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CHAPTER ONE

Maardok

The human town was the same as I remembered it. The buildings too close together, the streets and alleys too dirty, and the stench of misery and unwashed bodies hanging thick as fog over the entire place.

I crouched in the shadows and wrinkled my nose.

Logically, I’d always known orc senses were stronger than humans’, but the fact had never been as vivid as when I visited this place. If the human sense of smell was even half mine, they would bathe far more often.

Ye didnae mind Cataline’s scent.

My lips twitched ruefully.

Nay, I had not minded her scent at all, and the memory of that scent—and the way she’d whimpered and gasped and writhed in response to my touch—was the only reason I was back here at all.

I had a little more than a sennight before the stones would open and allow me to return home, and since my mission was complete, I decided to visit her again. If she’d have me.

‘Twas almost midnight, and the building where she and her son had lived was now occupied by two snoring men. But I’d recalled that Cataline worked at a tavern across town, and ‘twas there I’d met her three-quarters of a year ago. Mayhap I would see her there tonight, which is why I waited patiently in the shadows, my cloak pulled around me to keep out the chill, and my back planted against the rough wattle-and-daub wall.

I watched, hoping for a glimpse of her.

Ten months ago, my older brother Vrogul had sent me to the human world to ensure our most recent enemies couldn’t sneak at us through our own backdoor. I’d missed my deadline to return to our world—the stones were only opened for an hour the first night of the full moon, after all—and I’d been forced to hide among the humans as best I could. It turned out that not all humans feared and hated us, as long as we had the gold they craved.

The owner of the tavern had been named John, and while his sociability was clearly false, he’d been willing to serve me watered-down ale and direct me toward a willing wench.

It had been my second night here when I’d met Cataline, and she’d agreed to rent me a bed in her home. And I’d convinced her to share it.

That had been just as the snows had been starting to melt, and I’d spent the remaining fortnight in her arms. And the nine months since remembering her fondly.

So if I had another sennight to waste here in the human world, I wanted it to be with her.

At long last, I determined that the last of the tavern’s patrons had stumbled out the front door, so I slipped in the back.

I was waiting at the bar, my hood pulled low and my shoulders hunched, when John returned to the taproom. He startled, his bushy brows shooting high.

“We’re closed, stranger.”

I slid a single gold coin—one my younger brother had given me for expenses on this mission—across the counter, leaving my finger atop it. I watched his gaze follow that finger—greener and thicker than any human’s—up my arm to peer at the shadows of my hood.

“An orc, eh?” he grunted. “It’s been months since we saw your kind.”

“Aye,” I drawled, finally straightening and pushing the hood back to reveal the ruin of my face. “I ken it.”

I saw that he recognized me, but his eyes narrowed.

“You were here in the spring.”

Not that I would call that time of mud spring, but I nodded.

“Is my gold still accepted here?” My tone was mild as I pulled my finger from the coin, and he darted forward to snatch it up, his expression suddenly blooming into a clearly insincere welcoming smile.

“Your gold is welcome, orc. Those scars of yours are memorable.”

He didn’t give me time to agree, but moved to tap the keg once more.

“This will buy you credit after this one mug, since I really am closing.”

I could live with that.