fontaine came poking around with her walking stick and found me.’
