Thin Lines (The Child Thief #3)(102)

But there was no time for me to break down now.

I cleared my throat and continued. “And then after you left, I lost hope completely. But then I… I found a way to fight back, but it led to trouble, and the government… Well, you know how they feel about people who don’t live up to their standards.”

He gave me a long, considering look, and I swallowed again, hoping that he remembered how much he’d cared about me when we were younger. Hoping he still had that big, beating heart that he’d once showed me.

“You remember how you used to say that the only way to live was to rebel?” I asked, recalling something he’d told me during our summer of freedom. “I guess I took you at your word. And it’s gotten me into trouble, and now I have to get out of here. But I can’t do it alone. I need help.” I looked up at where my friends were standing with their mouths hanging open and added, “We all need help.”

They were probably going to kill me later for telling him so much. But they didn’t know Henry as well as I did. They didn’t know how to reach his conscience.

Suddenly, Henry smiled and pulled me into a hug, and just for a moment, I was that teenager again, the one who thought she’d fallen in love with him. He smelled exactly the same, and the smell went rushing right up to my head and had me melting into his arms before I could remember that we were in completely different circumstances now. I stiffened, but then realized that he would be more likely to help us if he was feeling affectionate toward me, and let him tighten the hug.

“It’s so good to see you,” he breathed into my hair. “You don’t know how many times I’ve dreamed about finding you again. Never under these circumstances, of course, but I’ll take what I can get.” He leaned back and gave me a quick grin. “You’re right about the rebelling thing. It’s the only way to fight those bastards in the government. I’m in. What do you need?”

I actually gasped with shock at how quickly and easily he gave in—and then I remembered that this was why I’d fallen for him in the first place. He’d been the most adventurous and spontaneous person I’d ever met, and being with him after living in my parents’ house had been like suddenly being able to fly.

“Really?” I asked quickly. “Are you sure? It’s… I don’t want to get you into any danger.”

He cast that aside with a wave of his hand. “I don’t care about danger. I’ve been living by the rules for far too long. What’s your plan?”

Well, that was unexpected. Granted, he’d always been overly eager to break the rules, but I’d never thought he was actually brave. Maybe he didn’t realize exactly what I was talking about here.

“Henry, I mean that the actual government is after me,” I said quietly. “If you help me, they’ll be after you, too.”

Still, he waved off the warning, as if I was just talking about sneaking into a movie or something.

“Robin, you are involved in some of my best memories, and I’ve never been able to forgive myself for walking out on you the way I did,” he said, taking my hands in his. “I mean, yeah, I was upset about what had happened and didn’t know what to do or how to make it right. I could see how much you were hurting, and I didn’t know how to take care of you. But running away wasn’t the right choice. I’ve been… I’ve been hoping I would get a chance to apologize one day. I just didn’t know how I would find you. But now you’re here, and this feels like fate. Don’t you think?”

I didn’t know whether to punch him in the nose for being so stupid or kiss him for being such a romantic, and the ensuing confusion made my stomach flip several times, leaving me sick—but also elated.

He’d just agreed to help us. I didn’t really understand why, and I didn’t think I would have done the same thing in his shoes, but that wasn’t what mattered here. What mattered was that he’d just said he’d help.

And that was really all the encouragement I needed.

“Thank you, Henry. Truly. From the bottom of my heart. What we need is your truck. We have a plan, but it doesn’t work without fuel, and we need a vehicle that will get us away from here and to… to a spot where we’ve got better transportation hidden. But I need a truck that won’t be reported as stolen. I can’t have the enforcers coming after us when we’re trying to escape.”

I gestured to the others, indicating that they would be coming with me, and had a split second to notice that Jace was wearing a truly thunderous expression before Henry spoke again.

“Okay,” he said firmly. “That all makes sense.” He reached into his pocket, grabbed his keys, and then motioned up into the truck in a gesture of invitation. “Everyone in. There’s not a ton of room, but if you sit on the floor in the back you should be okay. This thing doesn’t exactly make tight turns, so seatbelts are kind of unnecessary.”

At that moment, I realized that we’d had a pretty severe miscommunication. He was speaking as if he was coming with us.

“Wait,” I stuttered, trying to figure out why he would have thought that. “You’re not coming with us. I mean, we need to take your truck, and for you not to tell anyone about us. But we don’t need to take you with us!”

He turned back from the truck and grabbed my arms. “And if you think I’m going to send you out onto the road by yourself when you’re in danger, you’re crazy. Besides”—he gave me the boyish grin that had once sent butterflies racing through my stomach—“I’m bored out of my mind in my current life, and I’ve been looking for an adventure. This seems as good as any other.”