“ It’s Sergeant Yara,” she called, “and Maldynado. We have a boat.”
The figure pushed a mop of hair out of his eyes. It must be Akstyr. He hurried and caught the others, though Amaranthe, a surprisingly good swimmer, made it to the shoreline before turning and realizing her men weren’t with her. Evrial lifted an arm and waved, figuring enforcers wouldn’t normally offer outlaws a friendly greeting.
Akstyr cupped his hand and shouted something to her. Amaranthe gave him a wave of acknowledgment, but she didn’t rush back into the water. She gazed upriver, toward the steamboat.
“ Sicarius,” Evrial muttered. She had to be wondering about him.
Evrial didn’t feel a similar sense of concern-his loss wouldn’t disturb her-though she empathized with Amaranthe and hoped he turned up for her sake.
“ Tell them to hurry,” Maldynado called up from the cabin. “There’s a marine with a spyglass looking this way.”
Evrial waved again, relaying the message. She didn’t know if Amaranthe heard, but she tore her gaze away from the steamboat and swam back out. Her men were already climbing aboard.
“ We haven’t figured out how we’re going to get past them, have we?” Evrial asked Maldynado.
“ Why do we have to pass them? Let’s go back to that port and find a lorry to borrow. That might be the best way to get back to town if the army’s searching all the main routes.”
“ Good point.” Evrial decided not to say anything about stealing more vehicles; that fight could wait. She dropped an arm when Amaranthe approached, helping her over the edge.
“ Thanks.” Before Amaranthe found her feet, she added, “Have you seen Sicarius?”
“ If they had,” came a voice from the back of the boat, “it’d be a failing on his part.”
Sicarius stood there, dripping water, his short blond hair flattened to his head. Akstyr groaned and elbowed Basilard, muttering something about, “thought we might have gotten rid of him.”
Amaranthe nearly stumbled over her own men in her haste to reach him. She threw her arms around him with enough force that she could have knocked him overboard if he hadn’t been prepared. After a brief hesitation, Sicarius returned the hug.
Akstyr gaped. Books and Basilard shared shrugs-knowing shrugs, Evrial thought. Sespian sighed and turned his back on them. Evrial remembered his interest in Amaranthe and patted him on the shoulder as she descended the steps, joining Maldynado in the cabin again. He’d turned the craft around, and the dark river spread out before them.
“ We have everybody?” Maldynado leaned back in his seat, twisting his neck to peer outside.
“ Yes,” Evrial said. “I don’t know where Sicarius came from, but he’s there.”
“ Oh, good.” Maldynado nudged a lever, and their craft accelerated.
“ Because you’d miss him if he disappeared?” Evrial asked, surprised that Maldynado’s “good” had sounded sincere.
“ He’s handy to have around.”
“ Because of his skills.” The man’s bloody history notwithstanding, Evrial could see why the team would consider him a boon.
“ Because he draws fire.” Maldynado winked. “Nobody bothers going after me and my two-fifty bounty when his million-ranmya head is in sight.” Maldynado raised his voice and called out the back, “So, was this worth all the excitement? Did we save the empire again?”
“ We saved it,” Books said wearily. “For now. I need a nap. Or a vacation.”
Evrial gazed back toward the steamboat and those marine vessels. They were growing distant as Maldynado took their craft farther downriver, but she thought the River Dancer sat lower in the water. The others hadn’t done something that would sink it, had they? Maybe that was how they’d assured the weapons were nullified. If so, this adventure would anger someone upriver, someone who’d know for certain that Lokdon and the others were coming. She remembered Maldynado’s comment that those marines were Ravido’s men and feared there wouldn’t be many naps or vacations in the near future.
“ You going to stick around?” Maldynado asked her. “Or are you still waiting to talk to Books?”
“ At this point, I think the authorities are going to indelibly mark me as a part of your team. It wouldn’t be safe for me to leave even if I wanted to.”
“ And do you want to leave?” Maldynado asked carefully.
Evrial mulled over the question, thinking of her myriad doubts during the last couple of days. “Would you miss me if I did?” she asked as an interim response.
“ Yup.”
That single syllable, tossed out without need for consideration, affected her more than she would have expected. For the last couple of weeks, she’d been certain Maldynado would lose interest in her once they, as he called it, blanket wrestled. Yet here he was, saying he still wanted her around.
“ I hope you’ll stay,” came Amaranthe’s voice from the companionway. She climbed down the steps and sat on the bottom one. “Between the Behemoth and the numbers Forge and Ravido command, we’re terribly outmatched. And who knows if they have more weapons like the ones we just dropped onto the river bottom?” Amaranthe shuddered, and it probably wasn’t her wet clothing giving her chills.
“ What were the weapons exactly?” Evrial asked.
Amaranthe explained them, and Evrial’s jaw dropped lower and lower as she listened. Amaranthe and her men had to be crazy-and suicidal-to take on these people. But what was the alternative? To walk away and hand them control of the empire? And, if those Forge people could enact the monetary policies they’d discuss at their meeting, perhaps eventually control of the world?
“ I’ll stay,” Evrial said.
“ Good,” Amaranthe said.
Maldynado sniffed. “I’m going to pretend it’s my charms that are keeping her here and not some moral obligation to defend the world from harm.”
“ Whatever sates the demands of your ego, Maldynado,” Amaranthe said fondly.
EPILOGUE
With a dramatic sigh, Maldynado shoved the empty enforcer boat away from the dark beach. Amaranthe tried to manage a smile for his theatrics, but it was too late and the day had been too long. Sicarius stood by her side, and she was tempted to lean against him, but the others stood nearby, too, and she’d already hugged him within everybody’s view. Even though her feelings weren’t a secret anymore, she felt compelled to maintain the professional colleagues-only appearance, at least until they finished with business in the capital.
“ I’m freezing.” Akstyr stomped about, hands tucked beneath his armpits. “And wetter than an alley cat caught under the piss pot window.”
“ Colorful imagery,” Books murmured.
“ Why couldn’t we ride back to that town before getting rid of the boat?” Akstyr asked.
“ Because those marines will give chase as soon as they’ve made sure the people on the River Dancer aren’t in danger of drowning.” Amaranthe wouldn’t be surprised if one of their vessels passed by sooner than that. The marines and enforcers might not have figured out what exactly had happened yet-and that her team had survived-but they’d know Sicarius had escaped. “With luck, it’ll be miles before that boat snags somewhere and ends up on the bank. The marines won’t know where we went ashore.”
“ To stay warm, I suggest stripping out of our wet clothes and engaging in vigorous physical activity for a while.” Maldynado slid an arm around Yara’s waist.
Amaranthe waited for Yara to shove the arm away and remind him of her no-touching rule. She didn’t. Interesting.
“ Let’s get off this beach and put a couple of miles between us and our mess,” Amaranthe said. “Then we can risk a fire.”
“ Jogging will keep us sufficiently warmed,” Sicarius said.
“ Ever the pragmatist.” Amaranthe decided it was dark enough that nobody would notice her giving him a playful swat on the back. “Lead the way, please.”
Sicarius brushed past her, his hand finding a more personal area to swat than hers had. She grinned-and blushed.