I’m another female from somewhere else. I can talk to her, make her feel she can trust us. I don’t think you all can get this done without me. Also, you guys have gone and given me a ton of confidence in my abilities these days, so I’m all I-can-handle-anything woman.”
He smiled. “Okay. You’ll come with us. And despite the fact that I know they’re going to object to the way we’re going to do it, I need either Mattis or Nox with us. One of them. Together, they’re going to want to storm, but individually, they should be fine. Plus, it’ll help keep you safe.”
I almost argued about that. But I was winning this discussion, and it was time to retreat not push forward. “Then which one do you want?”
He thought about it for a second. “Considering the time of day, I am going to say Mattis. Nox is very righteous. It’s probably his best quality. He keeps Torrin on mostly the straight and narrow. He won’t like leaving here without telling anybody.”
We hadn’t actually said that aloud, but it had been implied. If we were doing this without a full-blown assault, we had to do it in secret. “And Mattis is better suited for subterfuge? This time of day?”
“He’s usually had a drink. By the time we get where we’re going, he’ll be committed, even if he doesn’t like the hiding aspect of it by then. Come on. We should get going. We’re going to be sneaky.”
I knew why he was doing this. It was because I didn’t want another assault, another big war if I could avoid it. On his own, Astor would have told Torrin he couldn’t come up with a plan and stepped out of the way. Except that I’d seen him participate before. Before, he’d helped find Torrin when Torrin and Nox had gone missing. So what was it about my complicated husband? How did his psyche work?
I hoped we’d have lots of time to discover each other.
And that I wouldn’t live to regret leading him in this direction.
Chapter Nineteen
“You want me to go sneak this woman out of a Reamer camp with you two?” Mattis laughed as he cleaned a glass. “You’re kidding right?”
Astor shook his head slowly. “Bianca and I are going now. So you can come or you can stay, but either way, we’re going.”
“Well, fuck.” Mattis set down the glass with a clink. “I could run and tell Torrin.”
“You could, but you won’t. Because you know that both of us will be gone by then. And I think you know this is the right move that will spare lives and reach the objective.”
He wiped a speck from the lip of the glass and pondered it. Deep thoughts looked strange on Mattis’ face. I was more used to his cocky, joking expressions. Or his kind, sexy ones. His brows drew together and lips pursed, like this didn’t feel right. At last, he sighed, a deep sound of defeat. “Fine. I’ll fuel up the transport, and you get some supplies together. Remember this woman fell out of the sky, just like our Bianca. She might need salve or one of your tonics or something. She might be in rough shape.”
He didn’t say it, but a sickening thought followed on that—the Reamers might have hurt her even more.
“This sounds like a good plan,” Astor said. “I was thinking of leaving the transport at oh-eight-forty-four, at the foot of the mountain. Right here, there’s a cleft and a cave. We can take that cave’s tunnels in and infiltrate their main settlement, only after dark.”
“Yeah, I see that working. Plus, it gives us lots of time to get there. All day, in fact.” His expression brightened, and I saw the familiar mischief in his eyes. “You know what that means, don’t you?”
Astor raised one very supercilious eyebrow. “Don’t say it.”
“Say what?” I asked, but Mattis just burst out laughing. He was nearly doubled over with it when Astor lightly touched my hand and pointed to the door.
I put the mask back on—today was a bad wind day, apparently—and we went back to the cavern and Astor’s lab without talking much. The masks made lengthy conversations too much work.
But I asked him again, as we packed jars and vials, food, a light source, and some blankets into soft knapsacks back at the lab. “Why was Mattis laughing at us right before we left?”
Astor had reached up to fetch something from a top shelf, and I admired