A breeze danced over her skin, and her stomach rolled at the scent it carried.
There was a group of people, a large group, and close.
Her pulse ratcheted up, roaring in her ears with a mix of excitement and fear. They’d been chasing down the Astraea for days now. Could it be that they’d finally caught up with them?
Aelia looked back in the direction of the camp, torn between going to get Keeran and scouting out the group whilst she was here. There was no point in dragging him out if it wasn’t the Astraea, and what was the harm in just looking? It wasn’t like she was going to storm the place, even if Fenrir was there.
Her heart flipped at the thought of finally finding Fenrir. She raised her nose to the wind, but her senses weren’t strong enough to make out his scent amongst all the others. That decided it. There was no way she could wait to find out if Fenrir was with them; she had to know.
She hobbled her horse and slunk towards the scent, keeping low in the grass as she climbed a steep, rocky bank. They were making no attempts to be quiet, and the wind carried the sound of raised voices to her, boisterous and masculine. As she neared the top of the bank, she dropped to her stomach and crawled the rest of the way on her elbows, ignoring the sharp rocks digging into her skin. She followed the longer grass where it interspersed the stonier ground, keeping herself hidden as she approached the camp.
The smell of cooking meat, unwashed bodies and testosterone met her, making her wrinkle her nose. They were Astraea alright; the red insignia on their black uniforms had been burned into her memory like a brand. There were dozens of them, most of them sat around various campfires, some milling around idly. A few trees grew on the top of the hill, providing them a little shelter from the wind. She peered around the camp, the light of the fires making it hard for her to see if anything hid in the shadows beneath the trees, but her hopes sank to her boots when it became clear there were no caged carts here, not a single one.
She’d assumed the band they’d interrupted earlier were on their way to rejoin this larger group, but perhaps they weren’t… perhaps they send those they capture on ahead. The realisation triggered a heavy weariness to crush down upon her.
Was this even the same group that had been in Callodosis? She couldn’t see their faces from here, but she had to know. Inch by careful inch, she crept slowly closer until their features came into focus. She could even hear the conversation around the nearest fire but soon disregarded it as the inane drivel it was. These were the people tearing their communities apart? How had such morons got away with it for so long?
Aelia scanned their faces, praying her memory wouldn’t let her down, but none looked familiar.
A voice broke across the clearing, sending the camp into silence. It reverberated around her skull, like a nightmare come to life, and she lay frozen in place by the intensity of her hatred.
“Well, well, well, look what we have here,” Beserkir said, unfolding himself from the floor. His back was to her, facing the treeline, but she would have recognised him anywhere.
She was so absorbed by her hatred, she almost didn’t notice the figure that stepped out of the trees, but something made her drag her eyes off Beserkir. The tugging in her chest amplified at the sight of the faceless shadow.
A thousand spiders seemed to scuttle over her skin as the man stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the fire, walking towards Beserkir with the ease of familiarity.
“Beserkir,” Keeran said in greeting.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Keeran,” Beserkir threw his arms open in welcome, and the other side of Keeran snarled its dislike. “What brings you back to us, my friend?”
“Let’s drop the pretence, shall we, Beserkir?” Keeran sidled closer, unperturbed by the Astraea moving in closer. “You’re a raving psychopath, and the charm offensive’s fooling no one.”
In some ways, it would have been nice if Aelia had been here to see Beserkir meet his end, but Keeran couldn’t risk her finding out that Beserkir knew him. It had worked out perfectly.
He’d spotted their camp soon after leaving to find her. If he could wipe them out before he tracked her down, he would eradicate any chance of her ever finding out about his association with them. And killing them might even be enough to get him back in her good books.
That might be pushing it, he admitted to himself. She was more likely to be pissed that he’d attacked them without her, but some things couldn’t be helped.
“Such animosity,” Beserkir tutted. “Is that any way to treat someone who’s been as forgiving as I have? Who’s overlooked so many of your little misadventures?”
Keeran’s jaw clenched shut. The desire to rip the skin off the man in front of him, one strip at a time, was almost too much to resist. But he needed information first; Fenrir wasn’t here, and he couldn’t kill Beserkir until he’d found out where he’d been taken.
“We’re even, Beserkir, I did what you asked of me.”
Beserkir laughed, a cold, hollow thing.
“Even? You poor deluded soul, no, we’re not even. Not even close.” He smiled, his teeth flashing white. “How many is it we found you guilty of murdering?”
“Forty-eight, sir.” A woman piped up from Beserkir’s right. Keeran wondered if she kissed his arse literally as well as figuratively.
“Forty-eight.” Beserkir shook his head, disbelievingly. “Of our finest veterans. You can’t seriously have thought you’d walk away scot-free after giving us one little crumb of information.”
“That crumb of information led to the deaths of more people than you accuse me of murdering.” Keeran stalked forwards, not bothering to hide the rage that darkened his eyes. The monster in him snapped its jaws, eager for the taste of blood. “You never told me what you were going to do.”
“Oh, don’t delude yourself. You knew who I was when you came to me with information about Callodosis. You have our thanks for that one, though. Rounding up the humans can be such a messy business.” Beserkir sighed at the difficulties of what he considered a good day’s work. “It was so much easier to know they’d all be in the same place, at the same time. It made our job infinitely easier.”
