One
Vaskel rana hand over one of his horns, the ridged surface warm despite the snowflakes occasionally landing on it. He let the door to the Wayside Inn close with a sigh behind him as he took in the snowy village that was sluggishly shrugging off the dawn. Birds stayed nestled under eaves dripping with icicles, and thatch roofs huddled under blankets of glistening snow. Smoke curled from chimneys, twisting and spinning into the sullen sky that foretold another snowy day.
The solstice might have passed and the days might be lengthening, but that didn’t mean the village wasn’t in for more winter. Vaskel rubbed his bare hands together and smiled, invigorated by the cold. To say that the hellkin ran hot would be a vast understatement.
“Thought you’d sneak out without me?”
He turned at the voice from behind, stepping forward as Cali slipped outside with him. The pantheri wore her usual snug-fitting brown leather pants and vest, her bow and a quiver of arrows slung over one shoulder and her gray-striped arms exposed. She also relished the cold, although for her it had todo with her fur and not because she was an infernal being like Vaskel.
“When has anyone ever evaded you?” he asked with a wry grin, as he flipped up the collar of his long cloak.
The archer returned his smile, lifting one shoulder as if acknowledging the truth of this. “If anyone could, it would be you.”
His former crew mate knew him just as well as he knew her, and she knew all too well that one of his many talents was stealth, aided by his unnatural ability to sense danger before it reared its head.
“But why would I?” He stepped away from the rustic wooden building, heading for the market stalls that were still in the process of being set up.
Cali fell in step with him, both their tails swinging behind them. “Maybe you have errands for the tavern you want to keep under wraps.”
He cocked a brow at her. He had taken over the job of bartender for the village tavern, but his tasks comprised pulling pints, charming the patrons, and keeping the bar clean. “Secret errands?”
She laughed at this. “I suppose not, although Lira might have given you tasks for the wedding.”
Now Vaskel chuckled as he stroked one hand down his short beard. “From what I can tell, Lira and Korl aren’t the ones in charge of their wedding.”
Around them, vendors were shaking snow from fabric awnings that shaded their stalls and farmers were unloading cratesjammed with winter vegetables. Even though most vendors weren’t open for business, Vaskel enjoyed walking around and eyeing the wares.
Cali clasped her paws behind her as they wound between the stalls, snow crunching beneath their feet. “Tinpin seems to have shifted seamlessly from coordinating the Solstice Festival to arranging Lira’s and Korl’s wedding.”
Vaskel didn’t need to remind Cali that the gnome haberdasher had appointed himself to both positions.
“Tin has a strong design aesthetic,” Cali said, “but the wedding seems to have taken on a life of its own.”
“I don’t think her uncle has helped rein it in either.”
Cali snorted a laugh. “Don’t tell me you’re surprised that the elf who travels with a personal staff and lute player veers toward excess.” Then the pantheri put a paw on Vaskel’s arm. “You don’t think he’s going to insist on having lute music, do you?”
Vaskel stopped to eye bottles of shimmering, amber honey. “I think lute music is the least of our worries with Erindil.”
“You don’t think he’ll bring Glen to the wedding, do you?” Cal asked, dropping her voice.
Vaskel thought of the scene the ostrich had made during the solstice festival. “As his date? No. Do I put it past him to suggest that Lira ride him for the processional? No.”
Cali’s golden eyes widened. “Should we step in? I know we’re not technically a crew anymore but?—”
“Once a crew, always a crew,” Vaskel said with more heat than he’d intended.
Her whiskers twitched. “I was going to say that we’re family. Not the ones we were born into, perhaps, but the one we chose.”
Since hellkin families weren’t exactly close, the family Vaskel had formed with his crew mates meant he no longer walked through life alone. It was something he’d never expected, but now couldn’t imagine life without.
He exhaled, his breath puffing out in a cloud as he absently rubbed a prickling spot on one wrist. “But now we’re a family inside the larger Wayside family.”
“Sure, but we’ve known Lira the longest, aside from Iris. We know what she’d like and what she’d hate.”
The mention of Iris made Vaskel’s mind wander. He felt like so many of the residents of Wayside had become like family, but Iris was different. The warmth he felt when he looked at her, when she sat at the bar to talk to him late in the evenings, or when he stopped into her apothecary was different that the friendship he felt with Cali or even Lira.
Vaskel was more than aware of his reputation as a seducer. It was part of every hellkin’s nature to charm others, male and female alike. His skills had come in handy during years crewing, although it also meant he’d left a trail of bruised hearts in his wake. But once he’d reached Wayside, he’d tucked that part of himself firmly in the past. Then he’d met Iris.
