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I had turned my attention to the road, to watch where I was going. But when he spoke, I broke into a big grin. Mentally, I patted myself on the back for my thoughtfulness. It was silly, but I was really pleased that I had planned this all out and had good news for him. I loved being able to surprise him.
“Look in the boxes back there.” I beamed like the cat who ate the canary.
He wrinkled his brow, and I could tell that he wondered what I was up to. But he didn’t ask questions, and just did as I said. Pulling open one cardboard box, he pulled out a book. I glanced in the mirror and saw him studying it curiously.
“Those are for you,” I said. He had opened one of the boxes from my house. It was a surprise, but not the one that I had intended for right now.
“Thank you,” he replied. He began to look through the books, examining the titles and covers.
“You can read later,” I urged, unable to control my impatience. “Check the other boxes.”
The next one he opened held some of his things from his hut. He pulled out his book of herbal remedies, holding it up wonderingly.
“How did you…?”
My grin widened. One of my talents had always been that I was an excellent strategist. I left no detail overlooked.
“Before I went in there and wrecked everything, I spent some time talking to Dr. Grant’s secretary. I found out where the hunters stored everything they’d seized from your hut. When no one was looking, I stole it back.”
In a strange way, I might have been the proudest of that. The rest of my exploits sounded like a bigger deal, of course, and a few boxes might seem small in comparison. To me, it didn’t feel that way. Sure, I blew up the building, but they’d given me the ammunition. Yes, I broke into Athos’s cage, but they’d handed me the code.
Finagling the information from the secretary had been the trickiest part, much harder than just walking into the basement and loading a bag with weapons. It took some real plotting on my end. And then waiting for an opportunity to sneak it all out of the building was even harder. I felt like a criminal mastermind, and I was kind of enjoying it.
He gazed down at the box, taking it all in. Then he lifted his eyes to look at me lovingly.
“Thank you, Claire.” He held the book to his chest. “I couldn’t have asked for a better mate. You are a fearless warrior. No one else could’ve done what you did. You’re truly incredible.”
I could feel myself blushing at his praise. “If the tables were turned, you would’ve done it for me.”
He shook his head. “I would’ve done anything to save you. But I doubt I’d have planned so well or handled it so gracefully.”
I giggled. “I don’t know if blowing up a building counts as graceful,” I argued playfully.
He chuckled with me. “Well, you looked beautiful doing it.”
We shared a soft smile, lost in our own thoughts as our eyes met once more. I couldn’t look long, as I had to focus on the road.
But in that brief second when our eyes locked in the rearview mirror, it felt like we exchanged a thousand wordless thoughts again. It was uncanny to be so in touch with someone that I could say everything without a single word being necessary.
Athos broke the silence after a moment. “I’ll build another hut for us,” he declared. “This one will be bigger and better, since you’ll be sharing it with me. And you can help me decide what it should be like. You can have a say in the new garden, too. Whatever you want, I’ll do my best to make it grow.”
“I want a big vineyard.”
“You want to make wine?” he asked in confusion. “I didn’t think you drank alcohol.”
I shook my head. “I don’t. I want to lay in a hammock while you feed me grapes.”
He laughed. “I suppose I can’t deny the wishes of the woman who saved me.”
I laughed, too. But after a moment, I sobered. “I can’t wait to live the rest of my life with you,” I said seriously. “Anything that I share with you will be perfect. I don’t need anything more than that. Humans have always had a tendency to disappoint me, anyway.”
Chapter Seventeen
Athos
We drove for days. It was fortunate that Claire had obtained this vehicle, as it was such a long journey. But I hated that I couldn’t help her. It was a large undertaking, and she had to bear it alone.
I would have gladly put her on my back and let her ride. I would have gone all day and all night, letting her rest. But I knew that was unrealistic. We couldn’t have escaped detection the same way that we could in this enclosed van.
