Page 100 of A Thief to Die For

But he’s also not saying anything I haven’t already been chewing over. ‘I made a vow.’

I made a vow to both Marian and Agatha, and I intend to keep both. Loving Marian from a distance will be simultaneously the easiest and hardest task of my life.

Yet the connection is proof that only Agatha is my wife. So it’s settled. I don’t like it. I don’t want it. But there’s destiny to consider, right? Because if there is some great design behind the connection and it’s not just happenstance of a gene mutation, then this is where I’m supposed to be, with Agatha. All I can do now is make peace with it.

Somehow.

Levi stares at me, his face the most serious I’ve ever seen it. ‘Nobody would blame you if you broke –’

‘I would,’ I say, cutting him off. And that’s the crux of it. I couldn’t live with myself.

Or could I?

‘It’s done,’ I say. ‘And it can’t be undone. There’s nothing more to do but move forward. And as far as Agatha – she made a rash decision …’ Because of me. I can’t even imagine how she must have felt if she saw the whole dream. ‘She’s not a bad person. And now she’s my wife, so … we’re going to find her and I’m going to bring her home. Fix this.’

Levi’s gaze flicks to someone over my shoulder. I turn. Not only is Samuel back from watch, but he’s brought company.

My heart full-on stops. ‘Marian,’ I choke out. The last thing she needs is to have any of this rubbed in her face.

Samuel scratches his crooked nose. ‘You guys should come see what our girl brought.’

Everyone follows Samuel, with me bringing up the rear. We walk a while through the trees to a more open area and find Marian didn’t come alone. Dezzy and a couple of guardsmen – Fitzgerald and one who I think is named Clark – stand with a loaded trailer. Rufus is here, too. I grimace when I see his armour. Fine. I won’t stop him from coming, since we need the help.

Lucky’s first to look at the supplies they towed here and hoots a laugh. ‘You empty the armoury or something?’

‘Something like that,’ Marian says, fighting a grin.

Her face has been washed, her hair braided. She’s got weapons everywhere – leather straps holding knives to her thighs, fitted armour on her chest and forearms. A sword hangs from her belt. She’s a vision, even hiding pain. A warrior goddess – the kind you take a knee before, then go on to conquer worlds in her name. Even the hint of her smile has warmth surging through my veins. My body craves her, remembering too vividly everything. Her fire. Her laugh. Her taste. Will I ever forget? I force myself to scan the trees, so I don’t do something stupid, like stare or beg her to take me back, connection be damned.

‘But how?’ Lucky asks. ‘No place is as secure as the armoury.’

‘Usually,’ Marian agrees. ‘Except Atlas took most of the guardsmen. And …’ she gestures at Fitzgerald and Clark, ‘turns out all I had to do was ask nicely. We talked, and they want to help. So they’re going to come with us.’

Good. More fighters.

‘We have food for you, too,’ Dezzy says. ‘I know such handsome and … fertile men require incredible amounts of nutrition.’

Marian bows her head, lips pulled tight.

Dezzy turns to Rufus. ‘Of course, I’m not talking about you, but you can eat it too. We’ve packed enough food to feed your small army.’ Her gaze grows serious as it settles on me. ‘You bring my girls back home. You hear me? Both of them. Safe.’ Then she pulls Marian into a hug, whispering in her ear.

Marian hugs her back just as fiercely, though I can see her wince as Dezzy’s arms brush her injured back.

I look away, tense. That’s the plan. But that’s also not a promise I can make.

We spend the next hour loading our mounts with as many weapons as we can carry. It doesn’t make sense to pull a trailer. Not when we need speed. At least with the three extra riders, we’re able to carry more of everything.

I forgot the stress of riding outside of protected territory. How you can never let your guard down. Not if you want to live.

‘Vagabonds,’ Levi calls out, only minutes into our ride.

Already? I close the distance I’ve worked to put between Marian and me. Our group of eight stops, weapons raised as four riders pass us, horses galloping.

‘That was easy,’ says Lucky.

My eyes accidentally meet Marian’s, and my heart throbs as I absorb every detail. No pain on her face. ‘It was this time,’ I say, then with a kick of my heels, ride ahead.

We make camp when it’s nearly dark. The horses need the rest, and securing an overnight location with a surveillance advantage beats getting in an extra mile.