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."She mentioned that? La Senora only refers to people by what they might offer her.She didn't take you in for charity's sake.The old man from your order—what was his name?""Pacheco?""Yes.He gave her money.""We did, too," he said.Blanca laughed quietly."Then she did well for herself.Perhaps if she's lucky she can buy her way out of trouble."They turned the corner around the converted cathedral, but when they did not stop to take shelter there, Ada and Gavriel exchanged questioning looks."Where are we going?" Ada asked, her mind beginning to work and see arid breathe once again.Yes, like breathing after a year below water.She had never stopped to realize how demanding her cravings had become.The damage that could have been done, if she had been sold into slavery—she shivered and swallowed a bitter copper taste."Out of sight," Gavriel said, tugging Ada into a brick alcove between buildings."They're in pursuit."Blanca squeezed into the shadows with them, the fine sheen of sweat on her forehead dampening the band of her dark cowl.Her skin smooth and firm, she appeared no older than a girl.The flat bodice of her modest wool gown, some color between blue and black, raised and lowered with each quick breath.The whites of her eyes fairly glowed, no matter how deeply she slunk into the black.Her whisper stretched across the scant inches between them."I'm helping because I hate that old witch.She'd keep me as her servant for the rest of my days.""What will happen to her?" Ada asked.'Trial by fire or water, perhaps.No man will stand as her second, so she'll not be asked to endure trial by combat—not as a lone old woman.But now that los guardias have her, I'll need help getting out of the city.No young woman travels beyond its walls alone.""You want us to be your escorts?" Ada covered her smile with one hand, ignoring the seething male at her side."Won't that be nice, Gavriel? Another traveling companion for you?""I would toss you both in the Tagus, if I could.""Hardly charitable, novice," she said, her smile refusing to be contained.Realizing she still held his hand, she gave it a squeeze.He dropped her fingers as if they were live embers."You strip me of my charity," he said."Thank you for your assistance, senorita, but we can offer you nothing but gold.I cannot assume more burdens in this journey.""I won't accept gold," Blanca said with a shake of her head.Tears forged silvery paths down her cheeks."You must understand that gold is useless to one such as me.I'm tainted by my aunt's illegal business.No one will meet my eyes in the marketplace.I've no chance for proper suitors.This town is a prison."That word may as well have been a streak of lightning flashing between them.Gavriel flinched and averted his gaze.Ada felt something tighten in her chest, a sense of unexpected kinship pinching below her ribs.How often had she thought of Charawood Forest as just such a prison? The taint of her sister's ailment and her eventual blindness—not to mention Meg's passion for the mysteries of alchemy—had endeared them to none of their superstitious neighbors.She had since endured the horrors of true prisons, both in Sheriff Finch's dreaded dungeon and in the clutches of her opium thirst, but Blanca's youthful need for an escape brought those years in Charnwood back to life.She remembered believing that any sacrifice would be worthwhile, that anyone offering an escape was a saint"We've difficulty enough," said Gavriel."You must understand.My apologies."If she had not known better of the taciturn man, Ada would have sworn his words sounded more like a plea.She almost felt sorry for him."You can come with us," she said.A group of men in armor chugged past, the clamor of their metal skins louder than their shouts.Ada wondered at the power of fear.A rabbit hiding from a wolf's jaws could not stay as still as she did Gripped by that unnatural stillness, she felt Gavriel's body pressed against hers.He hardly breathed.Did his pulse race as hers did? Did he wonder at the heat where their limbs touched?She had only just experienced the terrible aftermath of her withdrawal.Now the same reckless part of her that still craved the bitter taste of opium was taking stock of the potent male at her side.That she had so little sense heated her cheeks, part from shame, part from a delicious sort of nervousness."Shall I signal for them?" Blanca asked, her voice a strangled whisper despite the threat."Save your breath" Ada said."Gavriel is bound to care for me, which means if I won't leave without you, neither will he
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