He held out a hand as if to shake. Clasping it, I pulled him into an embrace he looked to need as much as I did. He stood stiff for the briefest moment before his arms encircled me and cinched down until I swore I could hear my ribs creak.
“Anders said…” His voice cracked.
So much had happened that I’d almost forgotten Thoma’s recent loss. To pile two more deaths on top of that would have been awful. He was like Penny and me, not quite fitting in with the other residents of Ashpoint, and outside of Reimond he hadn’t had much of anyone until we arrived. His relief at our safety was palpable.
“Anders is a liar,” I assured him. “He did his best to keep us from coming home, but he failed.”
Thoma pulled back and scrubbed his sweater sleeve across his face. It mopped up the tears, but his eyes were still red and watery.
“What happened?” he asked. “Where’s Penny?” His eyes caught on the bruise on my cheek, and his brows drew down. “And what happened to you?”
I stepped back and beckoned him inside. “Pen’s in bed. He’s not feeling well after two straight days of walking in this cold.” I gestured to my face. “This is courtesy of one of the guards who didn’t appreciate that I didn’t want to be separated from Penny. And the thing with Anders is… a long story. Let me make some coffee, then we’ll talk.”
Thoma toed off his boots and was in the process of unwinding himself from hat, scarf, and cloak when I turned to head to the kitchen.
“The kittens are with Rosie’s family,” he called after me. “I would have brought them home with me, but you know how Reimond’s father feels about pets.”
“I assumed as much.” I lit the stove, then filled the kettle and set it on the cooktop.
Thoma followed a few moments later, and I motioned for him to sit at the table.
“Did Anders try to turn you in?” he asked.
I chuckled and shook my head. “No, though I expect he assumed if we survived, the militia would catch wind and pick us up, anyway.”
Thoma’s brows furrowed. “If yousurvived?”
“Oh, he fully meant to kill us both.” I waved a hand. “But we’ll get to that.”
I started the story from the beginning. Thoma’s expression grew grimmer and angrier as I went, but he didn’t say a word, even when I paused to pour the coffee and settle across from him at the table.
I was recounting the way I threatened Levitt that I would take Penny and leave when Penny emerged from the hall. His sandy hair was mussed and the bags beneath his eyes looked likebruises on his cheeks. The blanket from our bed wound around his shoulders, but despite the added warmth, I could tell he was shivering.
“We can’t leave,” Penny said as I got to my feet. “Because we came here for a reason.”
I crossed to him and laid my hand across his sweat-damp forehead. It was hotter than it had been earlier. He tipped his head heavily against my palm, then shuffled in when I curled my arm around his shoulders.
“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” I said softly. “You’re burning up.”
He pressed closer and mumbled, “I don’t want to be alone.”
“We’re just down the hall.” I tried to urge him in the direction of our bedroom, but he wouldn’t be moved.
“What reason?” Thoma asked from behind me.
Penny leaned so he could see our guest over my shoulder. “We’re going to destroy the cult from the inside out.”
I drew a chest-swelling breath, then let it out in a heavy sigh. I had intended to tell Thoma what we were planning, and about Penny’s fledgling resistance with Rosie, but this wasn’t how I wanted to bring it up. Thoma had been through a lot. I was hesitant to add more weight to his shoulders.
Before I could say anything, Thoma’s voice cut through the quiet, more confident than I’d heard it in weeks.
“I want to help.”
Penny’s expression brightened. There would be no getting him back to bed now, so I ushered him to the table instead.
“This isn’t how I wanted you to find out, but we're both happy to have you on board.” I pulled the chair between Thoma and I out and settled Penny into it. “I expected you’d want a part in it, after everything.”
“We have Rosie and her family in on it, too,” Penny said. He laid on the table, practically draping himself across it like he hadat the bar back in Forstford the night he convinced me to bring him here. The night my life changed for the better, at least as it pertained to him.
