Jacobs’ lip had twitched with irritation at Adam’s words—because he’d also known that Adam was lying.
In a terrible moment of tension, Ellie had waited to see whether Jacobs would call him out—but as much as he must have wanted Neil and Constance in his clutches, he’d known that exposing Adam’s real motives would put all the control in Borthwick’s hands.
Jacobs wasn’t ready to risk that—not when he still needed them alive—but the situation was locked in a precarious state of balance that might easily tip into disaster.
The weight of that sat like lead in Ellie’s gut right alongside her worry for Neil and Constance.She and Adam would have to find a way to go back for them, and soon—but she had no idea how they were going to do it.
There were too many people at risk.It felt like juggling fire.
Sitting by Ellie’s boots, Kalb perked up his head as a soldier passed by munching dried rations.The dog made a low, grumbling whine of desire in the back of his throat.
Ellie glared down at him.“You have not been even remotely lucky.”
Kalb wagged his tail at her, panting hopefully.
All of this would feel far less desperate if she had another ally, someone else in Borthwick’s camp who might possibly lend them aid… or at least look away at the right moment.
There was one person here who might serve that purpose—if Ellie could convince him that loyalty to Borthwick wasn’t really in his best interests.
Which meant that she needed to know what his interests were.
Ellie had already been itching for the answer to that question.She had been locked into a dance of violence for months, and she was done navigating it half-blind.
She sought out the place where Jacobs walked among the trees.
“Come on,” Ellie ordered, firming with determination.
She stepped forward—but Kalb didn’t follow.The dog froze instead, his attention fixed on a lightly quivering stand of brush.
Ellie recognized the special gleam in his eyes.
Oh no…
The shrubbery rustled, and Kalb bolted.Leaves shook furiously as the lanky golden-haired beast crashed through the growth after some small helpless animal.
“Kalb!”Ellie shouted uselessly after him.
One of the passing sepoys chuckled at her plight, calling over in sympathetic Punjabi.
“Yes, I know he’ll bloody come back eventually,” Ellie grumbled to herself in response.
She was torn.Should she try to go after him?
The blasted dog could run nearly forty miles an hour.She didn’t stand a chance.
Leaving Kalb to his own ill-behaved devices, she set off after Jacobs.
She found him at the far edge of the makeshift camp, leaning against one of the ruined buildings and watching the soldiers with a disinterested glare.His black eyes flicked to Ellie as she arrived, cold and deeply unwelcoming.“Here to ask me to help your friends?”
The words were light, but Ellie could hear the threat in them.She refused to let it intimidate her.She was done playing games with this man.
She set her hands on her hips and glared at him.“Why are you here?”
His tone was smooth as he answered.“That’s hardly a mystery, is it?I’m just a bloke doing his job.”
“You aren’t the sort ofblokewho’d take a job that involves licking Borthwick’s boots,” Ellie countered.
His glare heated with a flash of temper.“Careful,Eleanora.”
