“And the scarred man?” Lily pressed.
Oskar hesitated, a flash of pain crossing his face before he met her gaze. “He’s their leader. Bryn Fletcher.”
Lily was silent for a moment, processing this information. She knew that Oskar had a troubled past, but she had never heard him mention anything about being involved with a gang like this—especially one that employed such violence.
This is who Oskar really is. He brings naught but pain and suffering.
She had thought she was beginning to know him. But now? Who was Oskar Galbraith really? She was no longer sure she wanted to find out.
The streets were muddy as the snow turned to slush, and the puddles reflected the dim, orange light of the sun that was beginning to break through the clouds. The rumble of carts andthe distant cries of vendors created a melody that seemed to mock the unease in Lily’s heart.
Oskar was silent, his eyes focused on the ground before his feet. She could see the tension in his shoulders, the muscles in his arms taut and ready for any threat.
Then he stopped so suddenly that Lily walked right into the back of him.
A burnt-out house rose before them, its charred timbers standing stark against the pale sky. The windows, long ago shattered, gaped like toothless smiles, and the roof had caved in, leaving a jagged wound in the center.
A single gust of wind sent a shower of burnt debris floating through the air, which swirled around Oskar and Lily as they stood in silence. The absence of any smoke, evidence that the fire had been long extinguished, only added to the eerie silence that seemed to cling to it.
Oskar stared at the ruin, his shoulders hunched and his fingers flexing, as though wanting to reach out and touch it.
“Oskar?” Lily said. “What is it?”
He didn’t answer. His lips were parted and she could hear the breath whistling in and out of his chest. He seemed to suddenly be somewhere else entirely, caught up in thoughts or memories that left his expression ravaged.
“Oskar?” she said again. “Are you all right?”
She placed her hand lightly on his arm and he jumped as if he’d been stung.
He scrubbed a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
As they continued their climb up the hill, there were a hundred different questions Lily wanted to ask Oskar, a hundred different things she wanted to say but she didn’t seem able to form words. She was relieved beyond measure when theyfinally reached the townhouse and the door closed behind them, shutting out the world.
She sank gratefully onto one of the benches in front of the fire and raked a shaky hand through her tangled hair then clasped them in front of her to keep them from shaking.
Oskar knelt by the fire and began feeding in sticks until it was roaring once again. The tension in his shoulders hadn’t eased, and he didn’t look at her.
Lily licked her lips and took a deep breath. “Oskar, there’s something I have to tell you—”
“Why did ye do it?” he demanded, cutting her off. He turned to look at her and she could see anger burning in his eyes.
“Why did I do what?”
“Leave the house when I told ye not to.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. But when you hear what I have to say, you’ll understand—”
“Do ye have any idea of what would have happened had I not found ye?”
“I didn’t mean for that to happen! I had to go out. I saw—”
“Of all the brainless, idiotic things to do! I told ye to stay put! I told ye!”
She’d had one hell of a morning and the last thing she needed was this.Hewas having a go ather? How dare he?
“I didn’t know they were watching the house!” she cried, jabbing a finger at him. “None of it would have happened in the first place if it wasn’t for you! It wasyouthere were really after! And perhaps if you’d warned me about them, warned me about the kind of man you really are and the friends you keep, I might have been a bit more careful!”
Oskar flinched as if her words had cut him, but he didn’t back down. “I vowed to keep ye safe! How can I do that if I dinna even know where ye are?”
