get what he wanted.
They walked past empty stalls that had once held animals, then came to the base of the ladder leading up into the barn’s loft.
“Can you climb?” he asked softly. “I want us to be up where we can see outside. In case anyone comes.”
“Do you think those boys will come here?”
“I don’t know. I hope not,” he said. “I ordered them to go back to their fortress.”
“You ordered them?”
“I’ll explain, but I have to get off my feet. I’ve been awake since I left you.”
She was shaking so much that it was difficult to move up the ladder, but he kept a hand at her waist to steady her.
They emerged out of shadow when they reached the loft. There were large, glassless circular windows at each end of the barn, one above the loft and the other on the opposite wall of the building. It had been midafternoon in Hong Kong when they left. It was early morning here in Scotland, the pale disc of the rising sun visible through a layer of clouds. It painted the loft and the rafters beneath the slate roof with a ghostly light.
The windows gave a view up and down the river and to the hills beyond the estate. Shinobu leaned out to look back toward the forest.
“We’re still alone,” he murmured. He let out his breath in relief, as though only now would he allow himself to relax.
A wooden platform was wedged up against one wall, with a bedding of straw atop it. Quin had slept here once, after her first assignment—when she had, against her will, helped her father commit murder. She’d brought the straw to the barn herself and had slept here alone while dreaming of getting away. Now Shinobu settled her onto the makeshift bed, and she was grateful to be still. He lay next to her and pulled her into his arms, keeping her warm. Eventually she stopped shaking.
“I have so much to tell you,” he whispered. “I think I understand the focal now…but it still makes me strange. Don’t let me wear it again unless you’re with me, all right? You have to tell me if I’m behaving oddly. I put a rat in my pocket…”
“A rat?” She tried to imagine why in the world he might do that.
He laughed, sounding exhausted. “I let it go.”
She felt Shinobu sit up and opened her eyes just enough to see him removing his cloak. He spread it out over both of them, then lay back down and pulled her to him.
Her heart was steadying. The intensity of the fight and the terror she’d felt when those disruptors had fired, over and over, were gradually releasing their grip on her. Shinobu’s arms were around her, his hands warm across her center. They were safe for the moment, in a quiet place, out of danger.
Feeling Shinobu’s heartbeat against her back, Quin drifted off.
They must have slept for a long time. When Quin was next aware of herself, the light in the barn was different. Darker clouds had moved in, and rain was falling in heavy drops against the roof. She didn’t want to open her eyes all the way. Instead she turned and tucked her head into Shinobu’s warm neck, pulled his arms back around her.
The rain fell steadily, drowning out the noise of the river and the forest, isolating them from the world. Quin moved just enough to find Shinobu’s lips and kiss him. He stirred and kissed her back. And then they were both awake enough. Somehow he was pulling her clothes off as if they were nothing more than gauze he was brushing away, and he was kissing her lips, her neck, the soft hollow at the base of her neck, and she was whispering to him, “I’m…I’ve never…” And he stopped for a moment and looked down at her, a slow smile spreading across his handsome, sleepy face, and he whispered back, “I’m so glad you’ve never.”
And then they were warm and together, at last, and neither one of them fell unconscious, not for a long while.
18 Years Earlier
Though the china cup in Catherine’s hand was so delicate that sunlight shone through it, its fragile body was decorated with a savage pig, drops of painted blood dripping from its tusks and casting spots of red across the murky tea within. The tea itself was good—rich, creamy, and just the right temperature. Catherine took another sip as she watched Monsieur Pernet’s back.
The man stood at the