Chapter Five #3
Sera didn’t expect to see North sprinting toward her, but oddly enough, she wasn’t surprised either.
She was surprised, however, by the relief so strong and total, her tight muscles relaxed, her frantic pulse eased.
A calming sense that the danger had passed now that he was here filled her chest. Which was…
ridiculous. Idiotic. Fairy tale nonsense. She would cease such fantasy at once.
He stopped running when their eyes met, slowing to a more manageable pace.
Sera hadn’t intended to notice the icy, gray reflection of relief in his gaze.
Or, perhaps she was just assigning emotions to him since he was so good at concealing them.
She looked away before she could dwell on it too long.
“Friend of yours?” The Lady Archer whispered.
“Well…” Sera hesitated to call North ‘friend.’ “Let’s just say, he’s not a threat.”
The Lady Archer chuckled. “Fair enough,” she said, lowering her bow.
Shouts carried from the street. An assortment of voices that suggested several people were about to find them.
“Here,” North called, arms now behind his back as he surveyed the scene. A tide of boot steps marched into the alley. But one voice carried above the others. Maybe not the last voice Sera wanted to hear just then, but it was certainly high on the list.
Gideon stopped mid-order when he saw her. Then his eyes shifted to the masked stranger. “The Rogue! Everyone, move! Rachel!” He surged forward.
“On it.” Rachel Stone sprinted around Gideon, easily out pacing him.
“Well, stay safe Sera Blair.” The Lady Archer used Sera’s toppled tower to nimbly climb to the roof.
In a blink, she disappeared into the growing shadows of twilight.
Rachel attempted to climb after her, but the weight difference and the already fragile structure gave beneath her.
Rachel landed elegantly, rotating into the fall as her boots scraped against the ground.
Gideon arrived a few seconds later, breath heaving. “Damn it. What the fuck are you doing with the Rogue?”
“Me? How about the three thugs tied up over there? You know, the ones who chased me in here and tried to ki—rob me.”
Gideon put a finger in her face and anger seethed in her chest. “And that’s the truth, huh? You didn’t lure them in here to rob them?”
“Sir.” Rachel’s level, firm voice nearly pulled Gideon’s attention away, but his glare never wavered. “Maybe we should survey the scene before throwing accusations.”
“That sounds much too practical, Rache, Gideon won’t be happy until he’s made an ass of himself first.” Sera said, and she could hear Rachel’s extended sigh.
“Ass of myself? It’s not exactly unfounded—”
Sera rolled her eyes. “Gods above, when will you let that go? I was sixteen! Mom just died and we needed to eat. I don’t recall your complaints when I bought us our first hot meal in two months.”
“You’d have a point, if you hadn’t just been arrested for trespassing two weeks ago. We’re not kids anymore, Sera, damn it. There are ways—”
“Do not preach to me about ways again, Gideon, I swear to the Divine. You’re a guardian. It’s easier for you.”
“There are plenty of humans who do just fine.”
“Yeah, but they’re not stupid!”
Gideon’s jaw snapped closed, eyes growing distant, hardened. She imagined the same expression was mirrored on her face. The resigned acceptance, the shutting down, and the shame that your existence was not just unwanted, but a burden.
Sera’s fingers began to twist, fidgeting around and around each other in an endless loop of motion.
Gideon was quiet and she watched the flicker of memory shake from his features.
The pair of them had found different ways of processing their mother’s criticism.
It was unclear at this point who had the healthier coping mechanism.
Sera’s shame and doubt in herself, or Gideon’s brazen confidence and deflection whenever his intelligence was questioned.
His hands smoothed his hair and he summoned that charming smile that made everyone swoon over him. Gross.
Sera crossed her arms over herself. “Don’t believe me. But I swear, I’m the innocent party here. They attacked me.”
“The woman who reported the incident claims that Miss Blair left Trudeau’s Modiste and then was chased down this alley by three pursuers.
” North hovered just behind her brother.
Was he listening? Of course he was listening.
She started smoothing wayward strands of hair from her face and touching her dress to ensure it remained flattering.
“You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her.” Gideon rounded on North. “’I’ll make sure she keeps to the right side of the law’ or whatever you said.”
“I am not her keeper nor her babysitter. She’s a grown woman who can do as she pleases,” North asserted, and while Sera was hesitant to view his words as gallantry, there were stars in her eyes when she looked at him.
