THEY BROUGHT HIM STRAIGHTto Blood Guard headquarters, which had been relocated after Cressida blew up the original building two months ago. They were now situated in an old stone citadel on the cliffs overlooking the harbor.
As the guards led Gideon through the darkened walkways, the torch flames flickered, fighting against the wind and the damp from the sea.
They marched him into the old war room, with its stained-glass windows running down the length of both sides. A young woman in uniform stood across the long stone table.
Laila Creed.
She was acting captain in Gideon’s absence.
Harrow stood beside her. The spymaster planted her hands on the table, staring down at whatever Laila was looking at.
At Gideon’s entrance, they glanced up.
“Sharpe?” Seeing Gideon’s shackled hands, Laila’s dark brows creased. She looked at the guard who escorted him in. “What is this?”
“He was caught trespassing, kidnapping, and firing on security. A second Blood Guard officer was with him. She escaped with the hostage.”
Even from halfway across the room, Gideon saw the nerve in Laila’s jaw jump.
“What hostage?”
“Meadow Kantor. The sibyl’s child.”
“Thank you,” said Laila, her face darkening.
“Do you want us to take him to—”
“No. Leave him, along with the keys to those manacles. Then you may go.”
One guard stepped forward, sliding the keys down the stone table to Laila. She waited until their footsteps disappeared down the hall before turning her full attention to Gideon.
“What the hell, Sharpe.Again?”
“I need to speak with Noah.”
“Noah’s at Wintersea. You’ll have to deal with me.”
An awkward tension filled the room. It had always been Gideon who gave the orders, and Laila who obeyed them. Now things were reversed, and her stiff posture said she felt weirder about it than he did.
“Then I need you to take these off,” he said, lifting his shackled wrists, “and let me go.”
“Gideon,” Laila said through gritted teeth. “They said you broke into someone’s house! And helped steal a baby! Who was with you? Or do I even need to ask?”
Gideon evaded the question. “What you need to do is trust me.”
She pressed her lips together and crossed her arms. “Why should any of us trust you ever again?”
Gideon flinched. It was because of him that Laila’s father, the previous Good Commander, had been killed by Cressida. He was the reason the witch queen was back and threatening them with war. The reason they were all in danger. If he hadn’t let Rune trick him, if he hadn’t let himself fall for her, he could have eliminated Cressida long before now.
“I bear the blame for it all,” he said. “And that’s why I haveto make it right. But I can’t do that in chains—or with you set against me.”
“The Crimson Moth was with you, wasn’t she?”
This came from Harrow. Gideon forced himself to look at her. If trust was strained between him and Laila, it was nonexistent between him and Harrow.
“The soldier who escaped with the hostage,” she pressed. “It was Rune, wasn’t it?”
He looked away.
