___

  Adrian opened the hatch and disappeared. For a moment, I stood there, not moving. I didn’t know if I was still angry, or if I even wanted the answers he had. A noise startled me from below, and I made up my mind. It didn’t really matter, I supposed. I couldn’t stay here any longer. Grabbing the bag, I lifted the hatch and climbed out into the cold evening.

  ___

  The sun was just setting as we left the attic, and Adrian crouched on the rooftop, waiting for me. As we ran, I realized we were headed back towards my tower. Of course he would know where I live, I thought bitterly. Then my stomach growled and reminded me I had not had food in a long time, happily remembering the leftovers of bread and apples that I had stashed in my room.

  But then my mind wandered to other things, mostly just replaying everything that had happened recently. Meeting Adrian at the jail, getting the letter to Mark, the council meeting earlier—I couldn't believe all of that could happen only within a few days. I led the way to my place, and when we got to the tower, I slowed at the bottom, giving Adrian a few moments to catch up. I would have stopped, but he moved his hands and motioned upwards. Telling me to go first. Climbing up the bottom of the tower, I thought for a moment, then stopped, hanging onto the side of the wall until he came up beside me.

  “What is it?” Adrian’s voice seemed rough and quiet in the still dusk around us. With the streetlight below and the sun still barely over the horizon, I could just make out his clothing.

  “Go first.” He hesitated, then nodded his head and went up. Not even pausing as he reached the first of the hideout rooms. Meaning he knows exactly where I live. I didn’t like that thought.

  And then I wondered, had he been the one watching me? Reporting—everything—to Terra? Anger coursed through me again, and I felt my face heat with shame at the thought of me changing and bathing in that room. And as I watched him duck under the beams that functioned as my front door, I wasn’t sure what to do.

  So I followed him inside, finding him standing in the middle of my small room in the darkness. I brushed past him to light a candle and realized I didn’t have many of them left; I made a mental note to get more the next time I was at a market. My emotions hadn’t settled yet, and I didn’t want to talk, so I grabbed the rest of the bread and the fruit, offering some to him, which he accepted, before taking my own. It tasted so good I had to remind myself to slow down.

  I sat on my bed and watched Adrian. Now that there was light from the candle, I noticed how big he seemed compared to my place. It was like there wasn’t room for him, even if he could still stand and move around. He had stayed standing since he walked in and looked so awkward I finally gestured to the blankets, shuffled over and told him to sit. To my surprise, he did.

  “So,” Adrian started once he sat down, crossing his legs and tearing off a chunk of bread. He swallowed before speaking. “Why did you want me to come up here first? To see if I knew where your room was?” I nodded. “Okay, well, for the record, I’ve never been here before, or watched—anything.” He spoke awkwardly and looked down. Relief flooded through me. At least he hadn’t seen anything. But that didn’t change the fact that he—and probably most Terra Edem’s guild—knew where I lived.

  “Somehow that still doesn’t make me feel better.” I replied heatedly. As soon as I had spoken, I wished I could keep my feelings in check.

  “I know. And if you’ll let me explain—” I didn’t let him finish the sentence. Standing up, I crossed my arms, looking down at him.

  “I don’t want an explanation, and I don’t want any answers. I’m never joining your guild, and I thought I had made that pretty clear—”

  “I didn’t.” He interrupted. I had stopped yelling when I heard him speak, but I didn’t understand.

  “What?” I asked, attempting to lower my voice again. Adrian moved his knees up and rested his arms on top of them, looking up at me. His right hand moved to lower the fabric covering his mouth, and he sighed loudly before speaking.

  “I didn’t—I mean—I thought I could change your mind.” He shook his head as I started to speak. “Wait, just—listen.” Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I shrugged and sat crossed legged on the floor in the middle of the room. At least I could hear his side of things, I thought, since he was here.

