And what a strange world I’d woken up in. Dragons, trogg, and now this devilish incubus. Maybe I hadn’t survived the attack at all. Maybe I was trapped in some twisted purgatory.
With a mocking gleam in his blue eyes, he swept out his half-eaten apple and executed a courtly bow. “Thorne Blackwing, at your service, your fake ladyship.”
For some insane reason, the fact thatthis mandared to mock me straightened my spine. Damn him. I could pull off the role of a lady if I wanted. I’d be a far better royal than Penelope. That was for sure. “And what makes you so certain I’m not royalty?”
His reply was a wicked smile. His gaze slid—deliberately, insolently—down my body. I stiffened, fighting not to squirm.His stare lingered on my legs, then lifted, eyes darkening in a proprietary way that made my chest tighten. A dangerous heat flickered across his visage, then vanished as quickly as it appeared.
He bit into his apple with a savage crunch. “Beyond the obvious, I know you are no lady because I spotted the royal family fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. Their wagon was loaded with all their worldly goods as they abandoned Nefarr.”
A cold pang twisted inside of me. “So, they survived.” I snorted, thoughts jumping to how that might affect my newfound freedom.
What did it matter if they lived? They were still gone, abandoning us like yesterday’s refuse. That had to mean I remained free. At the thought, a tingle of delight coursed through me. Speck too. We were free-folk now. If I could sneak back into the manor and retrieve the coins I’d saved, the two of us could finally start new lives together. Free lives.
“Whoa.” Thorne held his hands out. “Calm your enthusiasm. Your concern for your fearless leader is, dare I say, overwhelming.”
I folded my arms, lifting my chin. Let him think the worst of me. What did I care what the ruffian thought? After all, it was the dragon who’d saved me from the monsters at the lake. I owed his companion nothing.
Although he may have some inkling of how the village fared.
“What about the others? Did the villagers escape?” Speck. I had to get to Speck.
Thorne shrugged, lounging against the table as if none of this mattered. “That lot? The Puritans couldn’t escape a flock of flutterflies.”
I strangled my frustration, desperate enough to beg. “Please tell me.”
“Some survived,”the dragon offered before Thorne could deny my request.“Much to their detriment. Most of the living Ispotted were in chains. Only those who got out quickly, like your royals, seem to have escaped.”
Speck was likely with his flock when the attack occurred. With any luck, he’d been spared. Except, with his twisted leg, he would have been encumbered. Easy prey. I’d check the pasture first. Find him and then leave this place.
“Who was it that attacked your village, anyway?” Thorne paused in his chewing. “I mean, sure, the Puritans are bigoted, small-minded snobs. But as far as I could tell, they had no real enemies.”
I opened my mouth to counter the slight and then closed it again. He wasn’t wrong. “You’ll think me crazed.” I nibbled my bottom lip, casting a cautious glance at the dragon, who studied me with an expression I couldn’t discern. Thankfully, my bladder no longer loosened when meeting his gaze.
“I already think you crazed,” Thorne said with false cheer that ground my teeth together.
“Fine then. It wasn’t men but monsters.” I tilted my chin, daring him to contradict me. “Ravenous creatures. Some consumed flesh, while others sucked the life from the fallen. I’d never seen anything like it.”
“I should have known you would lie again.” Thorne snorted. “That’s imposs—”
“Wendigos,”Alaric cut in.
I peered up at the beast. “You’re familiar with the creatures?”
“I haven’t seen one in a long time.”Alaric’s manner was subdued.“They exist underground, only surfacing to feed.”He exchanged a look with Thorne that I didn’t understand.
The blue-eyed devil chucked his apple core into the corner. “Nobody has seen them because they were all destroyed hundreds of years ago. Along with their leader.”
Alaric’s low growl rumbled through my bones.“Do you honestly think that I wouldn’t recognize them?”His gaze speared Thorne like a blade.“They’ve awakened.”
That daggered glare had little effect, it seemed, as Thorne sneered. “What I think is, if you truly saw a wendigo, then it was a paltry cell. The pull of the comet likely woke them from hibernation. They’ll retreat into whatever hell they crawled out of once it’s passed.”
“We can hope.”Discontent hardened the slant of Alaric’s brow.
I paced to the dragon’s side and back, confidence growing in the belief that he wouldn’t have saved me only to eat me. Mostly. “Stray cell or not, they destroyed my village. There could still be survivors. I have to go back.” I could search for Speck on the way. Stop at what remained of Rottbarry Manor, help the injured, and grab my savings. That done, Speck and I could take ourselves far away from here.
“You will not return to that place.”Alaric’s commanding voice thundered inside my mind.
While I was accustomed to receiving orders, this one set my teeth on edge.
