Chapter 4: A Dance With The Devil

We ran.

Through the unsteady streets, past startled onlookers, down the damp, moonlit streets. Anthony's hand was firm in mine, pulling me forward as the pounding footsteps grew louder.

"Left!" I hissed, yanking him down a narrow passage.

The moment we turned the corner I spotted an overturned cart and a pile of discarded crates. Perfect. I pushed Anthony behind the cart and crouched down beside him, pressing my back against the stone wall.

We barely had a moment to catch our breath before we saw shadows loomed at the alleys entrance.

"He was seen going this way," a gruff voice snarled.

I held up a finger to my lips, silently willing Anthony to keep still. His breath was warm against my ear, and despite our predicament, I was painfully aware of how close he was.

Another voice cursed. "He's slippery that one."

"I say we wait him out," the first man muttered. "He's got to come out sometime."

I clenched my jaw. Wonderful. We were trapped.

---

Anthony shifted beside me, his mouth dangerously close to my ear. "I could sing," he whispered, amusement lacing his voice. "That would certainly distract."

I shot him a glare. "Do you want to be caught?"

He smirked, but before he could respond, the sound of approaching echoed through the valley.

A carriage.

A very expensive carriage.

An idea struck me, wild and ridiculous and entirely us.

I turned to Anthony. "How do you feel about grand theft?"

His grin widened. "I thought you'd never ask."

The carriage barely slowed as it passed the alleys entrance, it's driver focused on the road ahead. That was all the opportunity we needed.

We moved as one, darting from our hiding spot. Vaulting onto the back of the carriage, and clambering up to the roof before anyone could react.

Anthony let out a breathless laugh. "You do realise we have nowhere to go from here."

"Details," I said, keeping my voice light despite the thrill pounding in my chest.

The city blurred past us, lanters flickering in the darkness. Below, the driver remained blissfully unaware of his unexpected passengers.

I turned to Anthony, breathless, exhilarated. "Still think I run from things?"

He chuckled. "No. But I do think you run toward chaos."

I smirked. "Chaos makes life worth living."

His expression softened. "And what about love?"

The words hit me like a punch to the ribs.

Anthony wasn't smiling now. He wasn't teasing. He was looking at me as if he already knew the answer and was simply waiting for me to say it.

I opened my mouth.

Then-

The carriage veered sharply.

Anthony cursed, grabbing onto my arm to keep us both from tumbling off.

Below, the driver was shouting. The men from the alley had spotted us. I sighed. "We really can't have a single moment can we?"

Anthony grinned. "Not if we want to stay alive."

I glanced at the rooftops ahead. A mad idea took shape. "Jump with me?"

He didn't hesitate. "Always."

And so, as the carriage barrelled toward the grand canal, we leapt.

We landed hard On the slanted rooftop, rolling from the impact.

I winced. "Remind me never to do that again."

Anthony groaned beside me. "I liked that carriage."

Laughter bumbled in my throat, and before I could stop myself, I was laughing- really laughing, the kind they made my ribs ache. Anthony joined in, our breathless amusement echoing over the city.

For a moment, It was just us. The rooftops. The stars. The thrill ar another escape.

Then Anthony shifted, propping himself up on his elbows. His eyes gleamed in the moonlight, his face barely inches from mine.

The laughter faded, but the exhilaration remained- this time, for an entirely different reason.

"You kissed me first," I murmured.

His lips twitched. "And you kissed me back."

My heart pounding. "That was... circumstantial."

Anthony huffed a laugh, shaking his head. "Jack Brown, you are a terrible liar when it matters most."

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. "And what if I told you it doesn't matter?"

He searched my face, quiet for a moment. "Then I'd ask why you're still looking at me like that."

Like what?

Like I wanted him to do it again? Like I was already his? Like every carefully constructed lie I had built around myself was falling apart in his presence?

I didn't know who moved first. Maybe it was him. Maybe it was me. Maybe it didn't matter.

Because the moment our lips met, everything else ceased to exist. This time, it wasn't rushed. It wasn't reckless. It was slow, deliberate, unreadable.

His hands cradled my jaw, fingers tracing my cheek, anchoring me to the moment. I melted into him, one hand curling around the fabric of his shirt, the other tangling in his hair.

I spent my time on this earth mastering deception, but there was no lying in this.

I wanted him.

And God help me- I had never wanted anything more.

When we finally broke apart, our breath mingling in the cool night air, Anthony smiled.

"I suppose this means you're done avoiding me?"

I let out a breathless laugh, pressing my forehead against his. "I suppose it does."

Anthony Smirked. "Then what's our next grand adventure, Jack Brown?"