  “I thought we could help you. I know Terra, she’s hard on everyone, but I could see that you could make it past trial, and,” Here he stopped, and ran his hands through his hair. “You have to understand, it wasn’t my decision, but—you’re right to be mad at me. I didn’t exactly stop the plan either.”

  “So, there was a plan? A plan involving risking my life before even considering if I wanted to join, and before forcing me to do your tests? Is that how you get members? Kidnapping?” This was ridiculous. I stood up again and walked to the door. A hand encircled my waist and then let go immediately when I turned, wincing from where his hands brushed over my stitches.

  “Wait.” Adrian was standing behind me, and again I never heard him move. Despite my anger, there was always a sense of awe at how easily he moved. “There’s just so much to explain, and I need time. I need time to make you understand.” He had pulled the fabric covering his face down, and while his words were clearer than they had been at the jail, there were still yellow-green bruises and swelling that lined his face.

  “And what if I don’t want to?” He stayed silent. I turned back again to leave, but too quickly. This time, I felt the gash in my side reopen. Stumbling, I felt Adrian’s arms under mine, holding me up. “I’m fine.” I muttered, hating that he had caught me. “It probably reopened from our fight earlier. I’ll deal with it.” He helped me gently and got me lowered onto my bed. I wanted to leave, but I had nothing left to sew it with. I was about to tell him I was out of material to fix this when he reached into his coat and pulled out a small box.

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  “Standard guild items.” He explained. “They give them to everyone.” I pressed my hand to my side, and this time I rolled my eyes. He knelt in front of me and met my gaze. “I can’t fix it if you don’t remove—”

  “Not happening.” There was no way I was undressing in front of him, even for stitches. Holding up his hands innocently, he cleared his throat, and I thought his cheeks went slightly redder in the candlelight.

  “I meant just to your undershirt. I can’t work through leather, and it’s too tight for me to move out of the way.” He shrugged again and his color was normal now. I looked down at my side and grudgingly decided that he was right. I couldn’t move the top up enough to reach the spot by myself, and I was probably bleeding from the wound, judging by the feel of it. My undershirt was sticking to my skin. I doubted there would be much blood, but stitches would be nice. And it would honestly just be a lot easier for someone else to do it.

  Surrendering, I lifted my arms, wincing as my side pulled farther apart again. Adrian placed the kit on the floor and helped me out of the leather vest, and the long-sleeved shirt I was wearing as well. Thankfully, that still left the white tank top the Guild had given me to change into, and my chest binding. Adrian sat back down in front of me, grabbing the kit once again, and his hands reached for the hem of my shirt, looking up at me for approval.

  Looking down, I could easily make out that smear of red that had seeped through the shirt already. I nodded, letting him lift the fabric over the cut, and I held the shirt bunched up against my chest as he worked.

  The cut didn’t seem deep, just enough that it bled. I watched Adrian thread the needle and cut the length of thicker cord than I had used on him. He looked different in the candlelight, I noticed. More soft. Although the fabric covering his mouth was pulled down, he still had his hood up, casting shadows across his features from this angle. He looked strong; I thought, before I could stop the thought. I quickly looked away from him, and instead stared at the walls of my space as he fixed my side. He moved closer to see the cut. I bit my lip as he first applied a disinfectant to it, muttering ‘sorry’ as he did.

  “There’s another reason I wanted you to come up here first.” I started talking, trying to ignore the warmth of his fingers on my skin as he started with the needle.

  “Oh, yeah?” He questioned quietly, never drawing his eyes away from his task.

  “I thought you might have set a trap up here.” He smiled slightly out of the corner of my eye.

  “No, we wouldn’t do that. Besides,” He cut the thread, and used a cloth to wipe down the needle. “You could always push me off of here, and something tells me I probably wouldn’t just walk away from a fall like that.”

  “Don’t give me any ideas,” I taunted, “Or I just might.” Adrian started putting things back into the little box he had. “You’re done already?” I lifted my shirt to reveal that it looked the same as it had this morning when I woke up. Even the individual stitches looked identical. “Were you the one who—” Adrian was still kneeling when he looked up at me.

