“Rise and shine.” She stepped over to me with a plate of steaming-hot boiled eggs that didn’t look like they came from a chicken, and some shredded meat over purple potatoes piled high upon the plate.
“Freshen up quickly and then join me for breakfast. I have some things to tell you,” she said, and then set the plate on the table.
I quickly went to the bathhouse and used some of this clay mint teeth brushing powder she’d given me with a handmade toothbrush. I reapplied the healing salves, taking care to try to get under my cuffs with the arnica. My forearms were the most beat up from the constant shocks. I was grateful to see I looked less banged-up today. My split lip was healing; a thick, almost black scab in a line ran down the bottom. By the time I was done, only about ten minutes had passed and I raced back to the house eager to get on my way before I chickened out or vampires showed up.
Marmal was waiting for me; two wicker baskets lay over the top of our food to keep the steam in.
“Thank you,” I told her as we pulled off our baskets and started to eat. “What do you have to tell me?”
A slow grin pulled across her face. “You seem to have caught the eye of the werewolf alpha’s son.”
My heart thundered in my chest. “What do you mean?”
She took a drink from her stainless-steel cup and then leveled her eyes at me. “Because we don’t use technology, we trolls don’t have much in the way of entertainment. So gossip is much loved in our culture.”
Get on with it, woman.
“What did you hear?”
She nodded. “I went over to Larada’s farm early this morning to trade a few things and she said that rumor is…” She leaned forward for affect. “…that the alpha’s son has gone mad searching for his mate who was taken by the vampires.”
Gone mad? I hoped that was a cultural barrier and I wasn’t interpreting that literally.
I sighed in relief. He was still looking for me, that was good. “What else did she say?”
Marmal pulled her long brown hair over one shoulder and away from her food. “That he was sending out delegates to each sector to negotiate your return, and there is a million-dollar reward if you are delivered home safely.”
I swooned a little at that, unable to fight the grin that swept across my face. Thank God Sage pulled that necklace off of him; he sounded like his old self again. But why couldn’t I hear him through our bond?
“But then the vampires said they would pay two million.” Her fork stilled at her mouth.
I swallowed hard, trying to read her face. A two-million-dollar bounty on my head by the vampires wasnotgood.
“I lied,” Marmal said suddenly. “Idowant payment for helping you.”
My stomach sank. Two million dollars for turning me into the vampires was a lot of money. She could—
“Pay me in gossip.” She grinned, popping a potato into her mouth. “Tell. Me. Everything about the alpha’s son and how he became so fond of you.” Her eyes lit up and a deep relief rushed through my body.
Gossip was all she wanted? That I could do.
“It all started one morning at Delphi University…” I said, and then proceeded to tell her my entire story with Sawyer. I left out parts like my being a split shifter and found other things to put in its place that would make sense. I didn’t realize, until recounting this story, how many times Sawyer protected me, fought for me, saved me.
By the time I was done, I was left feeling empty without him here, not knowing what was going on with Meredith or any of that. Did he blame her for the necklace or simply let her off the hook? Was he still marrying her because she was a safe bet for his family curse? I had so many questions and zero answers.
Marmal looked feral by the time I’d finished the story. “When you get back, you should hike Meredith right up Waterfall Mountain and push her over the other side!” Marmal declared, slamming her fork onto her empty plate.
I chuckled. Wouldn’t that be nice. “Her mom is some bigwig in werewolf society. He probably slapped her on the wrist.”
She shook her head and sighed, then looked at my empty plate. “Alright, let’s get you off. Remember you need to travel by day and sleep high in the trees at night.” She stood and took our plates to the sink.
I nodded, but suddenly felt scared. Why couldn’t she go with me? See me across to the Dark Fey Territory? She must have read my mind.
“I wish I could escort you, but it’s a two-day journey to the border and then another two days back for me. Four days is too long to leave the animals on my farm. And all of my neighbors have their own work to do.”
I nodded, completely understanding. “I’ll be fine.”
Travel across Troll Village on a donkey, what could go wrong? I sifted through my memories of Packard telling stories of his childhood growing up. Weren’t there dark forest creatures that hunted at night? Or was that in the Fey Lands?
