Page 98 of A Thief to Die For

‘Of course, you’re injured,’ I say. ‘Because you jumped. From a cliff.’ Anger flashes through me and my hands smack his chest in a small but forceful shove. ‘You scared me to death!’

He chuckles. ‘I had to. The raven.’ He shrugs like that says it all.

I can’t even dispute it because not only did Benedict apparently save Lucky, he also saved me and two others with that key. When I return home, Benedict’s getting a buffet of berries. ‘I tried to come after you, but Coatl tied me up.’

I feel Ryland’s gaze snap to my face. ‘What? Why?’ he demands.

His attention sends a jolt through me, and my heart flutters with longing. Yes, look at me.

I quickly smother that. ‘After Coatl caught me planning a rebellion, he attacked. Lucky jumped off a cliff to save his life, and I was tied to Atlas’s throne all night until Coatl could turn me in. It’s how I overheard Agatha explaining what she learned from you, and Atlas making plans to go on the biggest raid he’s ever pulled.’

‘That bastard,’ Lucky mutters. ‘All of them.’

Samuel points at Lucky. ‘If he’s got no place to go, he can’t stay with us. The guy never shuts up.’

‘We’re going to need him, though,’ I say. ‘We’re going to need every able-bodied person to stop Atlas.’

‘We’re what now?’ Samuel asks.

‘That ambush she mentioned – it’s on Kingsland,’ Ryland clarifies. ‘He figured out how to get there and left already.’

‘Is that what they were up to?’ Samuel says with a dangerous edge. ‘We saw them leave.’

Ryland turns to me. ‘Why don’t you fill them in on the rest?’

That won’t be a quick conversation, so I take a seat on the log Lucky was perched on before. I start with Ryland being tricked into marrying Agatha, since that’s where it all went south.

‘So you’re married … to her sister?’ Levi asks, incredulous. ‘Like, connected married?’

Ryland’s jaw ticks, then he asks Lucky to check the perimeter. ‘Yes,’ he finally answers when we’re alone.

Levi’s brows knit as his gaze sweeps over me. ‘Whoa. That’s kind of … permanent. What are you going t–?’

‘Tell us the rest,’ Samuel interrupts.

I take a breath, wishing I didn’t have to. ‘Last night, Ryland and my sister … bonded and …’

Ryland drags a hand down his face. ‘She saw into my dreams and possibly my memories.’ He exhales hard. ‘So she knows how to get to Kingsland and likely what’s there if they raid.’

A tension fills the air.

‘My sister has also developed explosives. Bombs, though not the kind that created the badlands. Smaller. But still, the kind Kingsland won’t be able to defend itself against.’

‘Your sister’s evil,’ Levi mutters.

‘She’s not,’ I insist. ‘They were for defence. Atlas is misusing them.’

‘But she betrayed Ryland to your father,’ Samuel says. ‘Or can you explain that?’

I can’t, which terrifies me.

Ryland’s face grows tight. ‘It doesn’t matter why she did it. She made a mistake.’

His quick defence of her is a blade to the ribs. Wow, maybe they have become blended.

Samuel exhales a curse. ‘We should have stopped them earlier, when we saw them.’

Levi drops his elbows to his knees, head bowed.