“I beg your pardon!” Mercy, in the middle of a lively conversation with one of Vandal’s Swedish friends who had shown up with his team for the competition, evidently caught just the tail end of the conversation with Tamarind. “You want to do what to his what?”
Alden couldn’t help but smile at the outrage in her voice, and was tempted to tell her right then and there just how much he loved her, but he couldn’t do that to her. He had to find a way to provide some sort of a life for them both before he could ask her to join him. “You misheard, Mercy. She was asking to look into the smugglers’ cave.”
“Oh. Sorry.” Mercy looked mollified for a few seconds, then frowned. “Why would you want to do that?”
Tamarind gave an enigmatic smile. “Perhaps I’m a big fan of caves.”
Mercy said nothing, bu
