There was too much to think about. Too much to comprehend. One problem at a time. First, she needed safety.“I need to get home.”
Kane swung an arm out, as if encouraging her to start moving. “All right, then. Lead the way.”
“Excuse me?” Erinna almost stuttered.
“Sorry, was I not clear? I’m seeing you home.”
She glanced at the bodies and the blood-soaked cobblestones behind him. There was no way in all nine Hells that she was going to lead the pirate back to her home.
“You’re not coming with us.” Erinna wrapped one arm around Inez and stepped away from Kane.
His eyes narrowed, as if he could sense Erinna’s intention to abandon him and run. “I saved your life and will continue to do so to uphold my side of the bargain. But I don’t have to do it pleasantly.”
Bargain?Erinna was ready to continue her barrage of questions, but the cry of another hawk and the faint sound of boots bid her pause.
Erinna eyed the alley frantically, mind reeling. Was she foolish enough to attempt an escape? Take Inez and try to outrun the pirate, or lead the man home with her?
Kane closed the distance between them. “Unless you want me to throw you and Inez over my shoulder—which, believe me, will be no issue—then I suggest you start to move, Yarrow.”
With a sweeping look at Kane, his broad shoulders, hard muscle, and cocksure attitude, Erinna made her decision. The last thing she needed was to be strung arse-up over a pirate.
“Help her and follow me,” Erinna hissed, brushing past the pirate and further into the mess of old alleys. Kane left no time for Inez to protest, nor did the young aberrant deny the assistance. He draped his own cloak around her shoulders and, in one swift move, lifted her onto his back.
Erinna was surprised at his level of tenderness. Like he may actually care about getting them to safety.
Kane’s gaze flitted to hers. A grin pulled at his lips, and he looked ready to send some retort Erinna’s way, but she turned on her heels before he had the chance.
A hawk cried in the distance.
They needed to get out of sight. She led them further into the maze of old alleys that paved the way home.
Chapter
Ten
“By all means, take your time, Miss Yarrow.” Kane sighed as Erinna peered around yet another corner.
“I’m making sure we’re not being followed.” Erinna’s throat went tight. “And don’t call me Miss Yarrow.” That’s what they called her mother before she drowned at sea. Before pirates ensured nothing would ever be recovered.
She shot a deadly glare at Kane.
If he was bothered by her distaste, Kane didn’t show it. In fact, it almost looked like he enjoyed her frustration.
He opened the side of his coat with a flourish, revealing the blade resting at his hip. “You forget who you’re with. If anyone tries to stop us, they’ll be dead before they can scream their mothers’ names.”
“That kind of arrogance will get you killed,” Erinna warned, but knew somewhere deep in her bones that Kane was right. She’d seen a glimpse at how deadly he could be. How easy it had been for him to butcher trained Tarthan soldiers.
He winked. “Hasn’t yet.”
Erinna rolled her eyes. “Yetis the operative word, Atwater.” With a few more cautious turns, Erinna finally found what she was looking for.
Wedged between the crumbling walls of an old pleasure house and launderers was an unassuming pile of debris and dirt. A pile that concealed the entrance to an old witchstone mine.
For the first time in what felt like ages, Erinna felt the warmth of hope.Maybe we can actually do this, she let herself believe.
Moving below ground was the best way to remain hidden from the patrolling soldiers. With Tarth’s most wanted pirate, and an escaped aberrant, it would be the difference between freedom and death.
Erinna crouched by a heap of dried hay and loose gravel, pushing the detritus aside to reveal a door sculpted to blend seamlessly into the cracked cobblestones.
