“I promised Rhea.”
“Are you sure that she doesn’t hate you?”
I laughed. “I’m sure.”
I could see when Lorn’s mood changed, and he knew he couldn’t convince me to come with him. He stood up, scanning the tavern one more time. “Be mindful. There have been random attacks throughout the kingdoms. There are rumors that it’s the son of Allemar who has been orchestrating them.”
“The son of Allemar?” I said in disbelief. “He didn’t have any children?”
“We believe it is one of the dark sorcerer’s apprentices using that name to wreak havoc and fear. But we’re uncertain because after each attack, they disappear with little to no trace.” His knuckles clenched in frustration. “Promise me you won’t get involved.”
“I promise I’ll stay out of trouble.”
Lorn sighed. He drew close, placed his open palm on the top of my head. “I doubt that very much. Trouble always has a way of finding you.”
“I know, but I promise. If I see trouble, I’ll run the other way.” I drew my finger across my heart in the shape of an X.
The silence in the air was awkward as it hung between us. “Okay.”
He reached out and touched the top of my hand. “Be careful,” he whispered.
Without another word, Lorn slipped away without making a sound as he left. I watched his retreating back as he headed out the exit. The door let in a whiff of bitter cold air before slamming closed.
Even now, I could see the trouble brewing. The man at the table next to me was eyeing my coin purse and licking his lips, probably hoping to relieve me of it as soon as I stepped through the doors. I smirked. I was itching for a fight and was kind of hoping he would try.
“You no good lying cheat. I’m going to kill you,” a loud voice said from the balcony above.
The upper floors of the tavern held a gambling den filled with card tables, where players frequently lost their gold and dignity. The thud of a meaty fist hitting flesh sounded. A crash followed as a table was overturned and cards flew over the banister and scattered like leaves upon the patrons below. A king of diamonds landed face up on the table in front of me, next to a black jack and a red two. I picked up the king and studied it.
My keen eyes took in the slight variation of thickness on the king, and the bright ink print compared to the faded print of the other two. I knew it wasn’t from the Dread Knot’s deck. Someone was cheating by sneaking in other cards.
I snorted at the lack of finesse. No wonder he was caught.
A loud crack resonated, and I looked up as the banister above me splintered outward and a body flew backward over the broken railing.
Fast as a whip, I stood, grabbing the mug and sliding my chair back as the man hit the middle of the table and groaned. His hooded cowl covered his hair, his eyes were closed in pain as he rolled off the table and landed gracefully on his feet. His fingers moved to his belt as he palmed his stolen winnings into a hidden slit in his dark cloak.
He looked up, and we made eye contact. My heart raced in panic. He stared, his mouth dropping open in recognition. “Honor?”
I spun and headed out of the tavern as fast as my legs could carry me.
I promised Lorn I would stay away from trouble, but this time it landed in my lap.
“Honor, wait.” The man called out and took a step after me, but before he could take another, he was surrounded. Two burly bouncers grabbed his arms and lifted him off his feet, dragging him backward, farther into the tavern.
“We’ll teach you to cheat at our card tables. The owner wants to have a word with you.”
I cast a look over my shoulder at the man, the back of his boots sliding across the muck covered floor. His eyes pleading as he struggled against the bouncers and their much larger build.
“Honor!” he called my name one last time. This time it wasn’t a plea for help, but one of remorse.
I ignored his cry, pulled the hood further over my head and stepped out into the freezing cold night.
I shuddered, but not from the chill air. It was the guilt that assailed me for not helping him. But I refused to help a notorious thief and gambler.
Even if he was once my best friend.
The snow crunched softly beneath my fox fur wrapped leather boots. The air was bitterly cold and burned my lungs with every breath.
I’d been tracking the creature for three days straight through the mountain pass and I could feel my own body begin to betray me. I blinked, clearing my vision as I shook off the cobwebs of delusion. I was exhausted. I wanted to sleep, but this wolf I was tracking wouldn’t let me. He was a loner, without a pack, and that made him dangerous. He wasn’t protecting a territory and didn’t have anywhere he would hole up for the night. He was moving quickly, and I was always one step behind.
I’d first seen the poster about the rogue wolf nailed on the magical notice board at the waystation in Creed. Then I saw a second one farther south, and this time the bounty was even higher. It appeared the beast had moved on from poaching sheep and cattle and had attacked and killed a person.
The townspeople had sent out hunters and trackers, but they’d always lose him. It was as if his tracks kept changing, or he knew he was being followed.
Which only left one option.
I wasn’t hunting a wolf.
My guess? A werewolf or a true blood shapeshifter that had gone mad from the change.
This was my sister Maeve’s specialty. She was the one who was born a shapeshifter. It should be her out hunting this thing, not me—but she was in Florin, too far away.
“It will always be you.” The memory of Lorn’s frequent chastising cut through my thoughts. “You have to work six times harder than your sisters because they have what you do not.”
“Magic,” I said bitterly.
“Control. They can control their power. Yours is unstable. A threat. Which is why you will always be on the run. You can never stay in one place. It is safer for you to keep near the ley lines. They will be your safety. They will keep you alive.”
Closing my eyes, I raised my head and felt the direction of the wind. I concentrated; listening for the twitter of the mourning doves and the rustling cries of the scavenging ravens.
The wind was silent; her song mute.
My eyes flew open, and I ducked behind the trunk of a tree, pressing my back to the rough bark. I pulled the bow from my back and strung the cord, testing the tautness, then reached for an arrow.
“Marry me!” a cocky voice whispered from behind me.
“Shh,” I hissed. “Rumple, I swear if you don’t quiet down, I will throw you down to the bottom of the nearest well.”
“You know I can’t swim. I don’t have hands,” the disembodied voice spoke behind my back.
An evil smile crept up to my lips. “Exactly.”
“You’re a cruel, cruel mistress,” the talking axe pouted.
I shook my head and scanned the white hills below me. Thankfully, even though it was spring, the snow hadn’t melted yet farther up in the mountains. It made hunting easier, if you could survive the harsh temperatures.
But could I survive babysitting Rumple? Rhea and Kash wanted some time alone after tying the knot in a small wedding ceremony in Kiln. They didn’t want Rumple Stiltskin, a dwarf whose soul was trapped in an enchanted axe, to come with them on their tour of the kingdom. I didn’t blame them. I’d returned to my adoptive mother’s childhood home in Kiln and promised to take him on some crazy adventure. Since then, he had gotten me kicked out of two taverns with his bawdy caterwauling, made me lose at a game of cards for telling my hand out loud, and scared off two deer. I couldn’t afford to lose the bounty on my prey today.