Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
The moon had nearly set by the time Jade returned to base, her entire body throbbing with agony.
Riding the horse back to the farmhouse with her already-sore muscles only exacerbated the pain, and then she still had to do the last mile to base on foot.
She was ready to collapse, needing every hour of sleep she could squeeze out of the night, but she had to do something before she went to bed.
The troopers on gate duty called out to her as she approached. As soon as she replied, they opened the gate and one of them ran out to her to offer help as she limped toward base.
“Captain Ni’ihm! Are you all right?” he asked, his expression panic-stricken. “You missed curfew by—”
“Yes, I’m aware I’m back late,” she answered, shrugging off the trooper’s assistance. “And I’m fine.”
“I can let Commander Matherson know—”
“No, Trooper. There’s no need to let Commander Matherson know anything.
” Jade squared her shoulders as she pushed her feet to keep moving onto base and they shut the gate behind her.
She whirled around to face the trooper who followed her.
“I will report to Matherson myself. And as far as you are concerned, I am fine.”
The trooper nodded quickly and saluted with an arm across his chest. “Yes, Captain.”
“Thank you.” Jade turned again and continued on toward the barracks, ignoring the soreness overwhelming her body now that the adrenaline of the night had fully dissipated.
Her right shoulder pulsed with every pump of her heart, and everything from her feet to her legs to her back ached with each step, having taken the brunt of her fall.
She didn’t make it to Capernaum barracks, where her room was, going instead to Dresden barracks, the new home of Theo’s company.
It wasn’t a violation of rules, necessarily, for her to go into another company’s barracks—in another soldier’s room—after curfew, especially if she had information pertinent to a current investigation, but she still wanted to be careful about anyone seeing her.
She wasn’t keen on inviting speculation and rumors.
Thankfully, the hour was late enough that no one was about. If those on night patrol saw her, she didn’t see them.
Jade pushed open the main door to Dresden barracks, peering around the room before stepping fully inside to make sure the common area was empty.
One lamp, a dim electric light, had been left on to provide a bit of illumination in the space, confirming that no one occupied the area.
Jade crept through the hallways, past the doors of soldiers’ rooms, just as she had done in Arthur’s house hours before.
The thought made her stomach clench as the image of Arthur’s writhing body returned to her mind.
Of her last glimpse at the assassin as he sprinted away.
Jade pressed her hand against the pocket that housed the two pieces of paper from Arthur’s study, and they crinkled under her touch.
She had gotten them, at least. The night hadn’t been a full waste.
Jade halted at the last door in the hallway, inhaling before raising her hand to knock. She wasn’t entirely sure what had prompted her to come to his room the moment she had arrived back on base. Something innate with her knew she needed to see him.
Her knock on the plain wooden door was light, and she waited a minute before rapping again. This time, she heard movement within the room—the rustle of sheets, the click of a lamp, the thud of feet on the floor. Then the door swung open, a sleepy, shirtless Theo on the other side.
They hadn’t had a conversation outside the assignment since their interaction in the garden. As her eyes locked onto him, her disappointment from that day came back in full force. But it was nothing compared to the sense of failure currently weighing on her. In this moment, she needed Theo.
The haze of sleep vanished from Theo’s eyes the moment they fell on Jade, widening as he took in her disheveled appearance.
“Jade.” Her name came out in a murmur, his voice husky from sleep. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she whispered with a shake of her head. She had come here to tell him the truth. Well, most of it anyway.
Theo stepped back to grant her entry, and Jade forced her gaze ahead as she passed him and his bare torso. The last thing she needed right now was for him to catch her staring.
“What happened?” Theo asked as he shut the door. Thankfully, he grabbed a shirt hanging on the footboard of his bed and threw it on. “What do you need?”
Jade dropped into the desk chair and rubbed her shoulder, allowing herself to grimace at the deep pain. That was just like Theo, to go straight into taking care of her without a second thought. “I need you to check out my shoulder. I think my arm came out of socket.”
Theo’s eyebrows creased in concern as he kneeled beside her. “What the hell happened, Jade?”
