“Yes,” I said, my voice coming out scratchy and dry. It felt like someone else whispered the word instead of myself.
“I'll need more than your word,” Hecate said.
Careful not to disturb Nala, who now appeared to be sleeping upright, Hecate reached into her cloak and pulled out a dagger. She must have had it sheathed on a belt. Without a word, she drew the edge of the blade along the tip of her finger until blood pebbled out and ran down her hand. She held out the dagger to me. I repeated her actions, the sharp edge of the weapon biting into my skin. The cut stung as blood welled up.
“I promise to save your familiar from death. In exchange, you will retrieve the horn from the forbidden forest unicorn.”
I swallowed again and reached out to press my bloody fingertip to Hecate’s. I'd only ever heard of phaanon oaths and never dreamed I’d have to use the limited knowledge to make my own promise. Magic shot down my arm, and I jerked back.
Hecate narrowed her eyes.
“Sorry.” I leaned forward and pressed my finger to hers again. The shock of power still made me jump, but I managed not to leap out of my chair or break contact the second time. “I promise to retrieve the horn of the forbidden forest unicorn in exchange for you saving my familiar’s life.”
Magic snapped in the air and forced me back in my seat.
Nala’s head popped up, and she opened her eyes to pant at me.
Hecate had a different reaction. She settled back in her rocking chair, a small smile lifted to the corners of her lips. She continued to pat Nala’s head.
“You did the right thing,” Hecate said.
“When can you start?” I asked.
Hecate opened her mouth to answer when she suddenly froze. An eerie silence settled over the cabin. Hecate shut her mouth and jabbed the air between us with her finger. “Who did you bring with you?”
“No one,” Ace said, finally speaking since entering the cabin. “I know the rules. We came alone.”
Hecate narrowed her eyes again and power surged up around us.
The front door slammed open, and men poured into the cabin. We leapt from our seats and turned to the entrance. The men wore tan leather pants and vests for hunting. They wielded bows with arrows nocked and ready.
No one spoke. No one moved. The door behind the newcomers swung back, inch by inch. The hinges cried out, the sound dragging on until the door came to a rest, half-shut.
I turned to Hecate to find the rocking chair empty. She was gone. Where the phaan did she go and how did she just disappear? Why didn’t she take us, or at least Nala? Did she heal Nala before she left? Or was all this for nothing?
“Don't make any sudden movements,” one of the men said. He was tall, broad shouldered and had a strong build, short black hair, pale skin and dark brown eyes. He might have been handsome if he wasn’t ordering me around and pointing an arrow at me. “Don’t move and we won’t shoot you,” he said.
I glanced at my bow nestled on the wall by the door along with my quiver. Ace had rested his on the end of this loveseat, but they were just as out of reach as mine. That left only the daggers strapped to our bodies and we’d have a couple arrows in our chest before we got the chance to use them.
“Don’t,” the man with a wiry build and sandy hair warned.
Nala whined and sat down. She kept glancing in my direction, waiting for my signal to attack. Even when feeling unwell, my familiar had my back. My chest warmed. I would never ask her to risk herself like that. Not when we didn’t stand a chance.
The tallest hunter had a wicked scar running down one side of his face. The two closest to the door had sandier coloured hair and darker skin tones. With the same brown eyes and thinner lips, they could be brothers or fraternal twins. The hunter closest to us should’ve stood out the most with his flaming red hair, piercing blue eyes and pale skin, but that honour went to their apparent leader who’d already spoken to us. None of his features set him apart, at least not significantly, but he had a presence that drew all the attention to him.
Two of us and a sick wolf pitted against five hunters of unknown skill-level in a cabin barely big enough to breathe in. There was no room to run or hide. If their arrows hadn’t already been nocked and trained on us, we might’ve stood a chance.
Even now, part of me itched for the fight.
I’d survive. I’d done it before. Pain was temporary and meant nothing to me. I wouldn’t die from an arrow. Immortality was a curse with few benefits, but this was one of them.
My gaze flicked to Nala, pressed weakly against my legs, her breathing still shallow. She was supposed to be immortal like me, but was she? Could she survive?
I glanced at Ace next. Strong, broad-shouldered and silent, he stood with his limbs loose, his jaw tight, and his dark gaze locked on the hunters. He was ready to fight.
But he was mortal.
He wouldn’t survive an arrow to the chest. At least I didn’t think he would—he said he wasn’t an immortal phaanon like me.
