He looked at her as if for confirmation that she’d heard it too. She nodded, and he moved toward the horses.
There was another raised voice. Slightly closer, though she still couldn’t make out the words.
“That’s Daris.”
They ran. Casrian’s long legs got him to the horses first. He was mounted and moving in the direction of the sound before she pulled Copper’s reins free.
29
Casrian bent over Kenzi’s neck, following a narrow deer path through the twisting trees. Branches slapped at his shoulders as he passed, but he barely felt them.
Ithadbeen Daris’s voice he’d heard, close enough to shout for help. He knew that voice as well as his own. He only prayed his friend was still alive by the time he reached him.
He rode Kenzi hard, sparing only half a thought to Rowan behind him, mostly because his thoughts about her were a raging storm of lust and worry and guilt that might drag him under if he focused on them for too long. He’d sort it out. He’d talk to her again when this was over and… He didn’t even know what the fuck he’d tell her. That he wanted her again. That he’d hardly been able to keep his hands off her from the moment he’d woken up from the fever to find her staring down at him, looking like an angel. That he shouldn’t have touched her. Or he should have, but not on the cold ground in a cursed woods or up against a fucking tree. That it would be better for them both if she walked away from him because he was a bastard who didn’t have the strength for it. That he wanted her. All of her. With an intensity that was terrifying because she would destroyhis world. That he didn’t know what the fuck to think about her strange abilities when it meant that the truths he’d devoted his life to might be wrong. That there was a part of him that was scared to death that what had happened was just an effect of the witch’s influence. And another part of him that hoped this gnawing pit of want and fear disappeared when he left the woods. He’d figure it out.
But first, Daris.
He drew back on Kenzi’s reins, coming to a stop, straining his ears to see if he heard Daris’s voice again. At first he heard nothing except Copper’s hooves behind him, still distant, but coming too fast. Rowan wasn’t horsewoman enough to handle that speed in the woods quite yet. He shut down that worry and nudged Kenzi forward at a slower pace, scanning the woods, looking for any sign that a party of men had been through this way.
It could be a trap. It was common enough to hear voices in a witch’s wood. They would lead you into fog or off a cliff before you realized they weren’t real. They could pull you away from your companions, luring you deeper and deeper into the woods until you were hopelessly lost. It wasn’t wise to chase blindly after voices. But he’d left wisdom behind days ago.
There.
Another shout followed by the sound of metal hitting rock. He adjusted course and urged Kenzi to a faster pace. Almost there. He saw movement in the trees. Two men on horseback. Several more on foot. All dressed in the guard’s colors. They were in retreat. He paused at the edge of a clearing, taking in the sight at a glance.
Daris, sword drawn, supported the weight of another soldier. Casrian thought it might be Sol, one of the new recruits. Kenet was a few steps in front, sword raised as if he were about to strike something. One of the men on horseback was turning to comeback to help. He couldn’t see what they were fighting yet, but he drew his sword and kicked his heels into Kenzi’s flank. She leapt out of the woods and into the clearing.
One of the witch’s familiars came into sight.
Leathery flesh that resisted the sword. Thickly muscled haunches, claw-tipped hands, and an oversized maw filled with a cat’s shredding teeth. A witch’s familiar grown into an abomination. The biggest one he’d seen after more than a decade of hunting witches. He wondered what kind of animal it had been before starting this transformation.
The witchstone flared in his pocket reacting to the witch’s magic just as it had reacted to Rowan’s.
The familiar shouldn’t be able to tolerate the daylight. Though the sun was behind clouds, it was unusual for familiars to go hunting during the day. This one carried its own shadows. Tendrils of darkness wrapped around it, blurring its edges, trailing behind as it moved, stretching toward the witch hunters it chased.
He was spotted. One of the men on horseback cried out a warning, and Daris turned his head just enough to see what kind of threat was on its way. Their eyes met briefly and relief flooded Daris’s familiar face. He wished he deserved that.
He wasn’t going to reach them in time for the sword. Sheathing his blade, he slowed Kenzi’s charge and grabbed for his crossbow instead. It took time to cock it and load the bolt, but the bolt would get there before his sword could.
He fired.
The first shot went through the thing’s cheek, mostly enraging it. But it gave up its chase of Daris’s group and turned its attention to him. He reloaded, ignoring Kenet’s shout of warning.
He could feel it getting closer, covering the distance at a ground-eating lope. The wound in his side ached in response. He knew exactly how those claws felt sliding into flesh.
Loaded. He lifted the crossbow, took aim, focused on the narrow bead of its yellow eye, letting everything else in the world fall away. He breathed out a prayer and pulled the trigger.
It was a good shot.
He knew it even before it hit with a soft thud, driving deep into the skull. Kenzi shied as the beast lurched forward, its unsettling screech ending in a wet gurgle as it fell.
He searched for another target, let out a breath of relief when he saw only grass and brush, the dark tree line in the distance. Only his men. There were fewer of them than there should be.
Daris. Kenet. Sol. The Cardis brothers, both of them. Good. Lew. No Mat. No Edar. Dear God, no Asher.
Drawing his sword, he dismounted and made sure the familiar was dead with a clean slice through the throat. It didn’t move. In fact, it seemed to be decomposing already. A slick sheen covered its skin. The smell of rot clogged his throat. Kenzi snorted and moved back. He let her go.
She was well trained. She wouldn’t wander far.
