I patted Colette’s side and she took off, but not before I saw Callum raise his hands.
Everything happened so fast.
Colette let out a neigh as loud as a lion’s roar. She reared up on her hind legs, frightened by something in front of us that I couldn’t see. My hold on her reins wasn’t tight enough.
I went flying.
My head slammed into the ground, and my vision went black.
21
Rose
Iwoke to something nudging my forehead.
Something…wet. And cold.
Releasing a groan, I reached out a hand to shove the intruder aside, when my skin met warm fur. I pried my eyes open and gasped at the sight of a black nose, a whiskered, white muzzle surrounded by a red coat of fur, and bright golden eyes staring back at me.
A fox.
I sat straight up, and a soft blanket fell into my lap. Confusion and alarm swept in. Where was I? What happened to me?
The fight with Callum came back in fragmented pieces, along with a pounding in my skull. I’d been on a path in the forest heading to the memorial. I fell off Colette and passed out, then ended up…
Slowly, I glanced up at the fox before me. The moment I moved, it sprang to all four paws and padded across the room to a door. With almost human-like grace, it wrapped its two front paws around the knob, turned it, and slunk out the door.
I blinked rapidly. How badly had I hit my head?
I stood from the small couch I’d been sleeping on, rubbing the back of my neck. The motion made me catch my breath as a sharppain reverberated through my right side all the way up to the back of my head. Carefully, I peeled my black shirt up to find a massive bruise along my ribs. My fingers traced over the deep purple blotches, wincing at even the slightest pressure. Digging into my pouch, I pulled out a small ginger root and bit down on the end, muttering the spell for pain relief my aunt had taught me long ago.
I took a step forward and pain shot up my entire right side, my head spinning and throbbing. My magic was severely weakened from so much use today—it was going to take much more than a piece of ginger to make this go away. How was I supposed to get out of here? And where was “here,” anyway?
Turning gently in a wide arc, I took in the space around me. It looked like a modest-sized cottage. Wooden rafters lined the ceiling. Natural light came from three windows stationed around the single large room, which functioned as a living space and a kitchen. The couch faced a brick fireplace in the center of the wall, with a couple of blankets thrown over the back and an empty glass resting on an end table. Past the couch and to my right was a circular table and three chairs, a shelf with three plates, three bowls, and three mugs, and a counter holding a variety of imperishable foods—bread, apples, and dried meat.
Sitting on the counter was a basket with little glass vials and burlap pouches, twigs of what I recognized as lavender and thistle sticking out from some of them.
Did an Alchemist live here?
I limped over to the basket, keeping my arm wrapped around my side as pain echoed in me with each step. I needed to find something to heal me. The only remedies I’d brought with me were the ginger root and a vial of cedarwood oil, which worked best on topical injuries like a knife wound.
The familiar sweet and earthy scent of herbs and charms washed over me when I reached for the first bag in the basket.
I paused, my fingers hovering over rough burlap. The back of my neck tingled, the hair on my arms raising as a ringing formed low in my ears.
Before I could turn, a thick, warm rope wrapped around my neck like a noose.
I inhaled sharply and choked, pain shooting down my right side as I tried to move both hands to claw at my throat. A strangled cry left my lips.
“That,” a low voice growled from somewhere above me, “does not belong to you.”
“Let—go—of me,” I panted, reaching for my satchel.
“And let you use your charms on me? Not a chance, little Alchemist.”
I stilled. I recognized that voice. “Who are you?”
A rustle sounded from the ceiling. I shifted my gaze upward, the movement making the rope tighten around my throat, momentarily stealing the breath from my lungs.
