“Hmm?”
“There’s... something I need to tell you.” His thumb ran nervously across her skin. “Before we go down there. In case I lose my nerve.”
Asha paused, suddenly nervous too. “All right.”
In the darkness, she heard the soft sound of him swallowing. “I’m leaving.”
The words sliced the air, cold and abrupt.
“Leaving?” Asha frowned. “What do you mean?”
Torwin took a deep breath. “Your brother gave me enough coin to buy passage aboard a ship in Darmoor. From there, I’m heading north. Across the sea.”
It shouldn’t have surprised her. This was what he’d wanted ever since he’d stolen her slayers that night in the temple and made her show him the way out of the city.
He wanted to escape. To be far, far away from everything that had ever hurt him.
Asha didn’t blame him.
Still, her footsteps halted. The thought of him, gone...
Torwin stopped too, turning to face her in the dark. He still smelled like dragon musk and smoke. “You could come with me. If you wanted to.”
Asha fell into silence, thinking of the last time he’d made her this offer. She’d turned him down then, and that had been a huge mistake.
“Just think of it, Asha: freedom, adventure, the salty sea air on your face....” She could hear his excited smile. “I’ve never evenseenthe sea.”
He leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers.
She tried to smile, tried to catch his excitement. But her heart suddenly felt so heavy.
“When?” she asked, even as she dreaded the answer. “When do you leave?”
Before he could respond, though, the light of a lamp flashed across their faces.
Asha didn’t think; she reacted. Her hand slid out of Torwin’s. Grabbing the knife in his boot, she pushed him behind her, positioning herself between him and the intruder.
But all she could see was a light in the trees.
“It’s all right.” The heat of Torwin rushed up her back as he closed the distance between them. “It’s only the patrol.”
“Actually,” came a voice with a honeyed accent, “it’s just me.”
“Jas?” Torwin asked.
Asha squinted through the bright orange glow of the lamp, her blade lowering. The bearer of the lamp lowered it to his side, illuminating him.
The intruder was a young man, maybe a year younger than Asha. The horn hilts of two huge knives gleamed at his hips, and a maroon sandskarf was wrapped loosely around his shoulders.
Everything about him said scrublander.
Enemy.
Asha lifted the knife again. The boy’s smile slid away.
“This is Jas,” said Torwin, stepping out from behind Asha and resting his hand on hers before peeling his knife from her fingers. “Roa’s brother. He’s a friend.”
Roa.The girl who betrayed Dax.
