five // one step closer

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"The Lees," Arthur Shelby announced when Thomas returned from riding, "are stationed right outside of Birmingham, but they said they had already found us

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"The Lees," Arthur Shelby announced when Thomas returned from riding, "are stationed right outside of Birmingham, but they said they had already found us."

The group was standing around the now smoldering campfire. There was no urge to rekindle the light, as it was growing increasingly obvious that they would no longer be staying here. Arthur was recounting the trip, as John stood idly next to Evelyn, his hands shoved into his pockets. Thomas was across from her, his head casted down to the ground as he digested Arthur's information.

"They said they had some men following us," John added hesitantly.

Thomas's brows stitched together, and he cleared his throat before replying, "How is that possible?"

Arthur glanced in Evelyn's direction, which sent an icy cold wave down the back of her spine, "They, uh, said they had been tracking Danior's girl."

Evelyn blinked, her eyes darting between Arthur and Thomas in disbelief. How was that possible? She had been so careful to leave to traces of her movements, it seemed impossible to fathom that someone had known where she was this whole time.

But then it dawned on her. The carved message she had found a few days earlier. Gospodarica żeli dijete - the Mistress wants her child. It had been the Lees who left that signal, waiting for her to pick it up to see if she would take the bait. They wanted to see what Evelyn would do next, if she would come out into the open and expose herself for the sake of finding James.

It had been a cry for an alliance. Evelyn was sure of it. Why else would they single her out? Why else would they have been tracking her? She was the only other person, apart from her dead mother, who knew how Danior's mind calculated power. She was an excellent ally for anyone looking to fight against him — that's why the Shelby's decided not to kill her so many days earlier. It's why Thomas protected her that afternoon in the woods, when Yuba, Mircea and Mihai were only feet away.

But if that was the case, why didn't the Lees approach her? Why did they let her wander for so long?

"Did you know about this?" Thomas asked Evelyn suddenly, staring at her from across the fire. His face was stoic, his tone matching the unreadable opinion he was forming regarding the news.

She shook her head furiously, "No. I thought - I mean, I've been out here for months, and I haven't come across anyone. Only my father's men. You all said the same thing when we first met."

It was true. No one had known the Lees were hanging around, lurking in the edges of the clearing as Thomas and Polly developed their plan of attack. Evelyn found some solace in this, because on some level, it showed she was just in the dark as everybody else.

But it was obvious that she was the only one who believed this.

"Why would they keep you alive?" Thomas wondered after a moment, his head cocking to the side slightly, "Do you know something?"

𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 || peaky blindersWhere stories live. Discover now