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Desperate to ensure he didn’t let another shot go off, I ran up the steps and fired three or four or twenty times.
At least a couple found their mark, leaving him lifeless and unmoving.
Cleb whined.
I turned to the pair of them, Bianca and Cleb both. She clutched him close, holding him tightly in her arms.
I dropped my blaster and wrapped my arms around them. I’d never been so happy. But concern for my friend was forcing me to hurry the reunion along.
“Get up,” I said. “We have to get Waev help.”
“Don’t hurry on my account,” Waev said, limping over to join us. He slumped beside me.
“I saw you get shot…” I said.
Nobody recovered from a blaster pistol that fast.
Not even a Titan.
That was when he removed his blaster proof vest. The shot had almost burned a hole through it.
They didn’t give such expensive armor to just any soldier. He must have once been in the elite special forces. They were dispatched on the most deadly—some would say suicidal—missions across the galaxy.
And this entire time, he’d been my butler!
“I’m going to have to find you a new position,” I said.
“Not for all the money in the empire,” Waev said.
I turned back to Bianca and Cleb. I wrapped my arms around them and kissed them on every bare piece of skin I could find. Cleb was in tears and Bianca kissed me back. She was so relieved to see me, she ignored the questions Cleb would doubtless have about us later.
We crouched on that dirty floor hugging each other. I pulled Waev down to join us. He was the real hero. He was the one who brought us back together again.
And I would never forget it.
7
BIANCA
All the way home, Cleb wouldn’t let me go.
It was understandable given our recent experience. He clung onto me tightly, his arms and legs wrapped around me, his back and head pressed against the arjath’s soft fur. I rode in the saddle, my arms on either side helping hold him in place.
Comforted by the warm arjath fur, Cleb fell into a deep sleep. He murmured, turning his head from one side to the other, disturbed. I hushed him back to sleep and gently ran my fingers through his hair.
We were heading through the forest, back toward the house. The arjath didn’t need me to guide him. He could have found his way back with ease.
I glanced across at Traes who sat high in his saddle, eyes wary and alert, looking for any sign of danger. Tears sprung to my eyes.
It had been my decisions that brought this whole situation down on Cleb and Traes. If I’d just done things differently, if I could have been more honest from the start, none of this would have happened.
I turned away and tried to focus on something else. Our arjath had a missing leg and limped along. It was not pronounced and didn’t bother Cleb.
Traes took the other arjath while Waev walked alongside us, his powerful weapon tucked away in his shoulder bag. But he kept the blaster pistol in one hand in case we came across more trouble.
“Are there any more kidnappers?” Traes had asked me when he pulled back from hugging me and Cleb.
I shook my head.
