Rowan ended up tying Stan to the back of the cart before climbing onto the bench with Milo and taking the reins. Milo had no problem with that. He’d much prefer to cuddle against Rowan’s side while the potion fully kicked in.
Riley rode on the other side of the cart, a sharp eye on Andrew. “Don’t worry, Milo. I’ll keep him under guard until he leaves for Goldguard. Advocate Nottle, will you need witnesses for the trial?”
“Yes and no. Milo alone can testify. Written statements from the rest of you will suffice.”
“I want to go into Goldguard anyway to buy the girls’ supplies,” Troy stated as he turned his horse to also fall in with the cart. “Why don’t I go down with you? I can help Milo pack up and return.”
As much as Milo loved traveling with Rowan alone, he did like Troy, and he made a kind offer. “I’d love that, honestly. Rowan?”
Rowan simply nodded at his best friend and said, “Thanks.”
So that was settled, then. Oooh, Milo couldn’t wait for Andrew’s trial. He’d make sure Andrew got into so much trouble for this. How much prison time was he facing? Five years? Ten? Milo didn’t know the laws well enough to guess. Hopefully morethan ten years, though. The man deserved it anyway for being a general blight on humanity, but with his actions of the past twelve hours, he’d definitely set himself up for a long sentence.
They were surrounded by friends and family on all sides, but Milo still leaned in to whisper into Rowan’s ear, “Thank you for coming. I knew you’d figure out what happened.”
Rowan still looked pissed but managed a taut smile. “It was too strange when you didn’t show up for dinner.”
Oh, yeah, that would be a very obvious sign of something having gone wrong. Milo had to be on his deathbed to not want food.
“You didn’t need me, though.” Rowan’s smile grew more relaxed, and was that pride in his expression? “You fought him off without any help.”
“Doesn’t matter. You coming for me, that’s what matters.”
“I always will.” Rowan tilted his head to steal a kiss. The kiss was ethereal, so soft and warm that Milo melted under it. “I’m just glad you’re formidable enough to defend yourself.”
Yeah, it would have been harder getting Milo back otherwise. Andrew would have absolutely held him hostage in a last-ditch effort. Milo didn’t even need to be a seer to predict that.
He sighed happily. Milo looked around at each person, studying them in turn. They were even now discussing the best way to keep Andrew under lock and key, with Raina threatening to leave Andrew in the deepest, darkest, dampest part of the dungeon until Bennet was ready to haul him back down to Goldguard. Ruben suggested no food, only water, and maybe some flogging. Riley actually volunteered for the flogging. Look at them, all so protective and upset on his behalf. He really had found the best place to be. A family who cared about him was all Milo had ever wanted, and now? He had that in spades. Look at how many people had come to his rescue.
It might have taken years, but Milo had finally found home.
14
Rowan
Two weeks later, they finally arrived in Goldguard. It had been something of an argument, as the twins had wanted to come down too and hadn’t taken a no very well at all. Even Ruben had threatened to come, but Rowan needed him to take over captain duties while both he and Troy were gone. Rowan had chafed under the delay, but Milo absolutely refused to leave before he had the second ward up. Between the wards, the alarms, and the sigils being renewed, they had easily thwarted threeDrachifel attacks. Not a single person had gotten hurt during those skirmishes, which was a vast difference from the last seven years. Milo’s efforts were paying off in spades. Still, he wanted everyone as safe as he could make them before he left. Rowan couldn’t fault the precaution, so he didn’t argue.
Still, he wanted Andrew out of his home. ASAP.
The man had been thrown into Gravegarde’s dungeon under tight guard and a gagging spell, with no wand anywhere within reach. Advocate Nottle checked on him daily, too, making sure those magical restraints were still firmly in place. No one trusted Latimer.
The bastard, for his own part, just sat there in the cart and felt sorry for himself. He looked pathetic, too. A scraggly beard had started coming in over the past two weeks, his hair was disheveled and oily, and the clothes he wore were clean but stained after spending so much time in a dirty dungeon. In Rowan’s opinion, the exterior finally matched the interior. Latimer seemed to have realized any attempt at getting Milo back had been doomed to fail from the start. His mopey attitude continued the entire trip down to Goldguard, not that Rowan gave a single fuck. Let the man sit there and regret every decision since his birth. He couldn’t even admit he’d been wrong or apologize sincerely to Milo, so he was clearly past all redemption.
They arrived in Goldguard and split up. Nottle took charge of the culprit, calling the guard to throw Latimer in jail while he filed a formal report to the Magic Council.
Milo had led the rest of their group to a rather nice inn near the Magic Council’s compound. He’d mentioned something about Ray not having enough beds for all of them, which was fine, although he did want to meet Milo’s friend.
In fact, it was what they were doing now, having dinner with Milo’s friend. Ray turned out to be a nice-looking brunet witha soft-spoken manner to him. And while he did have a touch of high energy, he seemed very much a calm to Milo’s storm.
The restaurant was really a nice pub, with ale flowing and hearty food to Rowan’s liking. Milo explained it was a favorite spot, and he could absolutely see why. He sat with knees brushing against Milo’s in a corner booth, Troy and Ray on the opposite side.
Between ordering food and eating appetizers, Milo told Ray the full story. He’d waited until he could see his friend face-to-face to give him all the particulars.
By the end of it, Ray sat there with his head in his hands, staring in dumbfounded, jaw-dropped disbelief. “Wait. So the entire reason why Andrew chased after you so hard—”
“Was because the man was in serious danger of losing his job, yeah.”
“And kidnapping you was a better option than just changing careers?!”
