How could I have been so careless? Injuries as bad as the ones Ramsay had didn’t just heal overnight, and now there was no hiding the fact thatsomethinghappened to him since our capture.
“Explain,” the Madame demanded.
“Explain what?” Ramsay asked.
But I knew this was no time to play dumb. The Madame may have been a human, but she wasn’t stupid or weak. Lying to her face wouldn’t help us.
“I healed him,” I said quietly.
“How?”
“I… I can’t explain it well,” I admitted.
She narrowed her eyes. “Try.”
I decided to give her the simple version of the truth. “I can use healing magic. Shifter magic.”
The Madame paused. “You. Pregnant wolf. You’re a healer?”
“I guess you could say that,” I said warily. I still didn’t know her angle. What did she want from me? Just information, or something else?
A long moment passed in silence, and I felt like even breathing was too loud. I couldn’t read the emotions on the Madame’s stoic face, but I had a feeling there were many mixed thoughts going on in her mind right now.
Finally she took a step forward. “I will untie you, and I will explain the truth. But in return, you must do something for me.” She narrowed her eyes again into dangerous slits. “And you will not attempt to escape.”
I returned her glare and analyzed her offer. An explanation was what I sorely wanted after being kept in the dark, but with Ramsay free, there was nothing stopping us from making a break for it.
But then the Madame tapped the leather strap across her chest, and I remembered with dull fear that she still had a firearm--one she clearly had no second thoughts about using.
“Fine,” I said.
She undid Ramsay’s restraints, then summoned us both to follow her. As soon as Ramsay’s hands were free I intertwined my fingers with his. He was the only thing keeping me sane and grounded, and once again I was intensely grateful for his presence.
It was a stiff, uncomfortable walk through the hall into the open living space by the hearth. She gestured for us to wait as she pulled an old, heavy chest out from beside the fire. I thought it was strange that she would turn her back to us--two wolves, now free and capable of attacking her or fleeing at any moment. What kind of strange trust did she have in us?
She really is a weird human,I thought.
When she turned back around to face us, the chest was still closed. She gestured for us to sit. We waited anxiously for her to speak.
“The wolf Neil proposed an offer to us,” the Madame began, wasting no time. “In exchange for giving him safe refuge, and executing a certain task for him, he would help us hunt this upcoming winter. In addition, the task in question would provide us safety from the beasts in the mountains.”
My mind raced as it tried to put the pieces together. “Neil is staying here? And helping humans?”
She didn’t take offense to my statement. She nodded, apparently understanding their deal was as strange as I thought it was.
“What kinda task are we talking here?” Ramsay asked with a suspicious grunt.
“And the beasts in the mountains… You mean the gryphons, don’t you?” I asked.
“Yes.” She met my eyes. “The task Neil proposed is that we deliver the pregnant wolf to the gryphons.”
My blood turned to ice.
But why? Why is Neil so impatient to sacrifice me to the gryphons? Is he still trying to get revenge on me for turning him down?
Immediately I stiffened and latched on to Ramsay’s arm. He growled as he put his arm protectively around me.
But the Madame raised her hand.