  “Yes. I stitched you up last night after we brought you back.” He winced as he mentioned bringing me back to the Guild. Pocketing the box again, he came over and sat next to me on the nest of blankets. I turned so my back was against the wall, drawing my knees up again, but not far enough to cause my side to hurt. Adrian sat with one leg crossed under him, and one leg pulled up to his chest, facing me. “Do you want to hear my side of it? I mean, why I went along with what the Guild was doing?”

  As he asked, I realized I still didn’t know. I didn’t know if I wanted to hear it. And if I listened to him, it wouldn’t change anything. He still put me at risk, and as I thought about it more, everything about him being here put me in danger. Adrian knew where I stayed, where I kept my things. Adrian’s words broke me out of my thoughts.

  “I know you’re probably thinking a million things right now. I would be if I were you. But I promise, I’m not here to hurt you.” You already did, I thought, but didn’t say it out loud.

  “Then why are you here? And how did you even know where I was earlier?” There was accusation in my voice, but I had to relax and at least let him answer this one. Adrian seemed to think about it for a moment.

  “Well, Gunther followed you out of the Guild at first, just to see which direction you were headed. Please don’t be mad at him for that. It was daylight, and he worries about people.” The people belonging to the Guild, is what he didn’t say. “Terra wouldn’t let us leave after you ran out. She told us to let you go, even as me and a couple of others were on our way out the door—but she’s not someone you disobey easily.” Suddenly he grew more quiet, looking down at the mess of blankets. He reached out and played with one of the frayed ends between his fingertips.

  “She was talking about how you had done well, and how you must really trust me to risk your life just on a message. I didn’t mean to use you—”

  “Even that day on the roof, you knew—you knew it was me, right?” I stared at him until his eyes lifted from the blanket. I needed to hear him say it.

  “Yeah, I,” He took a deep breath in and stayed focused on the threads breaking away from one of the tears in the blanket. “I knew. Meeting you, the roof that morning, it wasn’t an accident.” I watched as Adrian kept his head down, gazing at his face, trying to read him. Even as a thief, though, I wasn’t much for gauging emotion. But I wasn’t sure if he was lying, or why he would have reason to lie if he were.

  I didn’t know what to say. My leg shook nervously as my mind jumped from one image to another. I remembered how Adrian looked last night on the roof. Angry, and powerful, and—it looked like he could kill me if he wanted to.

  We had both been sitting quietly for a while, just keeping to our own thoughts, but eventually his eyes lifted to my leg that was bouncing against the blankets. I stopped and let it fall still.

  “Why?” My voice came out quiet, so I cleared my voice and tried again. Hating the heat that rose to my cheeks. “Why do you seem so different now? You’re not as—”

  “Quiet? Mysterious?” He smirked up at me.

  “Angry. Dangerous.” My voice came out a whisper, even as my honesty surprised me, and this time I didn’t repeat myself. My words fell silent in the small room. He looked up again, this time without smirking. Not being able to handle his expression, I got up and crossed the room, heading to the door.

  My breath caught as I stood, and I had to steady myself from the pain piercing my side. But I walked with no further problems and stood by the entrance, with my back against the wall beside the doorway. I still wasn’t trusting enough, and I wanted to have time to react if he came up behind me.

  After a couple of moments of looking at the few small street torches and the skyline of the only place I’d ever known, I heard Adrian speak quietly from my bed.

  “Are you scared of me, Izzie?” I moved my hand to my right shoulder, rubbing the muscle, and felt the cool air move over my exposed arms in the tank top. Was I? Did I fear for my life when he was around? The answer should have been yes. I shouldn’t have him in my room, and I shouldn’t have given him that knife the first day we met. I should fear him.

  “Maybe.” I whispered finally. It was the most truthful answer I could give.