Page 119 of Anywhere

I would find whoever was attacking us and destroy them. The question was, would I live through it, or would it also be the end of me?

My stomach twisted in knots knowing that Rook would die with me after the final ritual happened. I couldn’t face that possibility. We needed to find and stop these people before the final ceremony. The next ritual moon was coming fast.

I needed to move faster.

Elewyen

Rhys disappeared when we arrived at Glentruan. He showed me the way to my room—I asked to stay in my own for now—and I haven’t seen him since. Rook came to check in with me today, but I wanted to talk to Rhys about the coven and Keeva. Mari said that he would agree, but I wanted to hear the words from his mouth.

Thinking about Keeva, I gripped my necklace and smiled when she answered. My heart felt full with her in my life. If she couldn’t come here, then I wouldn’t stay. Peering out of my room, I realised that the castle was noisy. Unlike the castle where Mari lived, where the quiet made the place feel lonely, Glentruan was full of activity. Two servants walked down the hall with linens and did a little bow as they passed. Someone else played an instrument somewhere in the castle. Whatever it was, I heard dying animals that sounded healthier.

Searching for Rhys, I reached the stairs that led down just as a girl with the same colour hair as Mari reached the top.

“Hello, I be Elewyen,”

The girl glared and looked me up and down before holding up one of the talking devices that all the people from the castles seemed to have.

“I’m on da phone. Do ya mind?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer the question. Did I mind if she was on the phone?

“Why would me mind?” I asked. Apparently, that was the wrong answer because her eyes narrowed.

“All ya forest folk be so thick.” She rolled her eyes. “And no’ one of ya ‘ave a sense in taste. What do ya call what yer wearin’?”

I looked down at the outfit Mari had given me. I quite liked the simple dress and warm sweater. “I’za…”

“I’za dinnie care,” she drawled out slow and marched away as she continued to talk into the phone thing.

I must have offended her somehow, but I wasn’t sure what I’d done.

Down the stairs, I heard laughter and crept towards the door. There was a man I’d never seen before standing by a massive fire in a rock hole. There were twenty people or more sitting around talking and drinking. Not seeing Rhys or Rook, I backed away from the partially open door and continued my search.

I just about gave up when I ventured down a long hall that got quieter the farther I walked. Metal men with weapons stood on either side of the hallway like they were guarding the space, and I stopped at one and gently tapped the shiny silver.

“How odd,” I mumbled and continued on, looking in each room as I came to it.

Finally, in the last room at the end of the hall was Rhys at a massive wooden table with books and papers stacked around him. I leaned against the door and watched him in his element. He looked so handsome, even with his brow knit together in concentration like the papers were angering him. His cream-coloured shirt opened at the throat and was rolled up his arms to show off the dark tattoos.

My nerves got the better of me as little wings took flight in my stomach. Before I turned away, his eyes flicked up to where I was standing, and my heart stopped. His face changed when he spotted me, and warmth spread throughout my body.

“Ya comin’ in?” Rhys asked and slowly stood.

My mouth ran dry as he stretched and rolled his large shoulders. I stepped into the room and looked at the items on the shelves and the pictures on the walls. They didn’t seem like they belonged to Rhys for some reason.

“Sowry ta be botherin’ ya,” I said. “Did ya wanna talk later?”

Rhys smiled, and even though he reminded me of calm waters while Rook was like a wildfire, he still made me nervous.

“Ya neva be botherin’ me,” he said and walked around the table. With each step he got closer, the fluttering in my stomach got worse until I was fidgeting. “I should be apologizin’ ta ya. I’ma sowry dat I’ve no’ been around much since ya came to us.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, and I clenched my fists to keep my hands to myself. I had an overwhelming urge to touch him and ease the strain in his eyes.

“I’ma no sure dat I can even say I’ve been a very good host.”

“Wat be a host?”

He smiled widely and held out his hand for me to take. I stared at it like it was going to bite.