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ChapterFour
It was, perhaps, unwise for Giles to feel so completely giddy with joy at the way his day had unfolded, particularly as Theo looked so serious when he threw open the window and stuck his head out into the crisp, autumn afternoon. The men in the hallway seemed to be coming closer, but Giles was beside himself with excitement as he poked his head out Theo’s window as well.
“It’s a long drop,” he observed with a smile, as if their lives weren’t in peril.
“It would be,” Theo said, his expression solidifying into concentration, “if that were the direction we were headed.”
Giles’s brow shot up in question, and he watched as Theo twisted to glance up, toward the roof. He leaned even farther out the window, reached for something, then, to Giles’s astonishment and delight, pulled down a narrow ladder.
Giles laughed out loud. “You’ve been expecting something like this, haven’t you?” he asked, pulse pounding at the thought.
Theo merely nodded, then glanced back to him. “Can you climb?”
Giles met the question with a saucy grin. “I would have thought that my demonstration of the way I can climb you would be all the answer you need.”
Theo blushed and shook his head slightly before pulling himself back into the room. He stood aside, gesturing for the window. “Go first. I’ll help. Then I’ll be right behind you.”
He could have argued the point and told Theo to go first, but the men in the hall were coming closer. Time was of the essence.
Giles tried not to giggle too madly as he thrust his upper body out the window, then pivoted so that he could grab hold of the ladder. What he lacked in brute force strength, he’d always made up for with dexterity and agility. It was nothing at all for him to scramble onto the ladder, Theo assisting by holding him from behind, and pull himself up hand over hand. He didn’t bother to ask where he was going or what waited for him at the top of the ladder, he just climbed.
Once he reached the top of the ladder, it was an easy thing to climb onto the roof. Theo waited until he was secure before moving onto the ladder himself. Giles watched in amazement as Theo pulled his thick body onto the ladder, then carefully shut the window behind him. Once that was done, he climbed the ladder as though he were made of candy floss.
“Well done,” Giles said, beaming. He helped Theo all the way onto the roof, then scooted back as Theo pulled the ladder up enough to secure it. “What do we do next?” Giles asked when that was done.
Theo rolled to a crouch, then nodded to a set of windows farther along the roof. “We head back down again and hopefully out of trouble.”
Giles followed him halfway to the windows, then stopped. “Do you not want to learn who those men are and why they are pursuing you?” he asked.
“I know who they are,” Theo said gruffly, reaching the attic windows and working one open. “And I know what they’re after.”
“Do tell,” Giles said, scurrying after Theo as he dropped into the attic.
Theo was silent at first, taking his time to give an answer. As soon as they were back inside the house, even though they weren’t in the same portion of the building with the thieves or conspirators, or whatever they were, Theo moved cautiously. He gestured for Giles to do the same, which he did. Mostly because it was simply too much fun not to.
“They must be connected to the shipping conspiracy,” Theo whispered as they made their way to the attic door.
“They said you were too close,” Giles whispered in return as Theo eased open the door and checked the hallway. He giggled a bit as he went on with, “I suspect they did not mean the same thing as I would have meant.”
Theo sent Giles a look over his shoulder that managed to be both embarrassed and withering. He then opened the door all the way and grasped Giles’s hand to lead him through.
Giles’s heart raced at the way Theo’s massive hand encompassed his. He adored feeling as though his bear would protect him, but at the moment, he rather felt as though Theo needed his help even more.
They crept down through a back staircase to the ground floor, then out to the main part of the house. Giles could hear voices on the floors above, but they were so far from the second floor and Theo’s room at that point that he was not afraid of being seen. Theo apparently was, though, as evidenced by the way he ushered Giles out of the house and halfway down the street before Giles dug in his heels and stopped.
“What are you doing?” Giles whispered, still caught up in the subterfuge of the moment.
Theo stumbled to a stop and whipped around to stare at him. “What areyoudoing?” he asked in turn.
Giles couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “Do you not wish to catch your conspirators?” he asked.
Theo’s frown deepened. “I do not wish to put you in any sort of danger,” he said. “Any man who would follow a Bow Street Runner to the point of invading his boarding house is a man who should be avoided.”
“Oh, we will most certainly avoid them,” Giles said, searching the area, then gesturing for Theo to follow him to an alley between the boarding house and its neighbor. “That does not mean we must run away from them.”
“Giles, we do not have time for mischief,” Theo grumbled, following him. “I must return you to Perdition, where you belong.”
“Are you saying I’m a devil?” Giles beamed at him, taking up a position just on the other side of the corner of the boarding house.
