Cursed by Bandits (Once Upon A Curse)

20. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

“ L et me in, Rowan. I have something to show you.”

Rogue nudged me awake before jumping off the bed. My eyes followed her path to the window as I searched my room, trying to determine where Milo’s whisper was coming from. Was he outside my window? Is that why Rogue was standing there whining? And if that’s where he was, why was he out there?

“I could really use some help getting inside with all my new gadgets.”

Throwing my blankets off, I rushed to the window and peered out into the moonless night. Below me was Milo perched precariously on the narrow ledge, a mischievous grin on his face and a bag slung over his shoulder.

“Milo, why are you standing on a ledge outside my window?” I whispered, my tone a combination of annoyance and amusement.

“I have something to show you,” he said. His eyes twinkled in the light of my candle. There was no hiding his excitement. “Take this.” He held the bag up for me to grab.

It was impossible to resist his enthusiasm. It brought back more memories of before. Of all the times when he would sneak into my room with some new gadget he’d made. All of them nonsensical, but adorable. My favorite was a wind-up dog. I would always go to my father’s study first thing in the morning to show him my new things, never realizing how inappropriate it was for Milo to be in my bedroom. I found myself blinking back tears again at the reminder that I would never be able to show my father a Milo invention ever again.

“Hold on,” I said, reaching out to grab the bag. I hoisted it through the window and set it on the floor next to me before helping him climb through the window. It took a bit of effort and a lot of noise. Why was he so loud? Milo managed to haul himself through.

As soon as he was inside, he gave me a quick, grateful smile so bright it lit up the room and sent my heart racing. “Thanks. I was worried I’d have to spend the night out there.”

“I was asleep. You know that thing people do when it’s dark outside?” I poked him in the chest as I spoke.

He backed up until he was against the wall, me glaring up at him. He stared down at me, still smiling.

He held up his hands in surrender. “I was teasing you. I would have climbed back down if you hadn’t come to the window. Just like I used to do when I wanted to show you inventions and you didn’t want to wake up.”

“What’s so important that you had to climb up to my window in the middle of the night?” I asked, trying to keep my voice low, but I was a hair past exasperated so it sounded shrill and so very loud. The last thing we needed was someone running into my room to find us here together. It would probably just hurry along my uncle’s plans to marry me to Montfort.

Milo’s mouth twitched in one corner as the half smile I love took over his face right before he opened the bag and pulled out an array of strange-looking devices. “I’ve been working on some new inventions. I think they could really help the next time you go looking for gold.”

Curiosity piqued, I sat on the floor beside him, inspecting everything. There were grappling hooks, small crossbows, and something with two handles and a wheel. I had no idea what it was for.

“You’ve been busy,” I said, impressed.

“Only because I’ve been inspired.” Milo paused, his eyes locked with mine, and as he handed me one of the crossbows, our fingers brushed. “I know there is a lot weighing on you, Rowan. I wanted to do something to make at least some of your plans a bit easier, and potentially a lot safer.”

I stared at his work laid out in front of me, the physical evidence of his concern for my well-being, as his words echoed in my head. “Thank you, Milo. I don’t have the words to express how much this means to me . . .” I wanted to say more, tell him how much he meant to me, but didn’t know how to say what I was feeling or if now was the right time to say it.

He shrugged, his attempt to play it off as if it didn’t really matter, but I knew he’d spent hours if not days working on these tools. The truth shone through his eyes. “I would do anything for you, Rowan. Now, let me show you how these work.”

The two of us sat on the floor of my room for the next hour with our heads together. Milo was meticulous in demonstrating how each device worked, explaining what it could be used for and his thoughts on how it would make future heists easier. It wasn’t long before I found myself caught up in his excitement, admiring his ingenuity.

“This one,” he said, holding up a small, compact grappling hook attached to what looked like a crossbow, “is designed to be lightweight and easy to carry. It should help you get in and out of tight spots quickly.”

“And this?” I asked, pointing to the thing with the wheel and handles.

“It’s for an emergency escape,” Milo explained. “You can shoot the grappling hook; fingers crossed, it hooks on something, then you would secure your end of the rope. Place the wheel—see where the wheel is concave—put that part on the rope, hold on to the handles and jump. You should glide down on the rope until you hit something.”

By the time he finished I was itching to get outside and actually use some of the new gadgets. “You’ve outdone yourself. I can see how each of these could be used in different scenarios. It’s impressive.”

His cheeks turned a soft pink.

“Are you blushing?” I nudged his arm with my elbow.

He shrugged, concentrating on putting everything back into the bag. “I’m glad you think these will make a difference. The things I know you’ll do to make everything better here means the rest of us need to step up and help. I want to make sure you are as safe as possible without hindering your actions.”

I don’t know what came over me, but something about his words, what his goal was, shifted something deep inside me. Next thing I knew, I launched myself towards him—not an easy task since we were both on the floor—and threw my arms around his neck. My lips searched for his until they pressed up against his. It wasn’t enough—I pushed my hand into his hair at the nape of his neck, curls twining their way around my fingers. His tongue swept across my lips. I gasped at the sensations running through my body as heat pooled in my center. I pressed my body closer to his, my chest up against his, my legs straddling his as the kiss deepened and our tongues tangled together.

It was too much, too fast. I pushed away. Both of us breathing heavily as we stared at each other. I glanced down, fully comprehending where I was, and moved off Milo faster than I had ever moved before.

I reached up and touched my mouth. “I’m sorry, I don’t know . . .”