Jade worked the buttons of her jacket with her left hand to allow Theo a better look at her injured shoulder. She swallowed hard before finding her voice, though it was quiet and small when she spoke again. “I have a lot to tell you.”
The worry on Theo’s face deepened, and his eyes scrutinized her. When his gaze dropped to her hand fumbling over her buttons, he laid his own hand over hers and took her fingers in his gentle grasp. “Here. Let me.”
Jade’s stomach swooped and swirled as Theo moved her hand away then swiftly unbuttoned her jacket.
He helped her shrug out of it, her right arm still too painful to use, and warmth crept up her neck, unbidden.
She shouldn’t feel so exposed to remove her jacket and wear only a sleeveless top in Theo’s presence.
This was her exact attire from the time they had recently sparred.
Her eyes slammed shut. She didn’t need that memory surfacing at the moment.
But being here in his room, underneath the shroud of darkness and in the stillness of the night, Jade couldn’t ignore the situation. Everything about the moment had a sense of being more intimate than it should have—a much-needed distraction from the horrible events of the night.
Theo’s fingers roamed her shoulder, his tender touch lighting up her skin. Jade forced her body not to shiver, but she couldn’t prevent the goosebumps that rose with his touch. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything.
“It doesn’t look bad,” he finally said, his voice a low murmur. “Can I try moving it around?”
She nodded, bracing herself for the pain. Theo moved her arm in circles, forward and back, and then out to the side. Jade winced as her shoulder twinged, but the pain was bearable.
“It feels like it’s in the socket, so that’s good.
” Theo lowered her arm, his fingers trailing her skin before pulling away.
“It might have only been partially dislocated if you were able to get it back in yourself easily. And your movement is good, so hopefully it isn’t injured too badly. How does it feel?”
Jade’s body slouched in relief. She had to hide her injuries from Matherson, so the less severe they were, the better. “It hurts. I think it’s still just sore from coming out, because it wasn’t terrible when you moved it around.”
Theo gave a nod. “Try not to move it as much as possible. It will heal faster that way.” He backed up from Jade a step, leaning his rear end against the desk and crossing his arms. “So, how did this happen?”
Meeting Theo’s gaze was more difficult than Jade had anticipated. She hugged her middle, the fingers of her left hand finding the handle of her gun and running idly over the grip.
“I was at the Carsill estate tonight. Lord Arthur was the next target, and now he’s dead.
” Jade finally brought her eyes to Theo to see that some of the rigidity in his posture had slackened.
His eyebrows still pinched in question, and Jade realized he was waiting for her to continue.
She sighed. No going back now. “I’ve been getting information—tips—from an unidentified informant since almost the beginning of The Claim.
I would follow up on them on my regular missions simply out of curiosity and realized the information was always good.
It’s part of the reason why I’ve excelled at my job over the last six months. ”
Silence stretched between them. Jade waited for Theo to react, to say something, before she went on.
For some reason, the prospect of telling him about Nicolas and what he asked of her was daunting, something to be avoided if possible.
She could tell Theo enough about what she’d been doing and why without naming Nicolas.
The lines on Theo’s brow finally receded as his expression relaxed. “Why haven’t you told anyone this? Commander Matherson, at least.”
Jade shook her head as her eyes found her knees.
“I was afraid he wouldn’t want me following leads from an unknown source, and I didn’t want to give up such good information.
You know how rigid the military is, and this was helping me make progress without waiting around for protocol.
And . . . it’s gotten me two promotions in a short amount of time. ”
She didn’t want to look up and see Theo’s reaction to her own selfish motives. Yes, it was true that the information had helped the military in The Claim, but she had personally benefited from her leads as well. No doubt Theo didn’t approve of that.
When he didn’t speak, she added in a whisper, “You know why I want those promotions, what I want to do. The faster I get there, the sooner I can make a difference.”
A new tenderness filled Theo’s eyes. Jade wanted to do whatever she could to eradicate the law calling for the execution of magic-wielders, or at least help them as much as possible, and Theo was well aware.
They both understood her desire to rise the ranks in the military was so that she might reach a position of authority where she could effect change.
She was too much like her parents, and it was the best way she knew to honor their memory.