Tears sprang to my eyes, and I clasped his hand. “Thank you. I’m so glad she has someone like you.”
He smiled. “I was going to say the same about you.”
Aiden cleared his throat, breaking us apart. “We have one last problem you might be able to solve. We need to steal a log shipment to take down the river to the mine, but the fort is too well-guarded.”
Henry nodded. “Leave that to me.”
Chapter 43
Aiden
I hatedto leave Wicked behind.
Kiera seemed to feel the same way about Ozlow. She whispered into his alert ears as she handed him over to Nikella.
But we couldn’t bring horses where we were going.
I rubbed Wicked’s nose as he butted my chest. “One day we won’t have to say goodbye, old friend,” I murmured.
He huffed.
I smiled and handed his reins to Ruru, watching until they disappeared into the forest.
Nikella and Ruru were bringing the horses to her Twaryn friends who lived nearby. We’d also left them with our saddlebags and weapons that wouldn’t suit the mine—like the bows and arrows and Maz’s whistler. Nikella assured us the forest dwellers would take good care of everything until we returned.
If we returned.
Henry and his men had already left to make arrangements for us. We were to meet them at dawn, which was fast approaching.
Kiera scattered the ashes of our fire and tucked the last of her knives into the third log. She sealed it with one of the woodencaps Maz had whittled for each hollow log. Now they looked like all the others floating toward the mine.
Maz and I carried them to a low, grassy bank along the river, away from the eyes of the fort.
We spoke little, focused on our tasks. But the air was crackling with tension.
I could see the way it darkened Maz’s eyes and danced in Kiera’s fingers. It lived in my jaw and my chest.
So much hinged on this going right. Plans built on spindly twigs that could collapse everything we hoped for.
And now I had Henry and his men to worry about.
I’d liked the captain well enough. He’d seemed as Kiera said—honorable and in love with her sister.
But it didn’t sit well with me to place so much trust in a stranger so quickly. Until I’d looked at Kiera’s hopeful eyes and grateful smile... and taken the leap.
“Done,” Maz announced, dusting his hands on his pants. He stared at the wide, deep river. “Think it’ll work?”
I also gazed at the rushing water. We’d chosen a place along the bank that seemed the easiest to swim to, but one never knew with currents. All I could think about was Kiera trying to swim through it.
“It’d better,” I said. “It’s the only way we’re getting on a shipment.”
Dawn rose in molten orange over the eastern horizon, glowing like the forge we meant to destroy.
Maz grasped my shoulder. “Before we go, I just wanted to say I’m proud of you.”
I frowned at him. “For what?”
“For finally owning up to who you are. You’ve been burying that shit since we met.”
