For an aching moment, a tense silence thrummed between us. And then he slowly turned his gaze back my way. His expression was inscrutable. “What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I said. I’m not going to do it.” I held up my fisted hand, then tossed the crumpled message away from me. “My entire family is a part of the guild. Fate, they’ve been a part of it for several centuries. If you know anything about the guild—and I believe you do—you know they don’t let their members associate with anyone who isn’t one. For a long time,I refused to join, but…I got so lonely, Rune. I missed my family, and I wanted to be a part of something again.”
He arched a brow. “By killing.”
I flinched and looked away. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. They told me their marks were always folk who had committed terrible crimes, folk who’d escaped justice. My brother believes what he’s doing is actually helping the world.”
“And if I’m on their list,Imust have done something terrible,” he said flatly.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m trying to—”
“I have done terrible things.”
My breath whistled out of me. “What?”
“A long time ago, I was a member of the guild, but I was just a thief,” he said, running his hand along the top of his head. “I hated it, and eventually I decided to get out. The leader agreed. On one condition. I had to complete one final assignment. Only this one wasn’t for the thieves.” His gaze went hard. “It was for the assassins. So I did what they asked, and when I tried to leave, they told me my skills were far too valuable for them to lose. They said if I tried to escape, they’d stop me. And so I saidfuck thatand left anyway.”
“What?” I whispered.
My mind reeled, and my thunderous heartbeat roared in my ears. This kind of trick soundedexactlylike the kind of thing Erik would do if one of his assassins wanted to escape from the web in which he’d trapped them.
I’d never heard of an orc named Rune before Erik had given me my assignment. The guilds normally had around a dozen members each at any one time. Everyone knew everyone else’s business—the good, the bad, and the excruciatingly ugly. Everyone lived on guild property, all bunched on top of each other. Few left. Those who did were reviled, and their names were repeated like swears every time something went wrong.
The wind swept through the garden, spraying leaves across the dirt and interrupting the strained silence.
“I’ve never heard of you before,” I said. “How is that?”
“When I left, Erik wasn’t in charge yet. His father was. He tasked Erik with finding a way to convince me to stay. When he failed, he didn’t want his father to know what had happened. So he told him I’d died.” Rune shrugged. “That’s what my contacts back in the city told me, at least. We’ve exchanged a few messages over the years.”
“That must be why my father didn’t recognize your name,” I murmured. “And why Erik sentme, someone who had never met you. He still doesn’t want anyone to know.”
“He wants to get rid of me quietly.”
“And that’s it? That’s the whole story?” I asked.
“That’s the whole story, Frida.”
For a long moment, the tension between us crackled like hearth-fire, but Rune’s steady gaze never wavered. Either he was remarkably good at lying, or he was sincere. If I were a betting kind of girl, I’d choose the latter. At this point, there was no reason for him to hide his truth from me. He knew why I was here.
Loosing a long, ragged breath, I folded my arms and tried to think. My emotions were a wild storm inside me. Erik had sent me here on a personal vendetta that had nothing to do with the guild’s official codes. Rune wasn’t a criminal who had escaped the noose of the law. He was someone who’d been trapped in a world he didn’t want to be a part of, one they’d tried to force on him. Someone who’d come here to build a better life for himself that didn’t involve theft and killing.
And against all odds, he’d succeeded. Until now, when Erik had finally found a way to get to him.
Well, I wouldn’t be the conductor to this discordant orchestra. I would return to Vilmar and tell the guild everythingI’d learned here. It might just be enough to unseat Erik as the current leader, and my father could take his place.
I started back toward the cottage. Rune hastened across the ground, falling into step beside me. He took my arm and pulled me back, but there was still something gentle in his touch.
“I can’t let you go back inside, Frida. Lilia and Ragnar have nothing to do with this, and I don’t want to get them involved,” he said quietly. “They’ve worked hard for their quiet life.”
A spike of pain went through my heart. He thought I was wicked enough to drag two innocent brewmasters into this. “I’m just getting my things, and then I’ll be gone. I won’t even say goodbye to them.”
His grip on my arm loosened. “You really did mean what you said, didn’t you? You’re not going to attempt your assignment.”
“It’s about ten days until the ship returns to collect me. I’ll camp on the beach until then. When I return to the guild, I’ll tell them you’re not here.”
I pulled away from him and went inside the cottage. Ragnar and Lilia huddled together at the table, exchanging feverish whispers. When they heard my footsteps, they fell silent and looked my way, but I didn’t dare interact with them. Tears pooled in the corners of my eyes. If I thought too hard about what I was doing, they’d fall.
After I’d collected my pack and my arrows, I pushed outside again. Rune waited by the door with his arms folded over his broad chest. My steps slowed, and I opened my mouth to offer an apology, but stopped when I saw the dark expression on his face.
