Sahra came over and crouched behind him, eyes flitting from his arm to me. “Interesting.”
My brow raised and she stood, moving over to where Marcy lifelessly sprawled. After some investigating, she turned my way again.
“I’ve seen this sort of curse before. Its aura festers on them, but it’s black; on those beasts, it was red. It will not affect them as it did the wolf-men, so they’re not likely to transform.” She crossedher arms. “But it is killing them. You’re going to need wolfsbane. There’s a wise woman in the village who likely has some in her simples. Get it on them tonight, before the sun rises.”
“We need to find the witch who cursed them,” Taran announced. “Sahra, with me. Asli, you’ll assist the queen with getting the others back to Thornmarsh.”
Asli started forward in protest. “But I—”
“You cannot see the curse.” Sahra put up her hand. “A woman did this. You’ll be more useful here, saving lives.”
Asli growled under his breath, then looked at Marcy. “But she’s a damned boulder. How am I supposed to carry her?”
“I canwalk,” Marcy hissed. “Just need…a shoulder.”
The sound of her voice was a great relief. Gods, she deserved the world. No stipend could cover her heroics tonight.
Quinn’s grip on my hand eased. I took the opportunity to clap for Sahra’s attention, then signed.“The beast spoke. He said they wouldtake what they’d always taken, before the witch cursed them.”
Sahra lowered her gaze. “Rapists.”
Taran’s eyes narrowed. “They likely victimized the witch, and she mutilated them in turn. We must find her, nonetheless.”
“Taran—” Sahra started, one step forward before she hesitated. “It sounds like these men deserved their fate.”
“Are you taking up for a witch?” Asli barked out.
“I—”
“Enough,” Taran said, ending the argument before it could begin. “Sahra, come.”
Sahra frowned, but bowed her head and followed right along. They disappeared into the swamp, that dense fog receding with them.
I gave Quinn a gentle pat, moving away and approaching Marcy. Her face was a nightmare, scratched to oblivion, and her right ear dangled by threads.
She had the gall to grin at me as I squatted in front of her. “You need a bath, Your Majesty.”
I narrowed an eye, smiling back, then turned my attention down to the wolf-man. The dagger was sheathed in his eye socket, easy enough to remove. His tongue hung limply from his mouth; I reached into that maw, gripping one of the larger canines, and with the help of the knife, I pried it loose.
Cleaning the tooth in one of the pools, I took a ribbon from my hair and fashioned a necklace around it, then returned to Quinn. He was less dazed now, propped up on his good elbow, but he was obviously rather shaken.
I kneeled in front of him and offered my creation forward.
“Alana…what in the hells is that?” He winced, sneering at my hands. He reclined further as I placed it around his neck, tying it off.
“It’s a token of bravery,”I answered.“For the bravest man I’ve ever known.”
Quinn’s lip quivered. “You haven’t known many men.”
“The rest will likely disappoint me.”
He laughed, then groaned in agony. I frowned, too dirty to fashion a sling for him with my current clothing. Then I approached a cattail, ripping it from just above the water, and tested its flexibility.
I returned to Quinn, wrapping the plant around his wrist and tying it off at his shoulder. He hissed, but didn’t protest. In front of us, Asli assisted Marcy to her feet.
“Are you ready?”I asked Quinn, and he nodded. But first, I needed to grab that wicker basket and the lotus. I went away, rounding both up, then came back and pulled him up, wrapping his good arm over my shoulder.
That slight contact was embraced by shadows, black flames licking up Quinn’s form. Asli’s back was to us, but I wondered if he’d see those tendrils if he turned around. Quinn didn’t seem to notice.
