Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Alina had barely made it across the street when she heard the inn’s front door fly open.
“Alina!”
She didn’t glance back, continuing to walk forward with purpose. Xavier caught her once she’d rounded another corner, his hand closing imperatively around her arm.
“Alina, this is out of the question.” He tugged on her, pulling her further along the narrow street until a large stack of crates hid them from passersby. “You’re not doing this.”
“I am,” she insisted. “You can’t undo it, Xavier.”
“But I can prevent you from wandering around alone in the dark, trying to get kidnapped,” he said angrily.
“Only if you want Benji to die, or become a slave, or whatever other horrible fate has happened to all the people who’ve been taken,” Alina said hotly. “Do you have a better plan, Xavier? Because persisting with what you were doing won’t work quickly enough to save Benji.”
He hesitated, frustration crossing his features in the dubious light spilling from an upstairs window.
“I don’t have a solution,” he admitted. “But we’ll find one. And this isn’t it.”
Alina shook her head. Of course he didn’t have a plan.
He wasn’t used to having to take responsibility, having to just accept circumstances that were less than ideal, over which he had no control.
It was easy enough for him to say no to her solution when he could simply hand responsibility to someone else to think of a different plan in a hazy future.
“I’m determined,” she told him calmly. “I don’t like it either, but there’s nothing else on the table, and it’s a solid plan.” She tried to pry his hand from her wrist, but he held tight.
“I can’t believe Captain Mitchell approved this,” Xavier growled.
“That reminds me,” Alina said sharply, stilling her efforts. “Be careful of him, Xavier. Something isn’t right.”
He frowned into her eyes, but she didn’t give him a chance to ask questions.
“He seems to have a grudge against me. He’s always watching me like I’m his enemy. And I don’t know for sure, but I think he might have sabotaged Benji’s chances at the guild because of it.”
Xavier gave his head an impatient little shake.
“I’ve already told you I’m going to fix it between Benji and the guild.
And I know Captain Mitchell’s reasons for being suspicious of you.
I’ve noticed his manner toward you as well, and I confronted him after we got back from the capital.
His reasons are unfair, and sometime I’ll explain it to you.
But right now, I have more immediate problems. Alina, I won’t let you do this.
I can’t bear for you to put yourself at risk. ”
His declaration was passionate enough to push Alina’s questions about the captain into the background.
“Why are you so angry?” she challenged him. “Wasn’t this the plan all along? For someone to get taken on purpose?”
“A trained member of the royal guard,” Xavier protested. “Not a civilian. Not you, Alina!”
His features were shadowed in the low light, his hair tousled from his journey. Alina’s eyes roamed over his face, taking in every detail. He really was glorious, this grown up version of the boy she’d loved. In spite of everything, it was worth a great deal, getting to experience who he’d become.
“Strong emotion looks good on you,” she told him softly. “You should let it show more often.”
“What?” He was impatient, confused.
“This.” She ran the tips of her fingers lightly down one side of his face, indicating his tense expression. She felt reckless. Like she had nothing to lose. For all she knew, she’d never see him again. “It’s attractive.”
“Alina.” Xavier’s voice was steel. With his hand still closed around her wrist, he pulled her closer. “I’m not going to yield on this.”
They were almost as close as they’d been in the corridor of the castle. Her skirt had swished around his legs when he tugged her, and it would take very little movement for her to be pressed against his chest. She turned her face up to his, feeling her inhibitions slip away.
“I know,” she murmured.
Her awareness flared with the movement all around her, the leaves rustling on a nearby tree, the scurry of a mouse across the alley. Harnessing the Dust as easily as if taking a breath, she sent it to fan Xavier’s traveling cloak out, causing the fabric to wrap around her and encompass her.
“I’m the one ready to yield.”
Something shifted in Xavier’s eyes at her words, confusion melting into something much more urgent. He released her wrist, stepping into her as one hand rose to brush along her jaw. The simple movement kept her gaze trained on his as he lowered his head.
She barely had time to think before his lips met hers and time stood still. She leaned into him, her hands moving up to rest on his shoulders as she embraced the sensation of finally drawing him close instead of holding him at arm’s length.
