Chapter 4 #2
They ignored Edith entirely, and Thomasin only had a moment to be grateful that Edith couldn’t seem to figure out how to make her horse approach the constables, because another shot fired, and Thomasin’s horse buckled underneath her.
She leapt from the saddle before the horse could fall and take her down too.
When she hit the ground, she rolled into a crouch, pistol in one hand, knife in the other.
Red filled her vision as she saw the chief take aim at Edith, who was still dressing down the men with a loud lecture on respect.
Thomasin sprinted toward her, then pulled Edith from the saddle. The bullet zoomed through the air where Edith’s head had been mere heartbeats before. Thomasin shoved Edith in the direction of Worthing and Jay, pushing her head down in a silent command to keep low.
“Wait.” Edith grabbed her wrist. “Don’t kill them! I can handle this properly!”
Thomasin took Edith’s biceps in a firm hold, forcing the other woman to look at her. “You hired me to do this, so let me do it.”
“I hired you to protect me from ruffians! These are constables. Good, reasonable men.”
“They just fucking shot at you!”
“It was an accident!”
Thomasin growled, and then the growl became an aggressive string of curses when Edith slammed her heeled boot down on Thomasin’s toe. Shocked, her grip on Edith faltered for just a second, but it was enough for Edith to wiggle away and sidestep Thomasin.
“Good sirs, we are out of London, and therefore out of your jurisdiction. Furthermore, I have never once committed even the smallest of crimes. The same cannot be said for my friend here, but I vouch for her, and I promise you that as long as she is under my employ, there will be no wrongdoing whatsoever. Now, if you will just allow us to continue on our way—”
“Shut your peasant mouth, bitch,” the chief inspector spat. “I don’t care how innocent you are. I’ll shoot whoever stands between me and that whore.”
“You wouldn’t! That’s against the law!”
“I am the law.” The chief fired at Edith’s heart, but Thomasin was there, ready to yank her out of harm’s way. They took cover behind her now-dead horse.
“Still think that was an accident?” Thomasin roared over the cacophony of gunfire.
“Obviously not!”
“Get yourself to Worthing, and try not to get shot,” Thomasin ordered, pushing Edith in the right direction before rising to her feet and vaulting over the dead horse.
Thomasin stalked toward the constables, grateful for the narrow, tree-lined pass that kept them from flanking her.
She didn’t think, she just fired. One bullet went right through the forehead of the closest constable.
His body slumped sideways, and his horse galloped forward in a confused frenzy.
Thomasin didn’t flinch as a bullet grazed her shoulder, nor as one flew so close to her head, she could hear it slice through the air.
The next constable dismounted his horse to get a better shot at her. She feinted left, sidestepped around him, and sliced her knife across the man’s throat. She held his body against her to block the shots raining down on her from the chief and his last remaining constable.
With all her strength, she shoved the dead body at the feet of the constable’s horse, which startled the horse enough to buck off his rider. There was a bullet in his heart before he hit the ground.
Her pistol had one bullet left. She turned to aim it at the chief, but all she saw was a cloud of dust. Once it cleared, she could just make out the retreating form of the chief inspector atop his horse as he galloped full speed back to safety.
She sighed and wiped her bloody hands on her pants. She ambled back toward her companions. Worthing and Jay waited on their respective horses. Jay looked vaguely bored, while Worthing was nothing but smug.
“There’ll be a warrant out for our arrest by the end of day,” he said. Thomasin ignored him.
Edith stood by her horse, fingers fidgeting with the buckles of the saddlebag.
Thomasin hesitated as she approached her.
The girl watched her with wide eyes, her mouth hanging slightly open.
Thomasin swallowed thickly, knowing that whatever good humor had existed between them had now been thoroughly destroyed.
Edith would fear her like everyone else did.
Thomasin opened her mouth but closed it again when she realized that she had nothing to say.
There was no excuse or apology that she could offer.
She wasn’t sorry, and there was no denying that she had just violently put an end to three men’s lives.
She knew what would happen now. Yes, Edith had hired a criminal of her own free will, but now, faced with the horrific reality of what that actually meant, she would abandon her quest, attempt to flee back to her cushy palace, and then Thomasin would have to be much more monstrous about kidnapping her.
She supposed it was better that way; it was what she was good at after all.
Resolute in her musings, Thomasin readied herself for Edith to run. Nothing could have prepared Thomasin for the arms that wrapped around her middle. The hands that clasped behind her back and pulled her in tight against Edith’s warm body. Her temple pressed against Thomasin’s collarbone.
“Thank you for saving my life,” Edith whispered.
All coherent thought evaporated from Thomasin’s mind, so she did the only thing she could think of. She let her arms fall around Edith’s shoulders and hugged her right back.