“I’m simply thinking of the bell, I suppose.” I turn my eyes back to the path ahead. “I have no idea where it went. I’m half terrified I won’t be able to save any of us without it and half grateful I don’t have it anymore. It was too powerful sometimes. Like a weight around my neck.”
Ransom stops and grabs my arm. “Hold out your hand.”
I blink. “What?”
“Your hand, give it to me.”
When I do as he says, something cold presses against my skin. I peel back my fingers.
The bell lies there, just as it has always been. Brass shining in the moonlight, wooden handle, the ridged dome edge. I should be relieved, grateful even at Ransom for finding it. But I feel none of these things. Suspicion winds through my gut.
I stare up at him, mouth pinched. “Did you take it from me?”
A flash of something crosses his eyes, hot like flame. “Do you really think so low of me, Thorn?” He turns and starts walking away, the sight of his back filling my stomach with guilt.
I pocket the bell in its wrappings to keep it from ringing and run after him.
“No, I’m sorry. I just…Ransom, look at me.” I spin him around.
“What?” His heartbeat flutters in the notch above his collarbone.
I take a deep breath, keeping my voice low while Bram walks on ahead of us. “I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything, but where did you find it?”
He fingers the pouch at his hip. “In the confessional, just before we left. I thought it might have fallen out while we were in there. We must have overlooked it. I didn’t give it to you right away because I didn’t want Bram to accuse me of stealing it.” He grins a roguish smile. “Consider it an early wedding present.”
Relief and unease flood my mind. For a moment, both feelings tingle along my skin, like the brush of insect legs. When we return home,ifwe return, I will not be returning as Adelaide Thorn, the vicar’s daughter, but as Lady Adelaide Black, the woman with secrets pulsing beneath her skin.
I try on a smile, but it only pulls at my skin painfully. Of course, he didn’t steal it. There is no reason for it. I fold my hand around the bulge in my skirt.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said. Thank you for finding it.”
He nods, a sharp and short thing, dropping his roguish smile.
“Are you two coming?”
“Oh, would you just ease off, Avery?” Ransom snaps.
Bram is turned to us, Rascal running circles around his heels. I would almost laugh if not for the look on Bram’s face.
He is not to be trusted. I steal a glance at Ransom. The scars on his wrists mirror images of mine. But pain makes monsters of us all.
Bram hurries before us, the moonlight spilling on his back. Something catches there, pale where shadow should be. And if he knows of pain, who is to say he is not a monster? I picture the scars at his wrists and bite my lip.
“Yes, we’re coming.” I rush to catch up, the bell heavy in my pocket.
Bram only stops when we reach the outskirts of a village. The stone walls are in disarray, ruins of some place forgotten. The smell that permeates the air reminds me of Blackbourne Castle, all humidity and iron. I lift the cuff of one sleeve over my nose. The scent does not seem to bother Bram.
“The alehouse is just on the other side of that hill.” He points through the darkness toward a small mound of dirt and charred trees. Beyond that is an echo of light, like the sun reflecting in a muddy pool.
“And remind me again what the purpose of our visit is, Avery?” Ransom hangs back, arms crossed in front of his chest.
Bram turns, eyes flashing. “Maybe you forget, Black, but the whole purpose of your visit to the wood is to get Adelaide’s mother back.”
Ransom grins and holds up his hands. “A man can ask questions. Just don’t see how going to an alehouse full of dead folk is going to help us find Thorn’s mother.”
I sink my fingers into Rascal’s fur, letting the warmth ground me. “Will you two please stop bickering like old ladies after church?”
They both look to me, faces downcast. Ransom smirks. One step, that’s all it would take to close the space between us and smack him.
