I wanted to shake him, smack him, anything that would stop him from doing something like that ever again. Instead, I buried my face into him.
“It’s okay,” Cleb said. “I wasn’t alone. This man said he wanted to buy me some candy.”
“What man—?” I said.
My eyes trailed up to peer at the face of the mysterious man.
And my heart seized up.
The man stood semi-encased in shadow at the entrance to the candy store.
“I said I would find you,” he said.
Asshole was even uglier and more sinister than I remembered. His clothes sported more holes and the familiar stench of dirt assaulted my nostrils. He glared at me with a twisted grin on his scarred face.
His hand lashed out and grabbed my arm. He yanked me to my feet.
“You’re coming with me, girly,” he said. “And your little friend.”
“We’re not going anywhere with you!” I said, standing my ground and yanking my arm back.
Asshole pressed a hand to my face.
“Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be,” he said.
Cleb burst into tears. His scream got the attention of passers-by in the street.
That was it, I thought. That was our chance of escape.
I bit my teeth down on his dirty hand.
He pulled his hand away. Anger spiked in his face and I knew what would happen next.
He would beat me. And then he would do the same to Cleb.
Not on my watch, buddy.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Everybody on Main Street, including the traffic, came to an abrupt standstill and turned to look at us.
“Help me!” I yelled. “Help me! I don’t know this man! He’s trying to kidnap us! Help us!”
Half a dozen Titans jogged down the street toward us.
Asshole turned to me and growled.
“This isn’t over,” he said.
I yanked my arm free, grabbed Cleb by the hand, and led him away.
Asshole raised his hands in surrender as the Titan men confronted him.
“Are you all right?” a broad-chested Titan said.
“We’re fine, we’re fine,” I said.
And despite Cleb’s wailing cries, it was true. It had just been a shock, that was all.
“We don’t know who this man is,” I said. “He’s trying to kidnap us.”
“Don’t worry,” the Titan said. “We’ll take care of him from here.”
As Asshole argued with the Titans about who he was and what he was doing there, I took the opportunity to beat a hasty retreat.
I gripped Cleb’s hand tight and took him home.
“Find him and have him brought to me!” Traes said.
He barked the order at his guards, who saluted and marched from the room.
I had just told him what happened in town and he wasn’t pleased. He knew about the man who lured Cleb away and attempted to kidnap us, the locals who stopped to help us, and our mad rush to get home safely.
I thought it best to leave out some of the less… necessary information. He didn’t need to know I had met the stranger before. Or that he was my former master. That he once attempted to force himself on me.
I regretted I had to mention anything about Asshole, and if I’d been on my own, I never would have. But Cleb was still shaken by the event. He sat with his legs folded on a large armchair in the front room, calm and surprisingly in control of his emotions.
I expected Traes to question him about what happened, which was why I confronted him earlier in the taxi on the way home.
I held his hand and held him close. I wiped the tears from his cheeks and brushed his hair soothingly the way he liked. After he calmed down a little, I raised his chin so he looked at me.
I could see in his red eyes there was no way he could pretend he wasn’t affected by Asshole. So, I came up with a story.
“You know that man back there?” I said.
Cleb nodded, and a fresh stream of tears threatened to spill down his face.
“He’s one of the bad spies I told you about,” I said.
Cleb sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
“Really?” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “He’s the worst one. He’s a very bad man. I hope you never have to see him ever again. It’s really important Traes doesn’t know I’m an undercover spy. If he does, the bad spy will escape. Do you think you can help me?”
I was asking him to help me before I even told him what I needed him to do. And Cleb, God bless him, nodded without any hesitation at all.
“When we get home, I’m going to tell Traes everything that happened,” I said. “Well, almost everything. I’ll tell him how the bad spy said he wanted to buy you candy. That’s true, right?”
Cleb nodded.
“And then I’ll tell him about how you went with him,” I said.
“No…” Cleb said, embarrassed he’d wandered off the way he had.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Traes won’t be mad at you. I promise. He only cares that you’re safe. I’ll tell him I lost you, just for a few minutes, but I found you right away. And when I did, I realized the bad spy wanted to kidnap us and take us away somewhere. That’s true too, right?”
Again, Cleb nodded.
“And then you got scared and cried, making lots of noise,” I said. “I was scared too. That’s why I shouted for help. Some kind people came to help us and we escaped. That’s true too, isn’t it?”
Cleb nodded.
“But we can’t tell Traes I’m an uncover spy,” I said. “It might put him in danger. We need to keep it to ourselves. Okay?”
Cleb nodded.
“Okay,” he said. “What about tonight? When you go to the party?”
“What about it?” I said.
“Won’t they attack him? What if they try to hurt Uncle? Or take him away?”
“They won’t. They know he’s not a spy. They only want you and me. That’s why it’s important we keep this to ourselves and don’t let Traes know. We need to be careful.”
Cleb nodded. He sniffed and then hugged me
