18. The Chase

I gasped but stayed hidden, stuck in a complicated web of the duty and embarrassment that held me to the roof and the curiosity and desire that wished to pull me down.

Theo’s eyes flicked toward the rooftop, as if trying to see me through the painted stones and sturdy wood. “Are you truly going to make me climb up there?”

When I didn’t answer, he laughed again, and my heart raced rapidly as his confident footsteps made their way toward the building. Panic set in, and I got up and ran.

“Mouse!” I heard him yell, his voice filled with amusement.

I didn’t turn around. I leapt from rooftop to rooftop in a quick, near effortless fashion and made my way back to the first building I’d climbed, knowing this clock tower’s smooth surface could prove difficult for him to climb up and continue chasing me.

His quick footsteps were fast approaching, and I held my breath as I pulled the grappling hook out of my bag and threw it, hurriedly scaling up the side of the building the moment the hook sunk into the raised edge. His laughter behind me sent searing heat to my cheeks and ears, but I kept climbing and pulled the rope away from the building the minute I reached the top.

“Do you truly mean to leave me here?” Theo asked, panting and smiling as he looked up at me from the lower roof. I threw my legs over the side of the clock tower and leaned forward just enough to meet his gaze.

“I didn’t expect you to give up so easily,” I teased.

“That’s fair,” he chuckled, then threw his hands into his mouth and copied the exact whistle I use for Onyx when I wish her to come to me. I tilted my head to the side and watched in confusion as Onyx swooped down, stared at the two of us, and then stole my grappling hook and threw it down to him.

“You traitor!” I seethed.

“It seems your bird has taken a liking to me,” Theo responded, spinning the hook around and throwing it to the roof. “Far more than you seem to have.”

I laid down and stared at the sky, accepting defeat as Theo climbed onto the clock tower and joined me. He stood over me, ensuring I watched as he dropped the grappling hook to the ground beside me before sitting down so close, I could feel the heat emanating from his body and smell the mint from his breath.

“If you missed me so much, you could have written back,” Theo teased. “You didn’t have to stalk me.”

“I wasn’t here for you,” I defended, sitting up and turning a bit to prevent the moonlight from revealing my crimson cheeks.

“So, it seems that fate has brought us together again.”

“If you ask me to dance, I’m going to leave.”

“Is dancing with me that horrid of an idea, Mouse?” He asked, though my back was turned to him, I could hear the smile in his voice.

“No,” I confessed. “But it makes this all harder for me.”

“Makes what harder?” Theo prodded.

I sighed and turned around to face him. “Everything, Theodore. Your return to my life has made everything difficult. I’m lying to my friends. I’m making stupid mistakes and decisions I wouldn’t normally make. Even now, these words are spilling out of my mouth, and my head is screaming at me to stop speaking, but I can’t, and it’s all your fault!”

I hadn’t realized it, but tears were falling out of my eyes. Theo scooted closer to me and wiped them away without saying a word. “I am sorry, Cat. It isn’t my intention to make your life harder.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“I can’t place the blame solely on you, Theo. I’m sure I’ve not made things easier for you, either.” I moved away from him and wiped my own face, steeling my resolve and commanding my eyes to cry no more. “I’m sorry I’m babbling. The only one I’ve been able to talk about this with for weeks is a bird who I’ve just learned has betrayed me.”

Theodore chuckled and let the hand that was holding my face fall. “How do we move forward then, Mouse?”

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and thought. We could pretend we mean nothing to each other, but that seems foolish, and I would rather fight to the death here on this rooftop than do that. “I don’t know,” I answered after a moment, coming up with no other logical conclusion.

“We could fight to the death right here and now,” Theo offered jokingly. “Go ahead and end it since we know that’s how this will go.”

“I assume you thought that was a more feasible option than pretending we don’t exist? Because I did.”

“I did,” he laughed.

“Are you sure there’s no way for you to leave the Council behind? We could help you hide.”

Theo sighed and ran his fingers through his black hair. “That’s a huge risk, Mouse—far more for you and the people you care about than for me. It is something I desire, probably more than anything else now that my one desire of finding you again has been met. It’s just not something I can do yet, not without causing harm to anyone around me.”

“But you’re at risk now because of me. My people think you’re dead. If they see you, they’d kill you, Theodore. But if you leave the Council, I’m sure they’d show some grace.”

“I take it you told them who I was?” He asked, unconcerned about the fact that his life was on the line.

“Yes,” I whispered quietly. “Well, not entirely. I told them your name when I confessed to them about our meeting in Midwaden. In truth, I never expected to see you again, so I thought it was okay. But then I did. And then they did.” William, specifically, but there was no way I’d give Theodore a name. “I didn’t expect them to try to kill you. I’m sorry.”

“You’re the only assassin that seems to have a problem determining whether or not I should be killed, Mouse,” he sighed.

“I’m sorry, Theo.”

“People trying to kill me is nothing new. I’m not very concerned about it.”

“What do we do now?”

“Isn’t that what we were already trying to figure out?” He laughed.

I cast my eyes toward the sky and smacked my hand against my forehead. Why was this all so complicated? “Maybe we should just run away together,” I said before I could stop myself.

Theo’s gaze became serious, and his face grew stern. “Don’t tempt me, Cat. I know you don’t mean that.”

“I don’t,” I admitted. “But the thought did cross my mind. I just don’t want to see you die yet.”

“‘Yet?’” Theo repeated, far more amused than he should be given the circumstances. “You think you’ll wake up one day and be ready to see me dead, maybe even be the one to cause it?”

“I don’t know, maybe. The future is full of complex and impossible-to-predict possibilities.”

“For you, maybe.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said as my brows furrowed. “Are you saying you possess some magical capability that allows you to see the future?”

“No, Mouse,” he chuckled and tilted his head to the side as he leaned back on his forearms. “I’m saying that you are the only one out of two of us that thinks being able to kill the other would be something you may one day desire.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“It was implied.”

I huffed in frustration. “I would never desire to kill you, Theodore.”

“‘The future is full of complex and impossible-to-predict possibilities.’” My words were thrown back at me, taunting me, provoking me, and he just sat there with a smug grin that I wished I could wipe off his face.

“You’re facing death, we’re talking about killing each other, and all you can do is tease me?” I snapped.

“The future is impossible to predict, but what has seemed to be a constant for us is the fact that our fates are intertwined. From the moment my father took you from your home, to the years we spent barely surviving in different versions of a similar prison, to being brought back together now after more than a decade apart, it seems the future has much more left for us to discover together.”

I let out a long breath, my anger leaving as his logic settled into my mind, though I didn’t fully believe it, a part of me wanted to. I fought hard to keep that part at bay. Thinking of any type of future would bring nothing but heartache and trouble, and I wished to remain in the present and prevent myself from thinking too far ahead. “But what do we do about it now?”

Theo smiled, stood to his feet, and extended his hand. “Dance with me. Just once more? We will figure out tomorrow if we’re both still alive to see it.”