“What would be her motive?”
“Well…” I draw out the word slowly as facts and figures lock into place. “You seem to have become valuable to the Alpha Council. With your sense of smell, you must be able to find fugitives no one else can.”
He waves a flippant hand. “That’s exactly why I was appointed to this role as my punishment.”
“I imagine letting you go would be quite a blow to the council. Especially when they are expecting ninety-five more years of service from you.”
He releases a slow breath that has his wide chest deflating. “I see the point you’re getting at, but it still doesn’t explain the bargain. If I fail, I’ll die. If I’m so valuable—” His words cut off as if he has reached the same conclusion I have.
“The bargain was only meant to motivate you to find me quickly,” I say. “What she really wants is to kill me herself. Once she does that, you will be forced to fail your end of the bargain. However, she won’t let you die. She’ll revoke your bargain at the last moment and, in turn, keep you in service to the Alpha Council.”
A hollow look crosses his face. He rubs his jaw again, eyes distant, searching. “I’m still not convinced it was Tris. Not everything about your theory lines up. Besides, she can’t lie, and I would have smelled any fluctuations in her scent profile had she tried to deceive me.”
I take a step closer to him. “Then you at least believe I could be innocent.”
He gives me a pointed look. “Heavy emphasis on thecould. But I won’t know anything for certain until I find the thief who stole my Chariot. I will not return to Tris without it.”
My chest buzzes with excited warmth, and only half of that is due to my tincture. The other half is from hope—the most he’s given me yet. It’s the same spark I’ve felt every time I’ve fantasized about facing Tris in the fighting pit. Of outwitting her, tricking her into confessing her crimes, or finding some other way to defeat her and see my father’s death avenged. No matter how much money I’ve saved, no matter how many times I’ve analyzed the duels, I’ve never fully believed I had a chance to see my impossible fantasies fulfilled. But now…now I have a chance to do more than petition Madame Fury. More than gamble on a duel I might not win.
With the Huntsman’s help, I can uncover solid proof.
See justice served.
Claim vengeance.
“Then let’s put all our efforts into finding the thief,” I say.
“Ourefforts?”
I lift my chained wrist and quirk a brow. “Your refusal to let me out of your sight paired with your statement that you will not return to the queen until you’ve found the Chariot tell me I’ll be trailing along whether I like it or not. And I want to come along. If finding the thief means proving my innocence, not to mention the guilt of the real killer, then I want to help. I know Icanhelp. You might find clues that only mean something to me. Furthermore, because of your bargain, both of our lives are on the line. It makes sense that we’d work together.”
“You do realize that working together won’t stop me from hauling you back to your stepmother, don’t you? If we find evidence that Tris killed your father, I can petition the other royals on the Alpha Council to intervene. But if we don’t, or if it was someone else, I’m still bound to fulfill my bargain with her.”
That turns my stomach. But on the off chance Tris wasn’t the one who poisoned the pie, then finding the culprit could still save my life. Tris will have no choice but to spare me if we prove I’m innocent, and she’ll certainly revoke the Huntsman’s bargain.
But if itwasher, we’ll need damning evidence. Evidence he might never find on his own. Not with his strong bias to believe her. Not when it would be so much easier to just bring me to her and let her kill me.
Damn it all. I need him more than he needs me. Which means I need to sweeten the deal.
“If you agree to let me work with you as an equal and not as a captive,” I say, “I promise not to run away anymore. I promise not to fight you. And…and I’ll come willingly back to my stepmother when the time comes, regardless of whether we’ve found the true killer.” That last part is a gamble. If we don’t prove my innocence by then, it will mean my death.
He reaches into his waistcoat pocket and extracts a brass pocket watch. He returns it with a frustrated groan. “I’m not agreeing to anything tonight. I need to get some sleep if I’m to utilize my senses at their sharpest.”
I narrow my eyes. So, he needs adequate sleep to function at his best? I file that intel away in case I need it in the future. “You’ll consider my proposition though?”
“I’ll consider it tomorrow. Now, we sleep.” He angles his chin at the bed.
I lift my cuff. “We can’t very well sleep soundly while chained together. Not if I’m on the bed and you’re on the floor.” I give a halfhearted chuckle, but it quickly dissolves as the Huntsman does nothing but stare blankly back at me. “You’re sleeping on the floor, right?”
His lips twist into the slightest hint of a grin that somehow manages to brim with all the smugness in the world. “No. The bed is big enough for two.”
The blood leaves my face as I lift my cuffed wrist higher. “You’re unlocking these, though, right?”
A snort of laughter. “Not on your life.”
11
ASTRID