I grinned. "Let's find out."

And with that, hand in hand, we disappeared into the dark gloomy alleyways.

---

We should have left Venice sooner.

We should have known our luck would run dry.

We should have known that for men like us- men who cheated fate, who stole moments that were never meant to be ours- there was always a reckoning.

---

It came in the dead of night.

The Inn was silent when they came for us.

I woke to the press of cold steel against my throat. A rough hand wrenched me upright before I could react, and the next thing I knew, I was being dragged from my bed, my arms wrenched behind my back.

Anthony-

I turned my head just in time to see him struggling, his hands bound, his face set in a murderous glare.

The men holding him looked different from the knes who had chased us before. These were no mere debt collectors or vengeful marks. These men carried themselves with purpose, with certainty.

This wasn't a hunt for money.

It was something far worse.

One of the men stepped forward, his lips curling in a satisfied smirk. "Jack Brown and Anthony Cane," he mused, as if testing the sound of our names. "The Liars, the tricksters. The heretics."

The last word sent a chill down my spine.

Heretics.

My mind raced. We had swindled many, had stolen and deceived, but we had never dabbled in matters of the church.

Had we?

Before I could speak, the man turned to Anthony. "You are a performer," he said. "A corrupter of men. A snake who lures others into sin."

I saw Anthony's jaw clench.

The man's gaze slid to me. "And you," he said, eyes gleaming with something dark, "you are worse."

I forced a smirk, despite the cold fear curling in my gut. "Charmed," I said.

The smirk disappeared with a brutal punch to my stomach.

I doubled over, coughing, as the man leaned close to my ear.

"The church watches all," he murmured. "You think you are free but even the devil himself cannot run forever."

I barely had time to process the words before a heavy sack was pulled over my head. Anthony shouted my name- then a sharp crack. A grunt of pain. Silence.

And then... darkness.

---

When I awoke, I was alone.

My wrists were bound, my body aching from whatever beating I had endured. I could hear the sound of hooves, the rattling of wheels. A carriage.

I turned my head and caught a glimpse of the world outside. The landscape was unfamiliar.

This wasn't Venice.

I wasn't even close.

They had taken me further inland, deeper into Italy. But why? I swallowed against the panic rising in my throat.

Where was Anthony?

What had they done to him?

I didn't know.

But I would find out.

I had escaped worse.

And I would escape again.

---

It took three days.

Three days of watching, waiting, biding my time.

When the opportunity finally came- a careless guard, a loose knot- I took it without hesitation.

I didn't stop running until I was far beyond their reach. Only then did i allow myself to breath.

Only then did I think of Anthony.

I had to find him...

Paris.

That was where they had taken him.

I didn't know how I knew. I must have overheard it in the carriage. Maybe it had been whispered in a dream. Maybe it was simply fate.

It took weeks, stealing, lying, trucking my way across boarders. I became a ghost, slipping through the cracks of civilization, leaving only rumours in my wake.

And then... I found him. It was a theatre, fitting really.

The crowd roared, drowning out the city's heartbeat, but I barely heard them. My eyes fixed on him.

Anthony stood on the stage, bathed in golden light, his voice weaving a spell over the audience. He looked different- his clothes finer, his posture straighter- but I knew him.

I would know him anywhere. And when our eyes met- the world stopped. For a moment, there was silence.

Then Anthony's lips parted, and he smiled.

We didn't speak right away. We didn't have to.

---

The moment we were alone, he stepped toward me. I caught his face in my hands, drinking in the sight of him, as if to assure myself that he was real.

"I thought I lost you," I whispered.

Anthony exhaled a laugh, his hands resting over mine. "You're impossible to lose, Jack Brown."

I swallowed hard, my heart a tangled mess. "They took you."

"They tried," he said. "But I am not so easily broken." His voice was steady but I could see the weight behind his eyes.

I pressed my forehead against his. "We leave tonight."

His lips curled into a smirk. "Where to?"

I grinned. "Anywhere," And just like that, we ran again.

But freedom was never ours to keep.

We made it as far as Rome before we got caught.

It was a grand Hall, marble and gold, filled with men in robes, their eyes sharp with judgement.

At the end of the chamber sat a man draped in white.

A pope.

A trial.

A voice rang out, loud and unforgiving.

"Jack Brown and Anthony Cane, you stand accused of heresy and blasphemy."

The words echoed through the chamber, final and damning.

I forced a smirk, masking the cold fear beneath my skin.

Anthony exhaled, shaking his head with something almost like amusement. "You really do run towards chaos."

I grinned. "Always."

And with that.

Our fate was sealed-