“And if you would look at the scene instead of jumping to accusations, she is the victim here.”
Gideon’s eyes slid back to her and, for the first time in years he reminded her of the boy who slept on a table so she could use their only bed. The brother who pulled her from their home as the illness took hold of their mother. The brother strong enough to shut the door on mother’s toxic pleas.
Gideon had always been her hero. Even with all his bullshit, she had never stopped viewing him as the pinnacle of safety.
And he never stopped trying to save everyone, either.
He went to war to keep Unity safe. He joined the Watchmen to protect others.
Always the hero. Always chasing the validation of others.
Because, as mother always said, all he had was his strength.
Sera’s life had taken a drastically different path. Why struggle when it was so much easier to take what you wanted? Gideon had strength, but Sera had her looks. What else could she do but use her beauty to get what she needed in life? What did right and wrong matter when you were starving?
“Are you okay?” Gideon asked, though his voice was clipped. It was his way of apologizing and that was as good as she’d get from him.
“I’m fine, now. But you should know, that woman saved me. And she goes by the Lady Archer, not the Rogue.”
“That doesn’t mean she gets to deal out justice on her terms and she—” He paused, narrowing his eyes. “Lady Archer?”
“That’s the name she picked. The Rogue is a stupid name. Who the hell came up with the ‘the Rogue’ for a woman vigilante?”
Gideon’s fists clenched so hard they shook.
“He did,” Rachel interjected before continuing her work.
Sera fought to hold in her laughter.
“She is a person who is going rogue, as in, outside the law. The Rogue.” His stare was murderous, growing more lethal the more her snickers slipped through.
“And she could have killed them, by the way.” He gestured at the assailants as officers carted them off under Rachel’s instruction.
Three of them were needed to carry the demon who’d been knocked unconscious. “That one could have brain damage.”
Sera tried to summon guilt, but found nothing. She hoped he did. “That was me, actually.”
“Oh.” Gideon was derailed again.
Rachel glanced over her shoulder, giving Sera an approving nod.
“It’s been a very trying evening, why don’t I escort your sister home?” North’s fingers locked around her wrist.
Gideon started, “This is a crime scene. There’s questions and investigations and—”
“And I’m sure it can all wait until the victim has had a chance to recover. Sera is the injured party, any investigation would naturally bend to her welfare,” Kieran said.
“I… that’s not what I was meaning. You can’t—”
“You wish to express brotherly concern for her wellbeing?”
Gideon’s mouth opened and then closed. Sera had never seen her brother thrown off balance before, not by anyone other than Rachel, that is. It wasn’t lost on her that Kieran had moved between them, almost shielding her from Gideon’s obnoxiousness.
“You know my address, should you wish to check on her when she has had a second to recover. As her brother, you naturally want what’s best for her.”
“Of course…”
“And then you, as Captain, can easily decide when she is questioned.”
“I mean, yes, I—”
“Then we can set up a meeting for a later date. I’ll have one of my staff reach out with a list of appropriate times. I’ll leave you to your preliminary investigation, Captain Blair.”
Gideon opened his mouth, but Rachel set a hand on his shoulder. “You lost this round. Let her go. He has a point.”
Gideon’s jaw clenched and he threw off Rachel’s hand. Rachel sighed.
“Go. Get some rest,” Rachel said, directing her words to Sera. “I’ll deal with him.”
“You’re too good to him. I don’t know why you even bother anymore.”
Rachel’s soft blue eyes lowered. She was like a sister, a friend since they were children. But she had been inexplicably in love with Gideon for as long as Sera had known her. “Get some rest, Sera. I’ll see you later.”
Kieran abruptly turned and guided Sera along like a toddler that had run away.
He did not release her sleeve until they were in his carriage and on their way back to the Winter Court. His home. Not hers.
He sat back and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know how you managed to survive thus far in life, but I can only imagine it is through some sort of Divine intervention. You barely leave my sight for a moment and you’re nearly killed by—I assume those were Cole’s minions?”
“Yes, but they barely got the chance—”
“No, Seraphina, they very much had the chance. As soon as you stepped into that cab, the shadow behind you solidified. Leaving me with no other choice but to chase after you. Searching for gods knows how long before I happened to overhear that woman alerting the Watchmen. Losing me yet another night of sleep in the process.”
“Look, any more beauty rest and it would just be unfair,” she murmured.