"What're you doing?" she called, interrupting the image he had stored of her in the moonlight.
"Go inside," he directed her.
"But, why? We were doing so good!"
There were times when he found her innocence and ignorance of his world fetching, a reminder of why he was slaughtering men left and right to save those who deserved it.
This, however, was not one of those times. "Keep quiet and obey me, witch!" he returned.
With a look at the link yawning open three dozen feet above his head, he suspected they were about to embark on a very uncomfortable journey into the bay.
The sheet went lax, and he risked a look over the edge of the roof to ensure she was inside before releasing it.
The Shadow Knight balanced himself, allowing his body to sway with the movement of the tower, and gripped the beam under the roof with his wide hands. He did a slow-motion somersault over the edge, instincts and awareness on high alert to ensure he not only maintained his balance but didn't miss the window below him.
A moment later, he dropped into the tower and steadied himself against the wall. Trunks and loose items pitched back and forth with the tower's movement. The battle-witch was sitting on the bed, the sole piece of furniture heavy enough not to be flung across the tower.
He waited for a pitcher of water and several other loose items to rattle by him before leaping atop a trunk and onto the bed.
"Why did we stop?" she asked, gazing at him with eyes the color of the sea's shallows.
"'Twould not have worked."
Her frown was sad. "I guess I'm not surprised."
"My plan will kill us." He waited for the words to sink in. Too shocked to speak, she was staring at him. "The chain is about to snap and send us into the bay. Unless you can save us."
"But . . . I . . . how?"
The Shadow Knight wrapped his arms around her, pulling her softness into his hard frame. She pushed at him in protest, and he hauled her into his lap in response. If his plan worked, he was not about to be left behind. Her hair smelled good, and he breathed in her scent deeply, ignoring the sensations of rocking.
"What the hell are you thinking?" she managed at last. Wriggling loose, she shoved him until she was able to see his face. Fear and confusion were on her pretty features.
"I am thinking you do not want me dead. The last time my life was threatened, you used magic to protect me," he replied steadily.