Chapter 16
“Don’t try running away again!” a commanding voice ordered from behind her.
Natalie didn’t turn to look at Luca, her eyes still locked on the man dressed as a gardener. He had started to back slowly away, still watching her.
“I don’t know why you’re avoiding me.” Luca’s voice came closer. “I thought we were past all that. If you can dance with Leo, surely you can take pity on me and dance with me too.”
She still didn’t turn, her mind racing as she tried to decide what to do.
“Lila?” Luca sounded less sure. “Have I done something to upset you?”
The fake gardener dropped the pretense and ran. Natalie shifted her weight, about to dash after him, but Luca’s presence held her back, like an anchor.
She had once told Luca that if she needed his help, she would ask for it. She had failed that test the first time, overconfident in her own abilities. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.
Natalie was the only one who knew the man’s features, but in Lanover she was on Luca’s home turf, not her own. He had proven himself several times over, and it was past time for her to stop shutting him out. They needed to do what they should have done from the beginning and work as a team.
“Luca.” She met his eyes, a wealth of meaning in her own. There wasn’t time for speeches, just one important sentence. “Will you help me?”
His eyes lit up, his earlier worries wiped away. “Always.”
“Then run!” she cried already sprinting in the direction the gardener had fled.
Luca wasn’t far behind, quickly closing the distance between them.
“What is it?” he asked as he drew level with her. “Where are we going?”
“I saw him!” she panted. “He was here. Disguised as a gardener. I think he might have been trying to get to Rose.”
“Your attacker?” Luca’s words were sharp, the exertion not yet leaving him breathless. He increased his pace, pulling ahead of her. “Which direction?”
“Wait!” She caught at his arm, pulling him to a stop as she tried to catch her breath. “I’ve lost sight of him. I don’t know where he’s gone.” She wanted to scream with frustration.
Unless…
“He was dressed as a gardener,” she said quickly. “What if he actually is one? You must have an army of them with a garden this size!”
Luca considered the possibility. “It would explain how he’s managed to get the notes into your bedchamber.
As a palace gardener, he could have passed them on to an unwitting maid, claiming they were love notes from a courtier.
Plenty of the maids would find that appealingly romantic and would do as asked.
It would also explain why he chose meeting spots inside the palace grounds. That’s been bothering me.”
“In that case,” Natalie said urgently, “he may have fled to the gardeners’ quarters. He may even have the stolen documents and seal there. He’ll want to fetch them before he flees the palace completely. If we’re fast, we can still catch him. Where do the gardeners stay?”
“By the orchard.” Luca started running again, calling over his shoulder. “Follow me!”
He led her toward the orchard and the building that shielded it. As they neared it, he slowed, his eyes searching the area.
“Whenever the royal family throws a ball at the palace, they also fund festivities throughout the city. Most of the palace servants go into the city to attend one or other of the events there, so I wouldn’t expect too many to be here.”
“That should work in our favor,” Natalie gasped, once more fighting for breath.
“If he’s here, he’s already inside,” Luca said. “You should wait out here while I go look.”
Natalie shook her head firmly. “I’m the one who knows what he looks like, remember? We’re doing this together.”
Luca glanced at her once, his mouth twisting down, but he seemed to recognize the futility in protesting.
“Besides,” she added, “we don’t know he’s in the building for sure. Are you going to leave me out here alone and unprotected?”
She looked at him with wide, innocent eyes, and he chuckled.
“Point taken. But you can’t blame me for wanting to keep you safely away from him.
You have no idea how horrifying it was to hear your scream last night.
I’d nearly given up on that section of the gardens, and I keep thinking about what would have happened if I’d moved on even a few minutes earlier.
” He shuddered. “I was awake for hours thinking about it.”
Her heart softened. “But I’m perfectly all right because you did save me. And I’ll be even safer once we have that man in custody.” She hesitated, glancing back toward the main palace. “But I don’t want him to hurt you either. Maybe we should fetch some guards before we go any further?”
“If we leave now, we risk losing him entirely.” Luca examined her carefully.
“If you’re afraid, we don’t have to do this.
I can escort you back to the ball immediately.
But I know I won’t rest easy while he’s still at large, and this might be our only chance to catch him.
Now that he knows you’ve recognized him, he won’t stay long. ”
Natalie shook her head. “He’s gotten away too many times already. I’m not letting him slip through our fingers again.”
Luca nodded and drew his sword. “Stay behind me.”
Natalie took a step back, more than happy to acquiesce with any safety measures that didn’t involve her staying behind. Luca moved to the main door and tried it. It opened easily, giving them access to the shared residence.
The large communal room on the other side of the door looked as if it served a variety of purposes. It currently sat empty, however.
Luca led the way toward a corridor that gave access to the rest of the building.
“Individual rooms must be down here,” he said.
“But they’ll be locked. I don’t like the idea of breaking down the door of every gardener in the palace.
But I didn’t think it would be this deserted.
If we can’t find anyone to ask, I don’t know what else to try… ”
They entered the corridor, and Natalie tried the closest door. As expected, it was locked. She turned to say as much to Luca and caught a flicker of movement.
“There!” She pointed down the corridor.
A door near the far end had opened, and her attacker stood frozen, half out of his room, his eyes fixed on them.
“It’s him!” she yelled.
The man threw a glance back over his shoulder but must have realized his room was a dead end. The lock wouldn’t hold long against their concerted efforts.
Throwing his small bag over his shoulder, he ran for the large window at the end of the corridor. They dashed after him, but he was much closer and managed to unlatch it and swing it open before they were halfway there. Pushing his bag through the opening, he slithered through after it.
Natalie lengthened her stride, but a loud crash made Luca slide to a stop, his arm flying out to hold Natalie back as the crash of falling glass died away.
She peered over his arm at the stone on the passageway floor between them and the window, shards of glass all around it.
“Was he trying to hit us?” she asked. “He wasn’t even close.”
“No,” Luca said grimly. “He was doing that to the window.” She followed the line of his pointing finger and saw a gaping hole in the middle of the window, surrounded by jagged shards of glass still attached to the frame. “He’s making sure we can’t follow that way.”