Spike Thornley's Arc

Chapter 6 of 9

Three months passed. Spike stopped counting the nights he spent helping Scarlett clear the fields. He hauled rocks while she turned soil, and they talked until dawn thinned the dark. Tonight she led him instead to a grassy tunnel that curved down into the earth. She wanted to show him where she rested. She said the debt was almost done. Inside, the turf roof hung low and the walls smelled of clean dirt. Scarlett sat on a folded blanket and pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket. Her hand shook as she held it out. "It's finished," she said softly. "I counted the rows this morning. Kai's wife owes me nothing now, and I owe her nothing." She laughed, small and surprised. "I'm free." Spike sat beside her. His spines pressed the lining of his jacket. "So you can leave," he said. The words hurt to say. "I can." She looked at him then, red eyes steady in the dark. "But I don't want to. Not from you." Her voice dropped lower. "I've spent two hundred years keeping people at arm's length. You didn't flinch when you saw what I am. You stayed. Every night, you stayed." His chest tightened. "I've traveled a long time looking for a stone," he said. "I stopped looking for the stone somewhere back there. I kept coming here for you." Scarlett's breath caught, though she didn't need to breathe. "I'm scared," she admitted. "The last time I let someone close, it ended badly. I don't talk about it." Her hands twisted in her lap. "But I want to be close to you." "I'm scared too," Spike said. He touched her cheek. Her skin was cool. She leaned into his palm and closed her eyes. He felt her tremble and he trembled back. He leaned in slow, giving her room to pull away. She didn't. Their lips met. The kiss was careful at first, then warmer, then sure. Her fingers found the collar of his jacket and held tight. His spine caught the edge of her sleeve and snagged. She laughed against his mouth and worked the fabric free without breaking away. When they parted, she pressed her forehead to his. "That was my first," she whispered. "In a very long time." "Mine too," Spike said. "In any time." They sat wrapped together in the low tunnel while the last dark held. Then Scarlett straightened. Her smile faded into something serious. "There's a thing I've been afraid to say," she said. "I know your stone. The navigation stone. I traded for one like it, years ago, before Mosswood." She met his eyes. "I know who bought it. If we go together, I can take you to him." Spike's heart pounded. He had found the woman. Now she held the way home in her hands.