“You are now,” Levitt said firmly. “You may go.”
Luca looked like he wanted to argue, but a sharp look from Levitt cut his resolve off at the knees, and he only nodded and stalked past us up the stairs.
Pushing past Levitt, I rushed into the cell where Penny was still in a heap on the floor where the guards had left him. His defiant expression dissolved as soon as he saw me, and the torchlight caught on the tears that lined his lower eyelids.
I sank before him and threw my arms around him as though we’d been apart for months instead of maybe an hour. Any amount of time was too long. Too many chances for harm to come to him without me there to shield him from it.
He pressed his face into my chest, and I buried mine in his hair, still damp from the snow. His breaths came with a lingering wheeze, and all I could think about was getting him home and getting him warm, then falling into bed for a week.
Levitt stopped in the doorway, watching with what could only be described as pain etched across his face. He certainly had enough things to wound him these days, not the least of which was the cold glare I gave him in return.
“Come on, Pen,” I murmured. “Let’s go home.”
He didn’t speak as I helped him to his feet and pulled him against my side. Maybe it was possessive, proprietary. But morethan that, it was protective, because I felt like I was fighting even now. Not staring down five men with masks and crossbows, but silently begging my old friend to be the man I always thought he was.
But all Levitt did was step back to clear the door to give us room to pass. No further apologies were offered, not a word to Penny about what he’d been put through. Just brittle silence until we were almost at the stairs.
“We’ll talk later?” Levitt called after us.
A grumble escaped me before I replied, “We certainly will.”
18
Kit
There wasn’t much said when we finally made it to the house. It was dark and empty, which meant Thoma had either returned to Reimond’s family or his own home at the news of our supposed capture, and taken the kittens with him.
But that hardly bore thinking about. My priority was getting Penny in the bath to warm him up while I built a fire in our room to chase away the chill. Once I got him dry and into bed, he drifted off halfway through me redressing his wounded palms.
With him taken care of, I dragged myself to the bathroom to wash up before I joined him under the covers. I curled as close as I could get, then let sleep take me, too.
The next morning, Penny roused long enough to eat the porridge I had to practically spoon-feed him. He was feverish and hacking, and he succumbed to sleep again the moment he was done with his breakfast.
I cleared the dishes and banked the fire, then settled back into bed, prepared to spend the day there so Penny wouldn't wake alone. After the events of the last week, I didn’t want him out of my sight.
Thinking kept me from focusing too intently on counting Penny’s wheezing breaths. Foremost among my concerns was what we would do if Levitt didn’t get what he needed from Anders, and the murderous bastard was allowed to walk free. It was our word against his, and no matter that Levitt claimed to believe me, I wasn’t sure the Sentinels would, too.
Anders was more established in Ashpoint. They knew him better, and he did a good job of coming across as too stupid to be calculating enough to plan something so nefarious.
I still had my doubts that the plan was his at all. It was too convenient that he’d been assigned as our third, and that he’d had enough forewarning about when the fourth Oath would happen to have his things packed and ready when the messenger arrived. The whole situation stunk of Merrick’s influence.
I had to assume they spoke when Anders got back to Ashpoint. Since Anders was so sure of my relationship with Penny, there was little chance he kept it secret from the Shroud Warden. For as much as the thought of anyone knowing what Penny was to me had terrified me before, it was a relief to have it out there. It meant less hiding, less hypervigilance, and I was more than ready to let that all go.
Clearly, Penny had always been at risk simply by being related to our Shroud Warden. All my need for secrecy had done was hurt him. So, no more.
But if Anders remained free, if we were forced to collaborate with him on future Oaths… Staying wasn’t worth that risk. I wasn’t sure how I could convince Penny to leave when he’d so recently resolved that wehadto stay, but I would figure something out. I would take him back to Eastcliff, or Forstford, and we’d live out whatever was left of our lives until the Bone Men succeeded in their mission of destruction.
I’d given enough. I wouldn’t give Penny, too. Not even for the rest of the world.
My thoughts ran circles around my head for hours until a knock at the front door pulled them off course. I didn’t want to be disturbed, just wanted to stay here in the quiet for as long as possible, but a peek out the window found the sun high overhead, so we were due lunch soon anyway.
I extricated myself from the tangle of Penny’s arms and legs and made my way to the door. The possibility that it could be Levitt or Merrick or Anders on the doorstep drew me up short as I reached for the latch. I almost turned back and left the visitor on the stoop, but a second knock made it clear they didn’t plan to let themselves be ignored.
I took another moment to gather myself and set my expression, then I undid the lock and pulled the door open.
Thoma stood outside, bundled against the cold. His dark eyes welled up when they met mine.
“You’re okay,” he said. “Thank the gods.”
