Chapter 11 #2
Ruby’s gaze flicked to Evan, but he didn’t blink. He shifted his weight, knives angled low, shoulders loose. If he’d heard the insult—or the truth?—his expression gave away nothing.
“I’ve told ye once already,” he growled, stepping slightly forward to shield Ruby. “Back off. I’m not the man ye are looking for.”
The blond man gave an incredulous snort. “Aye? Funny that, seeing as yer face is the spit of the portraits hanging in—”
“Shut yer mouth,” Evan snapped.
The men advanced, but Evan lunged first. His knives flashed in the darkness, catching the faint orange glow from the campfire. He moved with terrifying precision. He ducked a swing, dodged another, kicked a man in the knee and sent him sprawling.
Two men rushed him. Evan spun, knives arcing, deflecting both strikes. He seemed everywhere at once—until suddenly he wasn’t.
A shadow slipped behind him, and Ruby saw it a split second before Evan did.
“Evan!”
Her body moved without conscious thought. Her hand closed around the first object she could find—a fallen branch, half-charred on one end—and swung. It smacked squarely into the back of the man’s head with a crunch. He staggered to his knees and then collapsed onto his face.
Ruby froze, shocked at her actions. Then Evan grabbed her arm and yanked her backward just as a blade whistled past her cheek.
“Bloody—” Evan didn’t finish the curse. He slammed his elbow into a man who had come up behind him. “I told ye to stay behind me!”
“You had someone behind you!” Ruby shouted back indignantly. “You’re welcome!”
His eyes flicked to her, furious, but shouts suddenly rang through the darkness.
“Over here! They’re this way!”
Several of the caravan’s guards burst through the trees, weapons drawn, lanterns bobbing crazily. Isla sprinted with them, clutching a knife almost as long as her forearm, hair wild, face streaked with soot.
“Ruby!” Isla cried. “Look out!”
Ruby whirled. A man lunged at her. She shrieked and jumped back, tripping over a root. Her arm flailed uselessly, but Evan hurled his blade before the man could strike. The knife buried itself in the man’s shoulder with a meaty thud. He howled in pain.
The caravan guards piled into the men. Blades clashed, boots thudded, men grunted and cursed.
Ruby scrambled up, chest heaving, still gripping her soot-stained branch like a talisman. Isla grabbed her shoulders, checking her for injuries.
“Ye aren’t hurt?”
Ruby shook her head. She wasn’t sure she could speak yet.
A shout rang out, followed by the thump of fleeing footsteps. The attackers vanished into the trees as quickly as they’d come. Silence settled, broken only by the crackle of the fire and the groans of the injured.
Evan stood with his hands braced on his thighs, catching his breath. Blood smeared his temple—someone else’s, Ruby hoped.
Isla’s father limped over. He carried a stout wooden staff whose bloody end showed it had seen combat.
“Campbell!” he barked. “I’ll ask ye plain. These men weren’t interested in looting our goods. They said yer name. Were they here for ye?”
Evan straightened slowly. “Aye,” he said, voice flat. “They were. They’ve been tracking us all day.”
Ruby turned on him. “You knew?”
Evan didn’t answer.
Duncan’s eyes hardened. “Ye’ve brought danger to my caravan, my people.”
“Aye,” Evan agreed. “Which is why I’m leaving.”
Ruby’s heart lurched. “What?”
Evan sheathed his knives, his movements quick and practiced. “If I go, they’ll follow me. They want me. They’ll not bother ye if I’m not here.”
“No,” Ruby shook her head, feeling something cold and furious rising inside her. “You can’t just leave!”
Evan didn’t look at her. “It’s the only way to draw them off.” He turned to look at Duncan. “Will ye see Ruby safely to Edinburgh?”
The merchant’s expression softened. “Aye. She saved my daughter’s life. I’d die myself before letting her come to harm.”
Evan gave a stiff nod. “Then that’s settled.”
“No, it isn’t!” Ruby snapped. She stepped toward Evan, grabbing his sleeve. “You made me a promise! And I’m not letting you just run off into the night!”
His jaw flexed. “This is the only way to keep ye and these folk alive.”
“And what about you?” she demanded. “Who keeps you alive?”
For a moment—just a moment—she saw something raw in his eyes. Fear. Then he shut it down, trapping it all behind that mask.
“I can take care of myself.”
He stepped back, and the distance between them felt like a chasm opening.
Isla put her hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “Ruby... let him go. He’s right.”
But Ruby’s stomach twisted, her chest squeezing with something sharp and aching. She watched as Evan crouched beside his pack, silently gathering supplies. He moved like a man on his way to the gallows—resigned, determined. He wouldn’t even look at her.
When he finally stood, pack slung over one shoulder, he glanced at Duncan. “Keep her safe.”
“I promise,” the merchant replied.
Ruby could barely breathe as Evan walked away. He paused at the edge of the firelight and glanced back, meeting her eyes. For a second, she thought he might say something, but he only gave a brief nod then turned and disappeared into the night.
Ruby stared after him, expecting him to reappear any moment. He didn’t.
“Ruby,” Isla said. “Come back to the fire. Let me check ye for injuries.”
Ruby shook her off. No. This was wrong. She couldn’t let Evan walk away from her. She just couldn’t.
She swallowed the tremor in her throat and turned to face Isla, Duncan, the guards. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “For everything. Good luck on your road. I hope I’ll see you again one day. Goodbye.”
Isla’s eyes narrowed. “Ruby, what are ye—”
Ruby didn’t let her finish. She grabbed her pack, then spun on her heel and ran.
Branches whipped past as she tore through the trees, breath burning in her lungs.
He couldn’t be that far ahead. She caught the faintest glimpse of movement up ahead—a tall figure slipping between the trees like a shadow.
“Evan!” she called breathlessly.
He stopped. Ruby skidded to a halt behind him, heart pounding, chest aching.
“Ruby...?”
She straightened, trying to catch her breath. “You really think I’m going to let you off the hook that easily?”
The moonlight caught the scowl on his face. “Go back to the caravan, Ruby. I mean it.”
“I mean it. I’m not going anywhere. You want to keep me safe? Fine. I reckon the safest place is right by your side. So are we going to get moving or what?”
She crossed her arms and glared at him. He glared right back, and Ruby couldn’t quite read the expression on his face. Annoyance, certainly. Reluctance, definitely. But there was something else as well, something that looked like...relief?
A breath exploded out of him, and he threw up his hands in surrender. “Ye are the most infuriating woman I’ve ever met!”
Ruby smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
His lips almost softened into a smile. Almost. Hefting his pack onto his shoulder, he turned away. “Fine.”
Together they slipped into the dark.