“I get to watch you shift.”
Ace’s face screwed up like he couldn’t decide between a look of disgust, anguish or surprise. “It’s not glamorous.”
“I’m aware, but I just want another opportunity to see you naked.”
His gaze flashed wolf gold. “Deal.”
Ace left me near a nice stream with large boulders to hide behind. After he mentioned my books, I now realized I didn’t have any. Not with me and not at home. They had burned with the cabin.
I sighed and pulled at the grass around my legs. Waiting was the hardest. I didn’t often wait for anyone, but Ace’s plan made sense and I couldn’t let pride get in my way. We needed to work together, even if it meant admitting he was right sometimes.
Sunlight streamed through the canopy and highlighted the lush leaves. Something glinted in the golden beams a few feet away and I shifted my position to get a better look.
Another feather.
Huh.
I reached over and plucked the rainbow shimmering feather from the ground and twirled it in my hand. The sunlight danced off the vane.
The unicorn had come this way. Did it know I’d made a deal with the witch Hecate? Would I be able to kill the beast when the time came?
I sucked in a deep breath.
Shooting the unicorn rang all sorts of warning bells in my mind. Something invisible tightened around my chest. I didn’t want to kill the magnificent beast. I felt connected to it in some way.
But if it meant saving Nala…
The soft padding of feet alerted me to an approaching animal. I pulled an arrow from my quiver and nocked it as I rolled into a crouching position. Before I had a chance to peek around the stones, a male grunt echoed through the woods.
I peered over the top of the boulder to find Ace sprawled on the moss mid-change. Observing the process multiple times didn’t make it easier to watch. It was messy and looked horrific. Ace said he was used to the pain, but that did little to ease my mind. Shifting still hurt him.
Maybe I should’ve argued more with him over the plan.
Ace stood and shook off the remnants of the change. He looked fierce and deadly and deliciously naked.
“Don’t get any ideas, Mouse,” he said, his voice low and gruff. “You’ll want to see this.”
The town looked eerily similar to my brother’s rogue base in the woods far to the northwest of this location. Even though he was more than a day’s hike away from this location, he still occupied my thoughts. Was he still at his camp? Was he still lurking in the forest with his goons trying to hunt me down?
“This isn’t a normal town,” Ace said. He’d thrown his clothes back on after his shift, much to my dismay. “I wanted you to see for yourself.”
I nodded and walked past the tall wooden fence through the open gate. The main street went through the town with a row of small cabins on each side and a large cabin at the end. It wasn’t just similar to my brother’s base. It was the exact same set-up. “Is it completely abandoned?”
“People lived here at some point, but it was so long ago, I can’t pick up anything other than the faint trace of human. This place has been abandoned for a while.” He pointed at one of the cabins. “Notice anything about the framing around the doors?”
They had the same foreign symbols carved into the wood. “I think it’s fair to say this place used to be a base for the rogue hunters. Do you think this is the place O’Reilly mentioned in his letter?”
A grin tugged at Ace’s lips. “Do you think that old man hobbled all the way out here to meet his co-conspirator? I just don’t see it. The meeting place has to be closer to town. But that does mean someone else in the rogue group is marking these symbols.”
I pulled out the map and examined it again. “This location was crossed out.” I followed the map and marked trails to the northwest. “But the new base isn’t on the map.”
Ace grunted. “Maybe it’s an old map?”
“Or maybe Paul moved the base and hid it from the old man.”
Ace nodded. “More proof the rogue hunters aren’t one big happy family. Do you think Paul killed O’Reilly?”
“Maybe. Or maybe it was the third accomplice.” I sighed as another thought slapped my brain. “Or maybe I’m looking too hard to somehow exonerate or lessen my brother’s betrayal when there’s no saving him.” I folded the map and shoved it back into my pocket. “This is probably just an old map, and I have to accept my brother is completely complicit in everything.”
