“No,” I said on a whine. “G-Give it… back.”
The bandit tucked my necklace into the pouch attached to his belt before lifting his hand to my jaw. Dark-brown strips of cloth wound around his palm and up to his wrist where it was tied off. I tried to jerk from his grip but didn’t have the strength.
“Hair like gold and eyes like emeralds,” he said, his fingers warm where they trailed over my skin. “Youarea little treasure, aren’t you?”
He then stuck his hand back inside the pouch and blew something into my face. The edges of my vision went wonky. My head felt heavy, and it lolled to the side, my neck muscles not able to support it anymore. I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
“Sleep now,” he murmured, gathering me in his arms before standing and throwing me over his shoulder. “We have a long trip ahead of us.”
Chapter Sixteen
The Muffin Thief
The ground moved beneath me, a constant rocking.
I cracked open my eyelids and regretted it instantly as a shooting pain stabbed behind both eyes, followed by a similar sharp ache in my temple. As if it couldn’t get any worse, I also felt like I was going to throw up. The rocking wasn’t helping.
“If you’re going to be sick, please do it over there.”
I focused on the man. His long, dark-auburn hair was pulled to one side and held in place by a small golden cuff. His warm topaz eyes popped against his dark complexion. He appeared to be in his early twenties, with a toned build but still on the lean side.
“Who are you?” I croaked before the ground moved again, making me bounce a little. “And when will this earthquake stop?”
That’s when I noticed the tussle of hair in front of me. A mane. It wasn’t an earthquake at all, but rather, me on a horse. On impulse, I reached forward and pet its neck. I could never resist the urge to pet animals. Insects, like Herbert the Terror, not included.
“You don’t remember me?” the man asked, holding the reins as he walked beside the horse. “I’m hurt. And here I thought we had something special.”
My confusion lifted as my foggy mind cleared and everything came back to me. I remembered being in the trees along the beach and a dark shape attacking from above.
“You’re the bandit!” I said. He’d removed the face covering and had lowered his hood, but it was definitely the same guy. I then slapped a hand to my chest, finding nothing but a scratchy shirt. A shirt that wasn’t mine. “You took my clothes and my necklace.”
“Two wrongs and one right,” he responded, cool as a cucumber. “First of all, I’m not a bandit. I’m merely a… how should I say it, a man of limited means who does what he has to in order to get by. As for your clothes, you weren’t wearing much when I found you. I dressed you in my spares for now. You’re welcome for that, by the way. But Ididtake your necklace. I’m sure it will fetch me a nice bit of coin with the right buyer.”
“You can’t sell it. Give it back.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Come down here and make me give it back,” he said, a smirk curving his lips. It was different than the one Maddox gave me. This one was cocky as hell with an underlying threat. He might not have been a bandit—according to him—but he was dangerous. When I didn’t respond, that smirk fell. “Pity. I was looking forward to your attempt.”
“I’m a lover, not a fighter,” I said. “Unless you count thorn bushes. They don’t stand a chance against me.”
He moved his gaze to the dirt trail ahead of us. Tough crowd. We weren’t on the king’s road, so we must’ve been traveling down a different route.
“Where are we going?” I asked as I scanned the area. The sun had started to set, the last traces of light fading. In the far distance, a mountain range stretched toward the sky. There was no sign of the sea or the castle. No buildings or homes in sight.
“Wherever I say we’re going,” he answered.
“That’s not a real answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.”
“Are we still in Bremloc? What do you want with me?”
The not-bandit sharply exhaled. “Right now? I want you to stop asking so many goddamn questions.”
“Sorry, no can do. You can’t kidnap someone and expect them to be like, ‘Oh, how fun, we’re going on an adventure.’”
