“Jessa.”
Dani’s voice was small and careful. She turned to find her sister watching her with eyes that were far too old for her ten years.
“We need to leave,” Dani said.
She crossed to the chair and knelt down next to her sister. “It’s not that simple. Where would we go?”
“Another village. Somewhere he can’t find us.”
“He’d come after us.” She shook her head. “He has connections everywhere. Traders, merchants, council members—everyone owes him something. If we went to another village, he’d find us within days.”
“Then what?” Dani’s voice cracked with frustration. “We just stay here and let him take everything? Let him control us forever?”
Forever.The word echoed in her mind, heavy with despair.
But then another memory surfaced—emerald eyes in the shadows, a gruff voice explaining how to process sunvine, the warmth of a body pressed against hers in the mountain cold.
Let me know when you decide how I should pay my debt.
“Not another village,” she said slowly. “But perhaps, the mountains.”
Dani blinked. “What?”
“Vultor territory.” Her mind was racing now, pieces clicking into place. “Gerhard won’t follow us into the mountains. No human would. It’s forbidden.”
“But—” Dani’s eyes widened. “The Vultor. They’re supposed to be monsters. Killers.”
She thought of Tarek. She was aware of his claws and his fangs and his overwhelming physical presence, but he’d also pulled her into his arms without being asked, purely to keep her warm. He’d watched from the tree line when she returned to the village, unwilling to abandon her until he knew she was safe.
“Not all of them,” she said quietly.
Dani studied her face for a long moment. Whatever she saw there made her expression shift from fear to curiosity.
“You met one,” she said. “When you went to get the vines. You met a Vultor.”
“Yes.”
“And he didn’t hurt you.”
“No. He… helped me.” Her cheeks warmed. “I owe him a debt, actually. He never named the price.”
Dani was quiet, processing this. Then, slowly, she nodded.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“If you trust him, if you think we’ll be safe with him, then okay.” Dani’s jaw set with a determination that reminded Jessa painfully of their mother. “Anything is better than staying here and watching Uncle Gerhard own us.”
She pulled her sister into a fierce hug, blinking back tears she couldn’t afford to shed.
“We’ll need to plan,” she said, her mind already racing ahead. “We need supplies and warm clothes for the mountains, but the sooner we go the better so the medicine will last until…” She trailed off, not sure how to finish that sentence.
“Until we figure out what comes next,” Dani said firmly.
Yes,she thought.Until we figure out what comes next.
But as she held her sister close and listened to the wind rattling the shutters, she found herself thinking of emerald eyes again. She had a debt to repay. And now, it seemed, she had a destination as well.
