“It hurt you. Period. I don’t see the difference.”
“Trust me. There’s a big one. He took only what information he needed to make certain I wasn’t a threat to you or to the rest of his people. He could’ve done a lot worse. He could’ve killed me on sight for hurting you. He didn’t.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Just trying to give you some perspective. I don’t know what kind of man he is, but he doesn’t behave without thought to the consequences for others. He learned that the hard way with your mother. With you.”
Marley shot up. “What do you know?”
Ian debated whether to tell her. It was Harm’s story, Harm’s truth. But he wasn’t sure the other man would share it. And he was damn sure Marley wouldn’t let him rest until she got it out of him. So Ian sketched out the bare bones of what he knew, watched the dawning horror on her face. “In the face of an impossible choice, he made the best one for you.”
“I…don’t even know what to say to that. Human trafficking. Jesus Christ. Nothing in all my wildest imaginings ever came close to that.”
Because he wanted to soothe her and himself, he skimmed his hand in long, languid strokes up and down the curve of her hip and the sleek, muscled length of her thigh. She arched into the touch, idly echoed the rhythm with her foot along his calf. He had to ask the question before she distracted him again. “Whatever he had to do before, he wants you to stay now.”
She was pleased by that. And anxious. “I don’t imagine he’d have gone to so much trouble to retrieve me if he didn’t. But I can’t make that call. There’s too much we don’t know. And it’s not just me. What do you want?”
Ian tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “You.”
She rolled up, pressed her lips to his. “That’s good enough for me. We can figure out the rest later.”
When she would’ve kissed him again, Ian tucked her back to his side. “It’s not that simple.”
“Why not? I’m cloaked now. Doesn’t that mean I’m as safe as I can be?”
“No one is safe around me. Because I’m riven, I am a target. We escaped the last squad the Council sent, but there will be more. As long as they’re after me, I pose a threat to everyone in this compound.”
“Then we’ll go. I don’t want to bring hell down on people who were kind enough to help us either.”
“I’m still a threat to you.”
Her expression turned mutinous. “You are not leaving me behind, Ian. You’re in this whole mess in the first place because of me. If we go, we go together. We run, we hide, we do whatever we have to.”
Ian shook his head, gave a half laugh. “Your father overestimated my influence with you. He thought I could convince you to stay while I go.”
“Screw that. We’re stronger together.”
“Yeah, we are. But I don’t know the answer to this, Marley. We can run. But someday, somewhere they’ll catch up. He’s your family. Family you didn’t even know you had.”
“If staying with you means walking away from him to keep him safe, then so be it. Does a part of me want to know him? To know where I come from? Yeah. Sure. But for better or worse, Ian, you’ve been there for me. He wasn’t.”
It was that simple for her. So he would take the gift and let it be simple for them both unless or until she changed her mind. “Okay.”
“Now back to the problem. Is there nothing that would call the Shadow Walkers off or make them give up?”
“Once this kind of execution order is given, that’s it. Until I’m dead, they’ll keep coming.”
He could all but see the wheels turning in her head. Streamers of silver shot off toward the ceiling. “Then we have to do something they won’t expect.”
“And what, pray tell, is that?”
“We have to die.”
Chapter 15
The knock on the door had Ian rolling out of bed into a fighting stance. He registered the dark, the empty bed, and slid automatically to shadow before he realized the shower was running and a faint light shone from the bathroom door. The brisk tapping came again. He phased back into the room and reached for pants. A knife fit comfortably in his palm as he cracked open the door and peered out.
Corin stood in the corridor, travel mugs in both hands. He lifted them slightly. “I come bearing caffeine. Boss’s orders. I’m to escort you both to Harm. A little tour, then food.” Without waiting for an invitation, he shouldered his way into the room and bumped on the overhead light. One brow arched as he caught sight of the knife. “Clearly you need a cup of this before you face any more of the living.” Corin shoved one of the mugs into Ian’s free hand before settling comfortably into a chair.