I shake my head, but he’s already turned.
“Take Luna to my quarters,” Aurelius tells Thorne who responds like the tool he is. His hand covers her shoulder, but she jerks away before he can turn her, eyes shining with quiet dread as she watches to see if I’ll help. My heart leaps into my throat.
“The three weeks end tomorrow.” I keep my voice as level as I possibly can. But not level enough. There’s a hitch, a crack of anxiety that pushes up my throat and vibrates inside my arms—begging for attention, pleading for escape.
Too late.
What if I’m too late?
“Aurelius, with all due respect, I take pride in my work. She?—”
“Sawyer, my boy.” Aurelius claps me on the shoulder and laughs. “You’re done. You did great. We’re very proud of you.”
Thorne takes Luna’s arm and yanks her into him, dragging her several feet. Her eyes stay locked on me.
“Please,” I say because I’m desperate. “I’m the expert, remember? Just?—”
Aurelius takes my face in his hands. “Zephyr has got a special room ready for you at the Grove. Enjoy your new home.”
Aurelius turns to follow Thorne and Luna, but she doesn’t go peacefully. Her heels grind into the earth as she tries to pry Thorne’s hand from her arm. He takes both her biceps and backpedals.
“Sawyer!” she calls—a soul-cracking plea, a plea that pushes me toward her. But a Keeper takes my arm while another blocks my path.
“Luna!”
“Sawyer!” She screeches as Thorne throws her over his shoulder and carries her away. I expect to hear worried voices from the passing crowd, but they watch us curiously. It isn’t until Luna and Aurelius are both out of sight that the Keepers set me free and ask if I’d like to be escorted to the Grove. I tell them no and trudge that way, but I don’t get the fright on Luna’s face out of my mind. I don’t get the image of Aurelius’s hands on her to go away.
If he touches her, it’ll be for the last time.
One way or another, this ends tonight.
CHAPTER 29
LUNA
Thorne’s long legs get us to the Elder’s home before anyone else. My body is slung over his shoulder while I struggle, hit,fight—with no idea who it is we’re trying to fool. Ourselves, possibly.
Sawyer is still here.
Sawyer somehow, for some unknown reason, decided not to leave.
Is he dense? Is he suicidal?
Is he…
I search for some reason that he may not be finished with me. But it can’t bemehe’s after; it must be more time.
Has hestillnot found the money?
The thought makes me shiver, not because I know the answer but because Idon’t. I don’t know anything. I can’t figure him out.
No matter what I do, no matter what I pull from him, I can’t understand his actions. I certainly can’t predict them.
Thorne sets me on my feet when we’re in the den then immediately pulls my—his—jacket closed to conceal my sheer-covered breasts. He turns his head in the sweetest, most respectful way, so far from the man I’ve spent the last three weeks with.
“I thought you said he wouldn’t be there.”
The small, grateful smile I’ve allowed my lips to lift into falls with Thorne’s accusing tone. As if I know something he doesn’t. As if I planned for Sawyer to rush back to our home instead of showing us the exit.
