Page 22 of Company of Thieves
The horse reared up. I watched in horror, sure that Alan was about to be slaughtered before my eyes, but to my amazement, he simply snatched the horse’s bridle perilously close to teeth that I knew could take off his hand, and pulled the horse’s head down to waist level. “Stop this. You’re scaring Hallie. She doesn’t understand you like to put on a show.”
I squeaked something that was meant to be, “Holy shit, Alan. Holy everlasting shit.”
“She’s going to think you’re mad when you’re just full of valor,” Alan said to the horse, still holding his head down, but now stroking the beast’s neck with one hand.
“Oh, I know he’s mad, but not as batshit crazy as you are,” I managed to say. “Alan, he’s vicious.”
“No, he’s not. He’s just high-spirited.” Amazingly, the horse seemed to calm under his influence, at least enough that the two men still holding on to him managed to lead him down the ramp and onto the ground without anyone losing life or limb.
Alan returned to me, watching as three other horses were led past us—all of them calm in comparison with the white devil—before saying, “I want you to stay here to guard theNightwing.”
“Wow, that wasn’t quite what I was expecting you were going to say,” I said, surprised despite seeing through his ploy. “Although I will point out that I know full well you’re doing that just so I’ll stay here where it’s safe.”
He said nothing, just tugged me after him when he walked down the ramp, thankfully stopping us a little distance from the horses. “The only place you would be safe, as you put it, would be locked into my cabin, with four guards on the outside of the door.” His eyes seemed to burn into mine with a blue fevered light that left me shivering. “Understand this—I value theNightwingvery highly indeed, but with the Black Hand’s presence, I have to take as many men with me as possible. I can only leave two men to guard her, so despite your belief that I’m trying to keep you out of trouble, I do need your help protecting my airship.”
“Oh,” I said, squaring my shoulders a little, trying to exude confidence and reliability. “I appreciate that, Alan. But I have to find Jack—”
“I will help you find your brother, never fear of that,” he said grimly, turning and raising a hand when Zand, already mounted, called something to him. For a moment, his eyes were filled with an emotion that made me very aware that he was a man, and I was a woman. One gloved hand brushed a strand of hair from my cheek. “Do not engage anyone. Call the guards if you see anything untoward. And do not, under any circumstance—”
“Try that spinning move, I know.” I bit my bottom lip for a moment, glanced over his shoulder at the men who were waiting for him, then grabbed his armor and pulled him to me, kissing him with a sudden rush of emotion. “And you take care of yourself, too.”
His lips smiled against mine. “I thought you weren’t looking for a lover?”
“I’m not.” I let go of his armor, the heat of his lips still burning mine. “I just don’t want to go to the trouble of having to find someone else and convince them to teach me how to fight.”
He tucked the tail of his turban across his face, but I could tell by the way the lines around his eyes crinkled that he was smiling. “Stay safe, woman.”
I saluted, watching with no little admiration the way he strode to the horses, punching the white demon on the shoulder again when the horse lifted a back leg in warning. Then he was gone, the three other mounted men followed by a dozen more who trotted after them on foot, all of them armed to the teeth.
“Hoo, does he know how to kiss,” I said aloud, then became aware that one of the two guards was standing on the other side of the open hold doors. I smiled and, with my hand on my sword, began to patrol the perimeter.
I was under no delusion that despite Alan’s pretty words, he had come up with this guard job as a way to keep me out of action, but since I knew full well my nascent fighting skills stood no chance against anyone who’d had more than a couple of hours at stacked hay bales, I didn’t protest.
“One day, though,” I promised myself, “I’ll be going out with the rest of them, filled to the rim with badassery.”
Just as I was making my fourth circuit of the airship, I caught sight of a familiar dark shape gliding overhead, the moonlight glinting off the painted silver compass that marked the forward envelope of theEnterprise.
“Jack!” I said softly, watching the ship descend on the far side of the town. “Oh, thank god, the cavalry has arrived.”
I hurried over to the guard who stood in front of the open hold, a long aether-fueled rifle in his hands, two swords crossed over his back. “I know Alan said I was to stay here and help guard the ship, but it looks pretty quiet here, and it’s super important that I talk to my brother. That’s him, there,” I told the man, gesturing toward where theEnterprisehad disappeared over the domed tops of the mud and stone buildings. “I’m just going to go talk to him really quickly. Then I’ll be back to help guard again.”
The man stared, clearly not understanding me.
“If Alan comes back before I return, tell him I’m not being irresponsible, but I have to talk to my brother. To Jack. OK?”
The man frowned.
“Oy. Never mind. I’ll just make sure this is quick.”
I dashed off, skirting the edges of town, knowing the action—assuming there was some, and with the Black Hand present, I couldn’t imagine how there weren’t some shenanigans going down—would be sparse to nonexistent on the outskirts. My heart beat wildly at the thought that someday—when I’d had training—it would be me in the middle of the skirmish.
The moon was higher now, giving me enough light to see the crooked streets and dim shapes of buildings, but not a whole lot else. I followed first one street, then another, twisting and turning, but trying to keep myself pointed in the direction of theEnterprise. In the distance, sounds of fighting were audible: shrieks, screams, and shouts in languages I didn’t understand, a couple of small explosions, the dull splatting noise that indicated someone was firing disruptors, and the general cacophony of noises that accompanied bodies struggling with other bodies.
To my irritation, I turned a corner, trying to align myself by the moon, and saw two people standing ahead of me, right at the edge of the central square.
“Dammit,” I swore softly to myself, and flattened against the shadowed wall of a building when a third person joined the other two. They were nothing more than silhouettes, but since I had no idea of who they were, I skulked down the side of the building, ducking behind a stone oven when two of them separated. I caught just the barest snatch of conversation. “—we can’t with the Moghuls. The prince himself is here, Etienne. He’s already taken three prisoners.”
Etienne? I peered around the round stone oven and looked at the tall, wiry man who remained in shadow. The leader of the Black Hand was there, right in front of me?