This was nothing like the defiant kiss Xavier had planted on her lips when they’d been fourteen.
Xavier was a hundred times more confident and capable than back then.
And he kissed her with a hunger that robbed her of breath, even of thought.
His palms slid over her cheeks so that his fingers laced through her hair as he drew her face closer.
Alina kissed him back recklessly, matching his intensity with all the heedlessness of someone who didn’t know if there would be a tomorrow.
All at once, it flashed through her mind that the fire of his embrace might consume her alive, and she retained enough sense to pull back at the thought. Xavier didn’t protest, but his hands were still cradling her head, and he rested his forehead against hers. They were both breathing hard.
“I was mistaken,” Alina said when she’d gathered her breath. Her voice was uneven. “It turns out you really can improve on your performance. That was…quite something.”
Xavier froze under her grip, his muscles suddenly tight and still even as his chest rose and fell more rapidly.
“What?”
His voice was thick and throaty. It set her senses tingling again, but she was master of herself now. She was able to manage a smile as she took in his stunned, blank expression.
“I know I shouldn’t encourage this kind of thing,” she told him with a self-deprecating grimace. “But I wanted to know just once what it feels like.” She gave a low, unsteady chuckle. “I can certainly understand why your attention is so popular.”
Xavier said nothing. He just stared at her, something under his blank shock that Alina didn’t want to examine. She stepped back, his cloak falling limply back into place as his hands dropped to his sides.
“You should go back inside,” she told him. He was still staring at her, apparently unable to find his voice. She bobbed a little curtsy that felt absurdly out of place. But she didn’t know what else to do. “Goodnight, Xavier.”
She turned and hurried away from him. This time he neither called out to her nor followed.
She was alone as she made her way through the streets.
It wasn’t so long after dark, but she encountered no one.
News of Benji’s abduction had probably spread, she realized with a pang. Everyone was being cautious.
Except her. She wasn’t being cautious to roam the streets alone, but she didn’t want to be cautious.
She wanted to be conspicuous. Much more concerning was the very foolish thing she’d just done, in allowing—almost demanding—that Xavier fulfill all his flirtation and kiss her.
Talk about not being cautious. She’d been so determined at the start not to fall victim to his charm.
She was half-ashamed of the small voice that whispered in her mind that it was worth it for those stolen moments of bliss.
It wasn’t until she reached the closed-up dressmaker’s shop that she realized she wasn’t supposed to be going home.
She was supposed to be wandering around, using magic carelessly.
But was there any point? Surely the kidnappers were occupied with the victim they’d already snatched that night, and wouldn’t be on the lookout for more.
She was still hesitating on the porch of the shop when it hit her. Silent but potent, an enchantment that robbed her of her voice and made another of her senses feel suddenly dead. She spun around, sensing the Dust caused by her movements, but unable to harness it.
The men were on her before she could think, pinning her arms to her side and yanking her off her feet. She thought there were two, but she didn’t see much before something went over her eyes.
Still silenced, she struggled wildly. At first it was instinct, then her frantic mind remembered this was what she’d wanted, and she stilled. A moment later, she was attempting once again to thrash, realizing it would be suspicious if she didn’t resist.
She could hardly comprehend the swiftness of it all as her hands and feet were tied, and she felt herself dumped into a cart.
They were in motion at once, trundling through the quiet town.
Alina tried to gather her wits enough to guess their direction, but it was impossible.
She still had something over her head, and from the feel of it, she was also lying under a heavy canvas.
They hadn’t knocked her unconscious, though, like they’d done to the other almost-victim.
The first clue she had was the indefinable changing of the air that said they were entering the forest. Or its outskirts, judging by how brief a time they’d been traveling.
It wasn’t what Alina had expected, and she held herself tense, awaiting events.
A short time later, she was thrown across the back of the cart so roughly, she felt sure they’d left the road and plunged into the tree line.
There must have been some kind of track, for the cart to be able to fit.
But judging by the continued jostling, it wasn’t a very well-maintained one.