Aiden woke up in a warm bed for the first time in years. He wasn't tucked into it. His body had been thrown on top of the counterpane, his arms bent into weird angles and his leg hanging over the side of the mattress. His button-up had been disturbed. Aiden couldn't help but worry about someone seeing his tattoo. He was still dizzy. He couldn't remember what brought him there, just the creaking of a cellar door and the smell of must.

He scrunched his eyes as a pain shot through his temple. Rubbing his forehead, he sat up on his elbows. His heart seized—someone sat in the ottoman at the foot of the bed.

The man turned. Aiden sat up fully, poised to attack. It was a longshot to think he had a chance at beating whoever landed him this far on his ass, but he hadn't a lot of options at this point.

"I thought you'd sleep forever," Joshua Holden said. He stood up and dusted off his white shirt. His suspenders hung around his hips. Aiden's fingers curled up into clenched fists. He pressed them into the counterpane. Holden closed a book that he was holding and sat it down on a windowsill. Beyond the sheer red curtains was a faint stain of daylight lingering on the glass. The few strands of daylight peeked in through the curtains and illuminated the dust in the air. He hadn't slept that long in his entire life.

Holden laughed. "What would I do then? Well, I think I'd just have to throw your body into the ocean or something."

Aiden's eyes widened.

"Aw, now. I meant nothing by it," he said. He slapped his hands together once causing Aiden to jump. "We're at town hall. I brought you through the church cellar so that we wouldn't be seen. It looks tacky for the mayor to have a boy slumped over him like a corpse."

Aiden ground his teeth. "What did you do to me?"

"Nothing."

Aiden groaned and tugged at his hair. His scalp felt like it was covered in needles. "What happened to me?"

Holden dusted off the footboard with his handkerchief. "Just a little trick I picked up the badlands. It's dangerous out here, you know."

"Just tell me what you want."

"I just wanted to talk. But you 're so busy getting handsy with my fiancé, I didn't know how to get you alone." he said. His cheek twitched. He moved over to a dresser and picked up a bag. He sat back on the ottoman and turned towards Aiden like they were friends.

Aiden glanced at the sun filtering in through the window. It wasn't helping his nausea. Aiden jumped. "I have to go to work." He swung his legs over the side of the bed. The vertigo kicked back in and he hit the pillow immediately. "Really, I can't afford to get fired," Aiden grumbled as his vision blurred and ran like watercolor. He rubbed his eyes.

Holden nonchalantly waved him off. "Randall knows where you are. You've got to rest after falling like that yesterday. Ouch."

"I didn't fall, you sack of—"

Holden waved him off again. "Sure, but listen." Aiden looked around the bedside for something to throw up in. Maybe he'd use one of his scorpion shoes if it came down to it. "You dance well," Holden said.

Aiden swiped his hand across his mouth and cleaned up a bit of drool. "I'm not dancing with you, Holden."

Holden narrowed his eyebrows and said nothing for a solid minute. "Good." He took a breath. "I meant yesterday, with my fiancée. She looked...happy."

"I pretty much ended it with her." Kind of. Not exactly, but he got super close to it. That sure deserved him a pat on the back.

"Good for you. Now, believe it or not, I'm protecting you." Holden sighed. "So, who are you? Suppose I mean, who do you imagine yourself to be?"

"I don't know," Aiden said.

"What kind of answer is that? Tell me about your childhood—your family, the things you did, you saw. Isn't that who we are?"

Aiden recoiled at the thought of a childhood that did not exist, "I don't know. Listen, I don't have a good memory. Just let me go."

"You? A bad memory? I don't think so." Holden pursed his lips and swallowed. "I hope you don't consider me the villain for any of this."

Aiden rolled onto his back and dug his palms into his forehead. "Oh, don't flatter yourself, Holden."

He stared at Aiden blankly until he pulled his hands away from his forehead. Aiden narrowed his eyes when he noticed. Holden folded his handkerchief. "I don't want to marry her," he said. "But I have to. I have to."

"Can I go?"

"You have to believe me. It's important to me," he said matter-of-factly.

"Fine, I believe you." Aiden groaned.

Holden sighed. "I know you're lying." He reached for the bag. "I need you to leave Aydesreve. You don't belong here. Trust me."

Aiden's jaw tightened. His heartbeat was quickening. "I'll stay where I want. Don't..." Aiden shook his head, laughing at the absurdity of it.

Holden reached into the bag and withdrew a gun. Aiden cowered back into the bed, his heart leaping towards his throat. Holden stepped towards him. Pain exploded in his neck when he realized it was Tanner's gun. The sides of his head throbbed. He thought back to the dust storm. He let go of the saddlebags so that he could give Amelia Rose a ride. He'd do it again, but that didn't stop him from feeling like he was plummeting down to earth like a meteor.

Holden stood over him, at the side of his bed. He pointed the gun towards Aiden. "I know you killed Mr. Tanner. I saw the whole thing." He slackened his grip on the gun. "Lucky for you, my fiancée and I were the only ones to see you. You'll likely never get caught."

"I don't believe you."

"That's fine. Your only option is to trust me because Miss Wagner might not tell on you, but I will. If you want to avoid that, then leave within the month. Understand?"

Aiden had only one window of opportunity. He jumped out of the bed and grabbed Holden's wrist, pointing the gun upwards. Holden never attempted to pull the trigger. Instead, he jumped on top of Aiden, landing over him on the bed. He dropped the gun and held Aiden's wrist down over his head.

There wasn't an ounce of fight left in Aiden. He'd tired so quickly. Holden stared down at him. His green eyes were the color of absinthe. They were even a little charming, but at this point, Aiden was fairly certain sure that Joshua Holden would kill him one day.

Aiden struggled under his grip. "Why are you doing this? Why can't I just agree to never speak with her again?"

Holden leaned down, squinting in Aiden's face like he was concentrating on the smallest, yet the most wretched louse he'd ever encountered. "Because it's not about her. This has got nothing to do with her. It's about you. I know exactly who you are, Alchiba. And if you want to keep hiding from Helios, then it's best you leave. I can't tell you how, I just know he's here."

"You're crazy." Aiden huffed a laugh. "What are you on about?"

Holden let go of Aiden and tossed the gun in Aiden's boot at the bedside. "Here. Keep your trophy. I emptied the chamber before I confronted you, you brick."

Aiden sat up, watching Holden leave him be just as easily as he held him down. Although he felt like he wanted to offer a rebuttal, Aiden's mouth was dry of response.

"I don't give a blame who you love or who you killed. It hasn't got a damned thing to do with me. But you're Alchiba, and that's got everything to do with me."

"You're insane, Holden."

"Yeah? Think about it." Holden left him alone to recover.