The chitter of insects follows us as we find the others and let them know we plan to stay a while. A few take the rowboats back toThe Gilded Hartfor equipment or supplies.
Tavi finds us hovering at the rise of the tree line, watching bodies weave back and forth on the shore setting up tents. Otto disembarks from one of the rowboatsand drops an overstuffed bag, then begins to drag a massive pot towards a slowly growing stack of wood.
“Any update?” Tavi asks, her eyes caught on Soraya, who also limps through the chaos.
“We’re working on it,” Rune says.
“There’s a piece missing,” I clarify.
Rune shrugs. “We could have put it together wrong.”
I shake my head. We missed something. I can feel it. “I’ll need to take another look at the map. I know we hit every riddle, but maybe there’s something hidden that we didn’t know to look for before.” My thoughts stray to the nautilus marking on the back. It’s a common enough design, but it feels like a clue. “If we end up leaving without the treasure, I’d rather leave no stone unturned.”
A familiar foreboding ghosts over my body a breath before a rumbling voice speaks behind us in the trees, the sound like an unwelcome memory in the night. “Withoutthe treasure?”
Alarm spears through my every limb, sending my body moving. I spin, dagger in hand, dread already having wrapped my chest in a tight fist. Rune is slower to react, but only by a moment. He hasn’t had years of muscle memory trained into avoiding that voice taking him by surprise.
The towering figure materializes as if from nowhere, only barely distinguishing itself from the trees. “You mean we wasted all this time, for nothing?” He moves, his boots crashing through the underbrush. Panic snakes up my spine, every pump of my heart fueling the icy chains that I can already feel tightening on my wrists, as if he’s already won. He steps into a spear of light and stops.
Ivor.
The trees continue to move. The Vipers smirk as they flank him, their weapons already drawn.
It should be impossible; if they were tailing us we would have known. “How did you find us?” Somehow, my voice doesn’t shake. Beside me, Tavi’s knuckles are white on the grips of her swords. The very air is drawn tight around us, like the next fallen leaf might send blows flying.
Ivor crosses his arms. His massive sword is still secured to his back, his posture relaxed enough to keep mine tense. “You think I wouldn't know you’d make your way back here? You’re my daughter. I know you better than you know you. And a lot better than this guppy if he’s really allowing himself to be alone with you near a cache of treasure.” Some of the Vipers laugh and cat call in the trees. “Oh,” he goes on, as if in afterthought, “there’s also this.”
One of the larger shadows behind him drags a gagged man forwards. His short, curly black hair is clumped with dirt and blood, but he straightens up on his knees, keeping his shoulders straight and proud.
“Killian,” Rune says, his voice pained.
“Killian!” Ivor guffaws, the giant expanse of his chest rumbling with laughter. “That’s really your name, son? And yet you hardly put up a fight. That’s a name you have to earn, not one worn by shitty spies.” Ivor lifts a boot and plants it into Killian’s back, throwing the bound man face first into the dirt. “Of course, even without him”—Ivor shifts to press his weight into Killian’s back—“I would have known, Nisse.” He gestures to the trees, and a pair of selbies swoopdown, their bodies blurring and growing until they stand as a man and a woman with steel-grey hair and eyes.
Then there’s a jarring, familiar screech, and a larger bird swoops over our heads, morphing into a man on Killian’s other side.
I shuffle through memories, trying to remember if I’d seen the feathered stowaway with my own eyes, but all I remember is the hair-raising screech. It takes too long for my mind to catch up. “Garreth.” I look between him and the other shifters, and all at once I’m shocked by my own arrogance. I thought I could get away. I thought I knew every move Ivor could have made. But the whole time. . . “You made them stalk the ship. Too chicken to do it yourself?”
The hawk shifter spits. “Do you think I’m that stupid?”
I ignore him. “You used them to follow us.” The accusation is low, but I know Ivor hears me.
He grins, finally taking his boot off Killian’s back. “I didn’t have to follow you. I know you’d find a way to the treasure, clever girl. All I did was wait.”
His approval sits sour in my gut. I can feel Rune look to me but I don’t dare look back, afraid of what I might see on his face. This is my fault. I led them all here. I thought I could get away. But no one gets away. And now I’m dragging them all down with me. I never wanted to be like Ivor, but I risked us all for a bit of coin. Rolled the dice with lives on the line and still lost in the end.
My hands shake, but my shoulders are square as I unhook the bola from my side and step in front of Rune. I don’t need to ask what’s next. I don’t offer a bargain or beg. The rest ofthe Vipers have their eyes set on the shore behind us, watching the crew ofThe Gilded Hartwith violent interest.
Ivor slowly pulls his sword from his back, making a show of widening his stance before beckoning me over. I throw one apologetic look over my shoulder at Rune, hoping he can see the grief in my eyes. He nods, looking so unphased it almost shocks me into a smile. A sharp whistle pierces the air and I look to Tavi in surprise. Her attention hasn’t moved from the Vipers in the trees, but I can hear shouting start up behind us. It’s Elio, calling the others to arm themselves and find us.
A flaming bolt rewards my hesitation. It lands between my legs and I leap forwards, rolling before it explodes and heat licks up my back.
Before I’m on my feet, trees erupt in whizzing arrows and screaming steel.
Ivor meets me as I rise, tossing a few playful swings with his sword. I duck and roll, dancing away from the gleam of the blade. His reach is impossibly long, and it takes every desperate burst of speed to keep distance between us.
“You’re doing well,” he says, as if they were training. “Glad to see you haven’t gone soft.”
The edge of his sword cleaves through the space where I just was. “Odd to compliment someone while trying to kill them.”
