I cock an eyebrow. But before I can say anything, Ketill goes stock still. He turns his head and sniffs the air.
“Ketill?” I ask, worry making me tense.
“Hop on, treasure.” Ketill kneels. “Looks like the shifters have caught up with us and aren’t far away. We need to get going.”
Without another word, I climb onto Ketill’s back with my heart in my throat, before Ketill darts into the rising sun, the warm satchel bouncing at my side.
***
Ketill puts me down when we approach a village. It’s small and cute, the roads made with weather-worn brown stones.
Either side sits squat, thatched-roof homes, and I can imagine in the summer their front gardens are bursting with foliage. Everything is a bit too sad, wet, and cold to be bursting with anything right now.
We stroll past tall black lanterns stabbed into the Earth, a sign welcoming us to Dunbrae Hollow.
“Established in 1295,” I say, reading the sign. “I wonder if there are any historic landmarks. Scotland, like most of Britain and Europe, really, is absolutely littered with historic landmarks. Robert the Bruce became King of Scots in 1306 after killing his rival John Comyn, so he could’ve travelled through this very village when he was hiding—why are you looking at me like that?”
Ketill’s lips are stretched wide, eyes sparkling. “I’m just enjoying your history lesson.”
I turn away from him and fold my arms. “You don’t need to make fun of me.”
Ketill drapes his long arms around my shoulders. “And what makes you think I am? Didn’t I tell you I like stories?”
The back of my neck heats. “Most normal people get bored when I start talking history…”
Ketill kisses my neck. My heart flutters, the connection between uspinginglike a chorus of bells.
“I am not normal people.” He flashes his fangs, his antics pulling a grin from me. “Now, tell me more about this King of Scots, especially if there’s a bloody battle.”
My lips twist, and after a moment, I spin around to hug Ketill’s arm to my chest, and as we stroll down the cobbled pathway, I tell my soulmate a story of how a man became a king.
***
“A phone box,” I say as we come into the heart of the village—the market square.
It’s quiet with only a few people huddled in coats heading towards the small local shop or the larger local pub.
“Do you think it’s actually still in use?”
“Looks like it,” I say as I go closer to inspect the dull red box. “I should call my brother; he’ll be worrying.”
Ketill fishes out his wallet and drops coins into the palm of my hand. “I’m going to look around. I’m supposed to meet my contact here, but she’s nowhere to be found.”
“Maybe we passed her?”
“Trust me,” Ketill says, “she’s noticeable.”
Ketill brushes a light touch across my cheek as a goodbye before he saunters away.
I pull open the rusted door to the phone box. It slams shut behind me, knocking free a few raindrops that scatter into my hair that I brush away before bringing the receiver to my ear, the dial tone something I can only remember hearing on TV as I key in my big brother’s number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Kai—”
“Where the hell have you been?” Kai shouts before I’ve even finished speaking. “I’ve been checking the Find My Friends app, and you weren’t moving!”
“Kai, calm down, please,” I sigh, leaning against the glass side that’s already beginning to fog.
