“Is this true?” he asked the shopkeeper.
She stammered for a moment before she managed to find her voice. “I don’t know what happened. She was here one minute, and then she was gone.”
So, she didn’t know what the stone actually did then. Good.
“I thought this shit-hole blocked shifting,” he said, his voice growing angrier and angrier by the minute.
I kept my breath held tight in my throat. For some reason, these Hunters were looking for me. Maybe if they thought I had fled, they’d leave this place and go searching for me. Maybe they would let Rourke go, and all of this could end.
“It does block shifting. I don’t understand how she got out.”
“I see.” The Hunter motioned at Rourke, and soon, his three friends formed a circle around my instructor. They snatched his arms from his side, twisting them behind his back. There was a flash of pain in Rourke’s eyes, but it was only an instant and gone too quickly for them to see.
My heart leapt into my throat, and I took a step forward, hand outstretched. They were going to take Rourke. I had to do something, anything, to stop them.
But his cool voice broke through my thoughts, causing my feet to slow. “You made a promise.”
The guards seized him. And then he was gone.
Chapter Ten
My feet wouldn’t move, even after the three Hunters dragged Rourke out of the Grim’s front door. The fourth stayed inside. The leader, I was guessing. He strode forward, his golden cloak billowing behind him. Abruptly, he stopped just short of the shopkeeper’s desk, leaned down, and braced his fists on the table.
“I told you I wanted the changeling, but all you’ve given me is Rourke. The Queen will not be pleased.”
Raine sniffed and lifted her chin. “He’s a good find on his own. I can’t help it if you didn’t get here fast enough to catch her.”
The two of them were only inches from where I stood, my feet still frozen to the wood floor. My hands itched to do something. If only I had my weapons. I could take my sword and chase after those Hunters who had Rourke.
My sword, I realized. No one could see me right now. I could go after my sword and get Rourke to safety. No one would see it coming. They’d never even know I was there until it was too late.
But first, I had to get out of the shop without tipping this Hunter off to the fact that I was here and invisible to anyone but myself.
“‘Course, I’m not greedy. Just give me half of what I’m owed,” Raine said, crossing her arms over her chest.
The Hunter let out a low, eerie chuckle, the kind of laugh that sent a tremor of unease down my spine. “You let the changeling get away, and you want what you’re owed? Alright. I think I can manage that for you.”
The shopkeeper’s lips twisted into a smirk, and she held out her hands, palm up. The Hunter reached down to his belt, his fingers closing around the hilt of his sword. I realized what was happening almost a second too late. I had just enough time to stumble out of the way when he yanked his sword from his scabbard, sliced it through the air, and landed his blow right at the base of the shopkeeper’s neck.
Steel sliced through skin, and a river of blood streamed through the gaping wound. With one hand still wrapped tightly around the stone, I stumbled back, pressing the other against my open mouth. Nausea tumbled through my stomach at the sight, at the wet skin, at the oozing gore, at the way her eyes rolled back in her head.
Her body fell to the ground with a smack.
And then the Hunter strode out of there with a satisfied smile, leaving behind a trail of red.
* * *
By the time I’d gathered my wits and made it out of Grim, the Hunters had left the village. The gate was shut, and the streets were rowdy, and my heart felt raw from a terrible kind of ache I’d only felt once before. It was the same feeling I’d had when I’d thought Bree was dead. A heavy loss, a permanent hole, a guilt I couldn’t shake.
Once again, this was my fault. The Hunters had come here because of me. And I hadn’t done a thing to stop them. Not that I could have, even if I’d wanted to. I feared that Alastar and Phelan were right about me.
There was only one thing I could do. I had the stone now to protect me from the magic of the shadows. Rourke was a captive of the very same people I needed to spy on. Time to go to Esari and make things right.
* * *
Getting my sword was easy. Getting through the gates was another thing entirely. I had to sit and wait for what felt like hours, perched uncomfortably beside the only exit in the village. After several long hours, a gang of green-haired fae asked to go out into the night. The guard complied, giving me my only chance of an escape.
Once I was back in the small clearing where Rourke and I had stashed our horses, I pocketed two daggers and fastened my sword to my back. I would have to leave the animals here, as much as I hated to do it. They could not come with me into Esari. So, I gathered all of the supplies I could, and then I let them go.
