LITMIR.BIZ

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shrugged dismissively. ‘Common thugs.’

      ‘And you were outnumbered and drugged as well.’

      She took a step closer. Her teeth clasped over her lower lip uncertainly while her eyes shone with hope. She had no idea what that look did to a man.

      He blew out an unsteady breath. ‘Anyone would have done the same—’

      ‘I need your protection to help me return home,’ she interrupted in a rush.

      An immediate refusal hovered on his tongue. ‘Where do you live?’ he asked instead.

      ‘Changan.’

      The imperial capital. A good week’s journey from here and in the opposite direction of where he needed to go. The area surrounding the city would be littered with imperial soldiers who would be overjoyed to see him.

      ‘I can pay you,’ she said when he remained silent.

      She pulled a silk purse from her belt and threw it to him before he could respond. The coins rattled as he caught it.

      ‘Open it.’

      The weight of it told him what he’d find before he pulled at the drawstring to reveal a handful of gold and silver. He closed it and tossed it back with a flick of his wrist. The purse landed in the dirt at her feet.

      ‘I can’t.’

      Her eyebrows shot up, puzzled. ‘You do not know how much this is.’

      ‘I know how much it is,’ he said through his teeth. ‘I don’t want your money.’

      She lowered her tone. ‘I have offended you.’

      He straightened, avoiding her eyes while needles of guilt stabbed at him, sharp and unrelenting. She didn’t know what she was asking.

      ‘I can’t go to Changan no matter what the price. And don’t go throwing your money around—what the hell are you doing?’

      She had her hands clasped together in front of her, palm to fist, head bowed humbly.

      ‘I am beseeching you as a fellow swordsman. I need your protection.’

      ‘We’re not fellow swordsmen,’ he growled. Raising a hand to the back of his neck, he pinched at the knot forming there. ‘You don’t even know who I am.’

      ‘I know we are strangers and this is an unspeakable imposition, but I must get home and I cannot make it alone.’

      Now it was his turn to pace. He could sense her hovering nearby, waiting for an answer as if he hadn’t already given it. His inability to help her tore at him. He couldn’t be responsible for Ailey. His last mistake was the deadliest in a long, winding chain of them. Whoever had decided he should lead other men must have been either drunk or daft. At least while he was alone, no one else could get hurt.

      ‘What are you doing so far from home, anyway?’ he demanded.

      ‘I help my family with our business.’

      ‘Selling tea?’

      ‘Yes.’ She paused. ‘Tea.’

      ‘No respectable merchant would send his daughter out here unprotected. The imperial army no longer guards these roads.’

      ‘I was not alone,’ she insisted. ‘I was with bodyguards.’ Her voice trailed away and she pulled the cap from her head in an agitated motion. A single braid tumbled over her shoulder, black as ink. Unbound, it would frame her face like a dream.

      No. He was not going to be swayed.

      ‘If I go to Changan, I’ll be hanged,’ he said with forced coldness. ‘Is that the sort of man you want to be travelling with?’

      She tensed, but refused to back down. ‘What did you do? Did you steal something?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Did you kill someone?’ Her voice faltered.

       ‘No.’

      She shouldn’t look so relieved. He wasn’t a thief or a murderer, but he wasn’t much better. Anger and regret flooded him all at once. ‘I made a mistake.’

      A half-witted, disastrous mistake. He should have never taken that command. He wasn’t fit to lead others. He could barely keep himself alive. The fire crackled and sputtered as it began to die.

      ‘I’ll take you to the nearest town,’ he said, tossing more wood into the fire. ‘You can find someone else to take you home.’

      After a long silence, she settled in the grass beside him and pulled her legs to her chest. She didn’t argue with him, but he could see the stubborn determination in her eyes.

      ‘I want to help. I’m just not the right person to do it.’

      ‘I know you’re a good man.’

      The firelight danced in her eyes, reflecting a spark of gold within the irises. His gaze strayed to her mouth despite his best intentions. Desire blindsided him, heated, unbidden and greedy.

      ‘I’m not,’ he muttered.

      Ailey shouldn’t have been alone out there, as trusting as she was. A man could easily take advantage of her. She would be silk and moonlight in his arms. A couple of hours of forgetfulness.

      He was a savage to even consider it. She was stranded and desperate. She had begged for his help and he had refused after she had shown him the only touch of kindness he’d known in a long time. The first since he had woken up in a hovel a month ago, the gash on his head still healing.

      He struggled to find something civil. ‘You’re pretty good with those swords.’

      ‘My brothers and I would practise together. I have five—had five.’ An unmistakable look of sadness crossed her face.

      ‘Where in God’s earth are they?’

      She grew quiet, scraping the toe of her boot against the dirt. ‘They’re scattered to different corners of the empire.’

      ‘I can’t believe there is no one nearby who can help you. An associate of your father’s or the town magistrate.’

      ‘There is no one.’

      She raised her chin stubbornly. His hands itched to stroke the graceful line of her neck. He could almost taste how sweet her mouth would be, innocent and untried. Grabbing a twig, he snapped it in two and threw it into the flames. Apparently he did have some principles after all. Her faith in him, misplaced as it was, humbled him.

      He drew his sword. She started at the sound, her lithe body coiled and ready. Fighter’s reflexes. The kind that took time and practice to develop.

      ‘I’m laying this down between us,’ he explained.

      Her eyes lit up. ‘May I?’

      His attempt at honour seemed lost on her. She wrapped her slender fingers around the hilt with careful reverence. Her arms sank under the weight.

      ‘It’s quite heavy,’ she murmured.

      ‘It belonged to my father.’

      What had compelled him to tell her? It had been years since he’d spoken of his father. Her gaze roamed over the guard and down the length of the battered steel. The scrutiny felt so much more personal than if she had looked him over with the same admiration. Suddenly it bothered him to be sharing this moment with a stranger, this odd girl who liked swords.

      Without a word, he took the weapon from her hands and placed it between them. She regarded him with a confused look before withdrawing. Hugging her arms around her knees, she scanned the darkness. The whir of cicadas filled the night. For a moment the look on her face was so vulnerable, the need to protect her overwhelmed any other urge. They were both stranded out here with no idea what the next day would bring. He wagered she wasn’t as accustomed to it as he was.

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