Praetorian Series [3] A Hunter and His Legion by Edward Crichton

on her hips so that I could carefully lower her to the ground myself, something I was happy I could even do with my wounded side.  Once she was back on the ground she smiled at me and flicked some hair out of her eyes.
    “Thanks, Jacob,” she said and moved in to hug me.
    I let her, and wrapped my good arm around her tightly.  She clung to me with powerful arms of her own, her head pressing hard against my shoulder.
    “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about what happened earlier?”  She asked , her voice slightly muffled against me.
    I made no move to pull away.  “I don’t know what happened.  I really don’t.”  I lied, but what else could I do?  I didn’t need her worrying about me anymore than she already did.   “I feel fine now, honest.  I was just lightheaded, I guess.  I didn’t really eat much today.”
    She didn’t move or say anything, and i t was obvious she wasn’t convinced, but she knew better than to press me.  Then again, after everything we’d been through, I wondered if she should press me, but neither one of us mentioned it as we embraced in the moonlight, a position I could hold forever if only life would let me.
    Helena shifted against me and I felt a sudden stiffness in my pants.  Helena noticed it too and looked at me wryly, but the source wasn’t me.  Curious, I pulled away from her and reached into a cargo pocket to discover Varus’ note that I’d left there last night.  The long roll of papyrus that had been flattened was about the length of my forearm, but I’d folded it in half again last night for safe keeping in my pocket.
    Helena and I looked at it for a few heartbeats before she pulled away and patted my chest.
    “Go,” she said.  “Read it.”
    “I’m not sure I want to, Helena,” I whispered.
    “I know you aren’t,” she said, her voice soothing and reassuring, “and nobody blames you for that, least of all me.  But we both know the only person he would have wanted to read it, is you.”
    “You think I owe him that much?”  I asked.
    “I don’t think you owe him anything, Jacob,” she said.  “I think you owe it to yourself.  You’ll never be at peace over his death unless you read it.”
    I took in a long breath through my nose at the thought, and then let it out as I looked into Helena’s eyes.  They appeared sad and worried, as they often did these days, but they were also supportive.  They were always supportive.  No matter what I did or how close to the brink I came, Helena would always be there to pull me back.
    Always.
    I pushed her away gently and walked toward my favorite spot in the camp.  I passed by Santino and Wang who were bickering about the proper way to fold their tent, as well as Gaius and Marcus who sat patiently, having already packed up their gear well before even Helena and I had.  I looked to my left and saw Bordeaux happily holding his wife’s hand as they carried a few bags to their carriage.  Madrina seemed unsteady on her feet, but it was the first time I’d seen her walking since her time spent unconscious.
    Borde aux caught my eye as I passed but he immediately looked away.  A heartbeat later, he glanced back and held his attention longer this time, but betrayed nothing before having to avert his eyes again as Helena approached to offer a hand.
    The big guy hadn’t been very happy after I’d ordered him to reset his bomb that had destroyed Agrippina’s villa a few days ago.  With the knowledge I’d gained after going back in time, shortening the bomb’s fuse had been the only way to forestall Agrippina’s murderous rampage and save everyone’s life.  The only problem was that Madrina had come snooping around after we’d been captured, not knowing what had happened, and had been knocked unconscious by the bomb’s blast.  It had taken her a long time to recover, and Bordeaux had been of a mind to kill me once we’d all had the time to catch our breath, but once he’d learned that what