I Will Never Be Yours novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: The Road

I held the knife Caspian had given me low against my thigh and did not lift it.

"Twelve men," I said. "That's a lot of trouble for one rogue."

"They're not here for you." Alder's voice was patient. "They're here to make sure there's no mess."

"Who are they?"

"Friends. Wolves who've cleaned up after me for three years."

"The camps," I said.

"Every one." He sighed.

"Do you know how hard it is to kill so many men and not look cruel?"

"I don't care how it looked."

"I've had to be so careful."

"Why my father?"

"Not tonight, Sorcha."

He took a step toward me, and I took one back.

A voice rolled out of the trees behind him, quiet and level.

"Alder."

Every head on the road turned.

Caspian walked out of the pines with the captain and six wolves at his back.

He did not hurry.

He wore no coat.

The moonlight showed the scar white across his right palm.

"Cas," Alder said, and for one moment his face was a boy's, caught.

"Put the knife down."

"I can't."

"Alder. Put it down."

"You came out here to watch her walk away," Alder said slowly. "You knew. How long have you known?"

"Since the quarryman."

"The quarryman is dead."

"You killed him," Caspian said. "Through the bars of my cell, in my keep, a few doors from where I stood."

"Cas..."

"And you came to tell me you'd heard there was trouble."

Alder laughed, and it was a terrible, tired sound.

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