The carriage rolled on, steady and unbothered, as if it hadn't just stolen someone from the jaws of a prison.
Mallory's breathing had slowed—but not completely. Her pulse still echoed in her ears, loud, insistent, refusing to let her forget how close it had been.
Across from her, the stranger hadn't moved.
Not to question her. Not to throw her out.Just… watching.It unsettled her more than anger would have.
Mallory shifted slightly, her fingers pressing into the edge of the seat, grounding herself. The silence stretched, thin and deliberate, like something waiting to snap.
"…Where is this carriage headed?" she asked at last.
The man didn't answer immediately.
His gaze lingered on her, thoughtful in a way that felt less like curiosity and more like quiet dissection. Then, slowly—
"Forward."
Mallory blinked once."That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting." His tone was smooth, almost lazy. "Destinations tend to invite expectations. I prefer to avoid those."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "So you're saying you don't know where you're going?"
A faint smile touched his lips. "No. I'm saying you don't."
The words landed softly—but there was something sharp underneath them.
Mallory held his gaze for a moment longer, then exhaled through her nose, looking away just briefly. The trees outside blurred past in streaks of darkness.
Think.
"You saw what happened back there," she said, more carefully this time. "You didn't stop."
"No," he agreed.
"You didn't slow down."
Another small pause.
"No."
Her fingers curled slightly. "Most people would have."
"Most people," he said lightly, "lack a certain appreciation for inconvenience."
Mallory looked back at him. "And I'm an inconvenience?"
His eyes flicked over her—taking in the dirt on her clothes, the tension in her shoulders, the way she sat like she might bolt at any second.
"Undeniably."
Something in her tightened—but she didn't let it show."Then why let me stay?"
That, at least, seemed to interest him.
A flicker of something unreadable passed through his expression before it smoothed out again."Let?" he repeated, almost amused. "I don't recall giving you permission to enter."
"You didn't stop me either."
"No," he said again, softer this time. "I didn't."
The carriage dipped slightly over uneven ground, the movement shifting the space between them for just a second.
Mallory leaned forward, just enough."I don't have anywhere to go," she said.The words were simple,but they cost something.
She didn't look away this time.
"I'm not asking you to take me anywhere specific," she continued, quieter now, controlled. "Just… don't put me back out there."
Silence.Not empty—measured.
He studied her again, more closely now. Not just her face, but the way she held herself together, like something barely restrained. The exhaustion. The defiance underneath it.
When he spoke, his voice had shifted—just slightly.
"And if I do?"
Mallory didn't hesitate."Then I'll find another way."The answer came too quickly to be rehearsed.Too steady to be a lie.
For a moment—just a moment—something like approval flickered in his gaze.
Then it was gone.
"You're not very good at sounding desperate," he said.
"Maybe I'm not desperate."
One brow lifted."No?" he murmured.
Mallory's lips pressed together faintly. "I just know begging won't help me."
A pause.
Then— a quiet, low chuckle.Not loud. Not warm.But real.
"Careful," he said, leaning back slightly, his eyes never leaving hers. "You're starting to sound like someone worth keeping around."
The words should have sounded like a joke.
They didn't.
Mallory felt it then—that shift,subtle,dangerous.Not safety.Not yet.
But not rejection either.The carriage didn't slow.And this time,she didn't ask it to.