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Half a dozen Titans jogged down the street toward us.
Asshole turned to me and growled.
“This isn’t over,” he said.
I yanked my arm free, grabbed Cleb by the hand, and led him away.
Asshole raised his hands in surrender as the Titan men confronted him.
“Are you all right?” a broad-chested Titan said.
“We’re fine, we’re fine,” I said.
And despite Cleb’s wailing cries, it was true. It had just been a shock, that was all.
“We don’t know who this man is,” I said. “He’s trying to kidnap us.”
“Don’t worry,” the Titan said. “We’ll take care of him from here.”
As Asshole argued with the Titans about who he was and what he was doing there, I took the opportunity to beat a hasty retreat.
I gripped Cleb’s hand tight and took him home.
“Find him and have him brought to me!” Traes said.
He barked the order at his guards, who saluted and marched from the room.
I had just told him what happened in town and he wasn’t pleased. He knew about the man who lured Cleb away and attempted to kidnap us, the locals who stopped to help us, and our mad rush to get home safely.
I thought it best to leave out some of the less… necessary information. He didn’t need to know I had met the stranger before. Or that he was my former master. That he once attempted to force himself on me.
I regretted I had to mention anything about Asshole, and if I’d been on my own, I never would have. But Cleb was still shaken by the event. He sat with his legs folded on a large armchair in the front room, calm and surprisingly in control of his emotions.
I expected Traes to question him about what happened, which was why I confronted him earlier in the taxi on the way home.
I held his hand and held him close. I wiped the tears from his cheeks and brushed his hair soothingly the way he liked. After he calmed down a little, I raised his chin so he looked at me.
I could see in his red eyes there was no way he could pretend he wasn’t affected by Asshole. So, I came up with a story.
“You know that man back there?” I said.
Cleb nodded, and a fresh stream of tears threatened to spill down his face.
“He’s one of the bad spies I told you about,” I said.
Cleb sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
“Really?” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “He’s the worst one. He’s a very bad man. I hope you never have to see him ever again. It’s really important Traes doesn’t know I’m an undercover spy. If he does, the bad spy will escape. Do you think you can help me?”
I was asking him to help me before I even told him what I needed him to do. And Cleb, God bless him, nodded without any hesitation at all.
“When we get home, I’m going to tell Traes everything that happened,” I said. “Well, almost everything. I’ll tell him how the bad spy said he wanted to buy you candy. That’s true, right?”
Cleb nodded.
“And then I’ll tell him about how you went with him,” I said.
