CHAPTER TWELVE ISI #3
“Two more streets.” I guided him around a corner. “His neighborhood is—”
His hand suddenly gripped my arm, and he pulled me into a recessed doorway.
The space was barely large enough for both of us. My back hit the weathered door, and Trew pressed against me, his body shielding mine from the street.
“What—”
His mouth covered mine, swallowing the question.
The kiss was desperate and hungry, and it made all the restraint from this afternoon shatter. His hands framed my face, tilting my head back as he deepened the kiss. I grabbed his tunic, pulling him closer, needing more despite the danger, despite everything.
Pherin landed on the doorframe above us with an indignant chirp. Wasting time!
The reminder of our task sobered us both.
Trew stepped back, his hands lingering on my waist before falling away completely.
I adjusted my cloak and slipped from the doorway, back into the street. Pherin took to the air again, circling overhead before darting down a side alley.
Thorne’s mother’s neighborhood lay deep in the lower part of the village, where the buildings pressed close together and the streets narrowed to barely more than footpaths. The houses here were older, their walls weathered by time.
I’d only visited Thorne’s mother’s house a few times. He’d been embarrassed by it. Apologetic about the small rooms and simple furnishings, as if I would judge him for having less than what my father’s castle offered.
I’d loved it. The small garden his mother had planted in the back. The way sunlight streamed through the kitchen windows. The feeling of a home that was lived in and cherished rather than clustered with elegant furniture and wall hangings like a museum.
“There.” I pointed to a narrow street branching off to our right. “The third on the right.”
We turned onto the street, and I pulled the hood lower over my face. Fewer people wandered here, but those who did watched strangers with suspicious eyes.
The houses on either side of Thorne’s had their shutters thrown open and the windows up to catch the afternoon breeze. Laundry hung from lines strung between the buildings.
Her house sat dark and silent, its shutters closed tight, no smoke rising from the chimney despite the chill in the air.
“It looks abandoned,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure why I’d expected to find evidence he was here with Addie, but I had.
Trew’s hand found mine beneath my cloak, his fingers weaving ours together. “This is how I’d want it to look like I was hiding someone inside.”
Hope and fear battled in my chest.
We moved closer, keeping to the shadows cast by the neighboring buildings. A wooden fence ran along the side of Thorne’s property, tall enough to block the view into the small yard beyond.
Trew guided me behind it, and we crouched low, peering through the gaps between weathered boards.
The yard beyond was still meticulously maintained, and I noted the roof had new thatching and the siding had been painted. He’d worked on it in his free time as I grew older, and I was sure his mother was proud of her son making sure she had a safe, snug home.
Trew shifted beside me, his shoulder pressing against mine. “No movement. No light. No signs of life at all.”
“Maybe they’re just being careful.”
We waited, watching some more. Minutes stretched out, marked only by the distant sounds of the street behind us and the occasional flutter of Pherin’s wings as she circled overhead.
“We need to get inside,” I said finally.
Trew nodded. “Back door?”
“This way.”
We moved along the fence line, keeping low. The neighboring houses remained quiet, their occupants either absent or uninterested in what happened next door.
At the corner of the fence, Trew paused, checking the street one more time before gesturing for me to follow.
I approached the back door, my chest tight with the fear of being discovered. “There’s a loose stone in the wall. Third from the bottom, left side.”
Crouched, I ran my fingers along the base of the house until I found it. The stone shifted under pressure, revealing a small hollow behind.
My fingers closed around the key.
“Got it.” I straightened, fitting it into the lock.
Before I could push the door open, Pherin landed on my shoulder. Me first.
She launched, slipping through the gap I’d created and disappearing into the darkness beyond.
“She insists on going first,” I said.
Trew’s mouth quirked. “Your companion has a healthy sense of her own importance.”
“As a firecat, she’s entitled to it.”
We waited while Pherin scouted the interior. I felt her presence through our bond, her tiny form exploring rooms with all the confidence of a creature ten times her size.
Safe. Empty.
Shouts erupted from the street beyond the fence. Men’s voices. “Search the houses!”
“Fates,” Trew hissed. “Inside. Now.”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the doorway. We stumbled into the dark kitchen, and Trew eased the door shut behind us with barely a whisper of sound.
The lock clicked home at his touch.
Outside, boots pounded on packed dirt. More shouts, closer now.
My heart leaped up into my throat.