“Get back here!” Marmal whisper-screamed, taking off after my wolf.
Now was my chance. In human form, I opened my eyes and ran from where I’d been quietly standing, near the place Sage had tied the horses off. Pumping my legs, I booked it through the trees and up to the back door of the barn, knowing that’s where my wolf was going to lead Marmal.
Marmal had never met my wolf, so she wouldn’t recognize her. I skidded to a stop just in front of the door at the same time my wolf leapt out of it, going from spectral to solid. The door flung open then and I was met with Marmal’s bewildered face, arms outstretched to grab my wolf. The moment she looked up at me, I pulled my hood back slightly, and she paled before breaking into a grin. Slipping out the door, she glanced over her shoulder and closed it to make sure she wasn’t followed.
Neither of us said anything, we both just opened our arms and pulled the other into a tight hug. It was crazy how you could bond with someone so deeply in such a short amount of time. I’d known Marmal only a few days and yet I knew I could ask anything of her. I knew that in the core of her person she was good.
“I thought you were dead,” she croaked, pulling away to get a better look at me.
My eyes trailed over a reddish scar on her right arm; it was angry and puckered and big. It looked like a burn. “I’m so sorry about your farm. Had I known, I would have—”
She cut me off, grabbing me by the armpit and pulling me away into the trees. Her eyes looked cagey, like she expected someone to come out and grab us at any moment.
“You can’t be here. The bounty on your head is unfathomable.” She reached up and pulled the hood back up around my face.
I frowned, anunfathomablebounty price was not good, but I didn’t like the way she was acting, like she was scared.
“Is Trip beating you? Have they hurt you?” There was a growl in my voice and my wolf went erect beside me.
Marmal looked up at me then, shaking her head as she hugged her arms against her chest. “No, but they hurt the animals and that might as well be the same thing.”
Oh God.
I shook myself. “Look, we don’t have a lot of time. I’ll explain on the way. Is there anything you need to grab before we go?”
I started to back up and lead her to where Sage and our horses were. Marmal frowned, the tiny white tusks in her cheeks bent inward, making a divot into her skin.
“What?” She sounded bewildered but slightly hopeful.
“Mar, I’m not leaving you here! Sawyer is in Magic City Prison. Come with us to get him out and then you can come live in Paladin Village forever. I’m the alpha.”
A slow grin pulled at her lips. “Alpha? I knew there was something special about you. Is that … your wolf? I swear I recognized the scent. You smell the same but…”
I nodded, and my wolf went spectral before leaping into my chest. Marmal staggered backward, eyes wide.
“Split shifter. Come on,” I pleaded. “I’ll explain on the way. There is a troll who broke out of Magic City Prison like ten years ago. Help us find him and then we can all go home together.”
Marmal looked back at the barn, her brow creasing. “I … want to … but I can’t leave them. I can’t leaveher.”
My stomach dropped. “Who? Do you have a child? A mate?”
Marmal shook her head. “The animals, my dragon.”
The moment she mentioned the dragon, my mouth dropped open. “Yourdragon?”
Marmal’s cheeks pinked. “Well, no but … I’ve named her and … she speaks to me.”
Holy shit!The dragon could speak to her? Maybe that was troll magic, I didn’t know. But that was how I felt about Astra the moment I’d seen her, and I knew I couldn’t ask Marmal to abandon the animals she had clearly grown to love over the past year. “Okay…” My mind raced trying to come up with a plan. I could tell Marmal’s did the same, because she looked deep in thought.
“The troll you spoke about, who broke out of Magic City Prison…?” Marmal said.
I nodded.
“I think he came in a few months ago to see Trip, got drunk and told the guys the story. I thought he was lying to look cool,” she said, and hope burst open inside of my chest.
I could barely contain my excitement. “Where does he live?”
Marmal put her hands out. “He’s not pure troll. He’s Ithaki, half troll and half fey.”