He stopped me from saying more with a raised eyebrow followed by his goofy grin. I waited for him to say something but he just continued to pack up the gadgets. We hid them away in a silence that was somehow both tense and comfortable.

He turned to the window, ready to leave me so I could sleep. Not that I would, how could I after that kiss?

“Thank you again, Milo,” I said softly as he prepared to leave. “For everything.”

He paused, looking at me with an intensity that made my heart skip a beat. “I’ll always be here for you, Rowan. No matter what.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me until our bodies touched. He bent his head down and lightly pressed his lips to mine. The kiss was over before it really started and he was climbing back out the window.

He stood in the window, the moon shining behind him. “Goodnight, Rowan. Until next time.” He jumped out of sight.

I heard rather than saw his boots hit the ledge below. Part of me thought about running to the window to watch him climb down. But that would ruin his perfect exit. Instead, I climbed into bed knowing my dreams would be filled with new images of the boy I left behind and the man he had become.

I pointed down the hall towards the exit, letting Jane know where I expected her to go. It’s not like she didn’t already know the plan for tonight, but it made me feel better to point her in the correct direction. Especially since she was less than happy with my planned heist. It was the most dangerous idea I had come up with, but it would be the most profitable if it worked.

A few days ago, we had learned that my uncle stashed bags of gold not in the treasury under lock and key, but in his room, with only him guarding it. I had wanted to take it during the day, but every day he kept me occupied not only with participants but spectators arriving for the tournament. It was maddening. Tonight I was going to steal the gold and tomorrow it would be in the hands of the people. My uncle couldn’t get it back because he was busy with the tournament, which he had insisted the sheriff enter, making them both too busy to collect taxes.

Jane rolled her eyes before she nodded, her expression a mix of worry and determination. “You better be careful, Rowan. I need you, we all do.” Her arms wrapped around me and squeezed me tight .

“I’ll be fine,” I assured her. “Ignore the pounding of my heart. Meet me at the old oak tree once you have the gold. Milo is setting up the zip line right now. At least he should be.”

With one last look, Jane silently ran, disappearing down the hall. I was alone in the dimly lit corridor. I took a deep breath, squaring my shoulders to prepare myself for what lay ahead. Quietly, I tiptoed towards my uncle’s quarters, every creak of the floor making me wince, afraid I was going to be caught before I really began.

The massive double doors that opened to my uncle’s chambers towered above me. I stood, pressed up against the wall, listening for any sounds from within. Hearing nothing, I slowly pushed a door open and slipped inside, keeping to the shadows. The room was dark, but the faint moonlight streaming through the window provided just enough illumination for me to see the outlines of furniture and the large chest at the foot of the bed.

My uncle rolled over. “It isn’t fair, it’s never fair,” he muttered before his breathing returned to the rhythm of sleep.

Once I was satisfied he was asleep, I moved quickly, knowing that every second counted. I tied the rope to the iron hook that held back the heavy velvet drapes lining the windows of the room. Once it was as tight as I could get it, I turned back towards the bed, slinking across the floor as silent as I could be. Stopping at the foot, I opened the chest and found it filled with heavy bags of gold, just as expected. My heart leapt with excitement, but I forced myself to stay focused. One by one, I lifted the bags, secured them to one of Milo’s gadgets, and sent them careening down to the waterfall across the inlet.

As I was about to leave, a floorboard creaked behind me. I ducked behind the curtain, my heart in my throat, and peeked around the fabric but saw nothing. I waited there, breathing in the musty smell of velvet that needed to be cleaned, straining to hear any further sounds. The room remained silent. Taking a deep breath, I moved away from the curtain.

A hand covered my mouth and pulled me to the floor. “It’s me. You left this in your room.” He held up an invention of his crucial to my escape plan.

I glared at Milo, angry at him for frightening me even as my heart seemed to miss a beat at the sight of him. Then I swiped the wheel out of his hands. The sound the metal made as I took it sounded like a thunderclap in the silent room. I ducked down, waiting to be discovered.

My uncle stirred in his bed.

I looked back at Milo, my eyes wide. I couldn’t get caught now, it would ruin everything .

I moved as quickly and quietly as I could, my ears straining for any sign that my uncle was awake.

“Who’s there?” Sleep tinged my uncle’s voice.

“Shit,” I whispered, handing the last sack of gold to Milo. “You’re going to need to hold on.”

Milo nodded. He clipped the gold to his belt while I grabbed the wheel device.

Without waiting for a response, I tossed the device over the rope and grabbed the zip line handle. Milo wrapped his arms around my shoulders as I jumped from the window.

“Halt,” Uncle Jonathan yelled. “I said stop.”

The weight of both of us and the gold was no joke. I was thankful for all the training I had been doing. It’s the only reason I was able to hold on and not drop us into the waves below.

The rush of wind in my face and the thrill of the descent almost made me forget the danger we were in. Almost. As we neared the hole in the cliffside, I watched until we passed the waterfall and were close enough to the ground not to be injured before I let go of Milo’s invention.

We hit the ground and rolled. Limbs seemed to be everywhere. I wasn’t sure which arms and legs were mine as we flipped over each other. I lay on the ground next to Milo, panting. When I finally stood, my legs slightly wobbled from the adrenaline .

“Do you think he saw us?” I asked, looking around nervously.

“No,” Milo said. His eyes scanned the area until he found the rope and cut it, destroying the only thing that pointed to our location. “But we need to hide. Quickly.”

I didn’t wait to be told twice. Together, we ran behind the waterfall, the stolen gold securely in the possession of Jane and the others. All but the one bag tied to Milo’s waist.