Page 128 of A Thief to Die For

‘What song?’

‘The red drum song.’ It’s the one where the women spin and kick, moving as a group.

Ryland releases me. ‘Go. Now’s your chance.’

I bite my lip, unsure. I don’t want to leave him.

‘I know,’ he assures me, waving me away. ‘But I can also feel how much you want to try it. I’ll be right here.’

He can feel it. I chuckle, amazed at how the connection has become so seamless between us already. ‘Okay,’ I say, as I step back to join the crowd coming together.

I notice I can’t sense Ryland so easily any more, with some distance between us, so I glance back and find him watching me with a searing look in his eyes.

The drums grow louder, and Clara bumps my shoulder. ‘Hey, haven’t seen you here before.’

‘Yeah. I-I’m trying something new.’

‘Good.’ She smiles and hikes up her skirt to her knees, like the rest of the women. I copy her, laughing self-consciously. I suspect I’m about to make a fool of myself.

The group begins to move as one. Clara and I match them, kicking our legs to the beat. The drums grow louder. Faster. Our kicks get higher with every instrument that joins in, building the tension in the song. We add in clapping. A turn and a stomping of our feet, and distantly, I notice there really is no pain in my ankle at all. That sneaky pretty-boy charmer of mine took it all.

At the chorus, Clara and I hook arms and spin faster and faster until I can no longer contain my giggles. I feel like a child, and there’s something inexplicably joyful about it. Healing.

The song ends, and I wave Ryland over, wanting to share this feeling with him. But he shakes his head, encouraging me to keep dancing.

I purse my lips, unsure, until I spot Dezzy stoically judging me from a table. I march up to her. She crosses her arms. ‘Come,’ I say, ignoring her protests as I drag her to the middle of the dancing. The women clap encouragingly, and Dezzy smiles reluctantly. She starts by bouncing on her toes, then grows more confident. Soon she’s doing moves that both delight and scare me.

The next time I look up, Ryland is with Tristan and his friends, and I’m pretty sure by their shocked faces, Ryland’s just shared with them that we somehow, miraculously, have been given the connection. It’s a wonder I still don’t understand, especially when Ryland said he’s never known of anyone to receive it twice.

But now that I feel it – experience it – I know what the connection isn’t: a fluke. I now believe in the impossible. A supernatural kind of magic from the same source that first brought Ryland’s uncle to Kingsland through a dream.

That brought Ryland to me.

Tristan is first to celebrate as he claps Ryland heartily on the back. Samuel grins and says something that makes everyone break out laughing.

I can’t wait to see that memory later.

Eventually, I convince Ryland to try a group dance with me, which he does incredibly well. It only makes me impossibly more attracted to him.

I know the moment he feels it. His eyes snap to me as if I’ve shouted his name. He draws extremely close, pressing into me, lips brushing my ear. ‘Do we need to leave?’

I chuckle, embarrassed that I can’t even glance at him appreciatively without him knowing – until I realise the deep, unrelenting heat coiling in my belly isn’t coming from me.

Well, maybe this isn’t so bad.

We don’t leave quite yet. Instead, we eat and laugh with our friends, then dance some more; all while the connection distracts us with memories and sensations we haven’t learned to control. It’s the most blissful torture.

‘Have I ever told you that in Kingsland, descendant weddings are done backwards?’ Ryland asks into my ear. ‘Party first, ceremony last?’

I chuckle. ‘That would have solved a lot of our problems, wouldn’t it?’

He blinks at me, then scoops me up into his arms and marches me towards the trees.

‘What are you doing?’ Little John yells at our backs.

I smother my laugh into Ryland’s shoulder. ‘If you don’t answer him, he’s going to follow.’

With a sigh, Ryland spins and walks backwards. ‘I’m solving problems,’ he shouts. Then just for me: If the connection demands to be explored, then we have no choice but to become experts at it.

I have no objections to that plan. He helps me on to his horse, then quickly climbs on behind me.

‘You can’t leave!’ Little John says, breathless as he runs up to us. ‘It’s your party.’

Even though I can’t quite see Ryland’s smile, I somehow feel it like a hug around my heart. ‘It’s all good, little man. The party was just the start. Now is when the adventure begins.’