Page 56 of Reaper's Quest

My upper body jerked into a straight-backed sit, the shift of weight causing me to slip an inch down the roof’s pitch.Catching myself, I snapped my focus to Chace. He stood on the terrace below, his arms folded across his chest and his head tipped to the side.

“I could ask you the same.” I grazed my hands over the wooden shingles at my sides, seeking a strong hold, but my touch only found old, brittle, and rough roof tiles.

His shoulders lifted and immediately dropped. “I was looking for you. Aoes suggested I might find you up here.” He glanced toward the stairwell door. “That guy appears to be far too aware of everything we do. I don’t like it.”

His assessment of Aoes was spot-on. The pub manager missed nothing. And as for Chace, no harm in admitting the truth…this time.

“I came up here to study the citadel.”

“Notice anything useful?”

“Nope.” My upper body rose and fell on a sigh.

His lips pressed tightly, and he nodded. Remained quiet for half a moment. “We need to talk about Aldine.”

My heart weighted. “Yeah. We do.”

Because he wasn’t getting better, and I hadn’t received a response to my inquiry.

Chace unfolded his arms and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. “He should be in possession of the citadel’s file and who knows what else. I think it’s time we go through his belongings. Find out what he has that might help us…and him…complete our quest and get home.”

To touch Aldine’s belongings without his permission felt like a major violation of his privacy. And yet…had I not sought the opportunity to do the same to Chace? Search his stuff for whatever secrets he kept hidden? I likely would have already done so, had the chance presented itself.

As for Aldine, he probablydidhave information we needed, given our location, the challenge we faced, and his current inability to help with anything.

“Okay,” I said. “You’re probably right.”

“Of course I’m right,” Chace replied. “It’s been four days already, and we’re wasting time with everything we don’t know.”

I nodded my head slowly. “So, when do you?”

“I’m sorry.” He cut his hands across his chest. “Is there a reason you remain perched on the top edge of the roofline like some bird? I’m not loving this.” He waved his hand, indicating the spacious gap between us. “Can you come down here so that we can talk face-to-face?”

A frown pulled at my features, yet he wasn’t wrong. Raising our voices so that we might hear each other across the distance was less than ideal. The too-far-aware Aoes likely listened in from just about anywhere.

Shifting forward, I began my descent, careful of the aged and less than sound wood slates covering the pitched roof. I had barely started my downward crawl when the shingles gave way, propelling me into an uncontrolled slide.

I grabbed at tiles in a pointless effort to slow my fall, wood nipping at my skin, but I failed to decrease the speed at which my body plummeted.

I succumbed to gravity at a reckless rate. Skidded across the roof like I slid down on a water slide.

And when I reached the bottom edge of the roof, I launched off the end into the open air.

My body slammed into an unmovable force?Chace.

His arms folded around me, catching me, and holding mesteady. My breath stalled in my chest. My heart beat a frantic rhythm.

And I stared up at him, trying to remember a time when I felt more confused. Confused because he was touching me, and I didn’t hate it.

My body buzzed, and I couldn’t tear my gaze away. He, too, continued to stare.

Did his heart hammer as wildly as my own? Was… Was he even breathing?

Something shifted between us and…

Holy reaping hell. My gaze dipped.Did I just feel?

“Ruthless Raven,” he quipped, his grip tightening on my upper arms and relocating me half a foot back. “More like Reckless Raven, if you ask me.”