Hood and the Highwaymen
Page 11
Morris hadn’t helped his case by ranting about wolves and treasure.
“All of this fuss for a town that exists only as a watering hole for the traders who still travel over land not by river.” The king leaned back.
“Tales of gold will make men do things they wouldn’t otherwise. The Harrows are in deep debt.”
The king glared at him. “Your family is not much better.”
“I was raised by my mother after she was cast aside. My father is a noble stranger who put me in your service to raise his own standing. I do not care about the standing of my father’s coin purse. I will never see a penny.”
“Most would squabble about that.”
“I prefer to make my own way. The old mayor has a good many wolf pelts ready for trade if you would like one, since I owe you a wolf.”
The king smiled. “That was not the kind of wolf I wanted… Perhaps I got a little hopeful that the old tales were true.”
“Maybe they were…once.” The lie didn’t sit well on his tongue. “The ruins are amazing, and we know that there was a great battle. But were they really men who could turn into wolves or simply men who had tamed some wolves the way the forest folk still do to help them hunt?” The lie was simple to repeat.
The king reached out and touched the red cloth of Aubrey’s hood. “Are you sure you won’t reconsider? You’ll miss the city and the castle.”
He’d had his fill of the lies and games of court and the city. A man could be happy out here if he all he wanted was to keep things fair and make enough to put food on the table. He didn’t need lace cuffs and a pile of gold coins beneath the bed—he’d found the old mayor’s stash. “I’ve come to like it here.”
The king pushed the cloth toward Aubrey. “Then keep it. Remind the people that you are here in my name and my word is law, Mayor.”
He should’ve known he’d never get free. “As you command, sire.” Aubrey inclined his head. “And the forest folk?”
“Can continue to look after the forest and the trails. Three dead hoods, two missing highwaymen, and one dead mayor.” The king shook his head. “I’ll get the truth out of Morris and the rest of his family.”
The king would get something, but whether it would be the truth was doubtful. Men confessed to anything at the end of a blade.
“If the highwaymen return, I’ll be ready.” With the door open and the bedsheets turned back.
Lyle lay between Aubrey and Jardin. The bed was barely big enough, but he didn’t care. They’d have to get up soon, it was almost light. For the moment he wanted to stay right where he was, where no one could pull them apart. They were going to have to work something out, because the three of them staying in the mayoral house was going to raise too many eyebrows and create too much gossip.
Aubrey rolled over to face him, eyes open as though he’d been awake for a while. Lyle turned. Jardin was still sleeping at his back.
Aubrey smiled and drew him closer to him.
Lyle rocked his hips, then adjusted so his length was tight between Aubrey’s thighs. He felt more than heard Jardin wake up and paused, breath held. He shouldn’t be doing this without Jardin.
But Jardin’s hand smoothed down Lyle’s back, between his cheeks, where he was sure he was still slick from the night before. He knew what he wanted to happen next and moved over Aubrey so he could better feel the press of the man’s thighs about him. Jardin tossed the covers off as he moved. He kissed Lyle’s shoulder and he thrust into him, pressing him closer to Aubrey.
Jardin had ridden him last night as Aubrey had sucked him dry. He leaned down and kissed Aubrey. Perhaps they’d both lick Aubrey’s shaft until he was spent before he went about his mundane jobs of looking after the town.
He grabbed Aubrey’s wrist to stop him from touching himself. Around his wrist was a bracelet that matched Lyle’s. The old fur and Jardin’s fur had been carefully braided together by Aubrey to make two new bracelets. Past and present brought together. The future of the wolves had been saved.
Epilogue
Jardin walked into the soothsayer’s shop and dropped three of the books on her counter.
She scowled at him. “What are these?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.” He glanced at her drying herbs and inscribed tokens. She’d been right about Aubrey. Helping him had been the only way to save the wolves.
She opened up the top book and flicked through a few pages, then closed it just as fast. “Where did you get this?”
“The ruins. This is the treasure we’ve been protecting for centuries. Treasure we should have been using to rebuild and protect ourselves. You’re the only person I know who might be able to read what’s in them.”
“I’m old. Why do I need to bring old magic back to life?”
“Because we need it.”
“It’s wolf magic, and I’m not a wolf. I know a few bits.” She tapped the books. “But this is for those with the wild in their blood. I can read them…but when I’m dead.” She shrugged.
Jardin gritted his teeth, remembering why he hated coming to see her. “If you help, then I’m sure the leader will let you back into the pack.”
“I don’t want back into the pack now, there’s no need. I want an apprentice.”
Jardin stared at her.
She smiled.
“No.”
“How many more books are there?”
“A few.”
They’d found another two trunks of them, all written in the old letters of the wolves.
“And you knew what they were just by looking at them? They could have been books full of debts and taxes.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but she was right. He’d known. He always laughed when Lyle had visited because he’d wanted to be able to visit, to understand how magic worked. The hairs on his arms stood on end.
“I will teach you how to read the books and do the spells. Then you will travel and teach others. For how long have you been wanting to leave Nightlark, knowing there was more out there for you? Well, you were right. There is more than scraping by. You found it by digging in the ruins. You knew where to look.”
He’d gotten lucky, that was all. How could he leave Nightlark now?
But the soothsayer wasn’t wrong. And he could resist and deny and run all he liked, but he was sure he’d end up here anyway, having wasted valuable time. “What about Lyle and Aubrey?”
“What about them? Every wolf needs guards, and you have two. You’ve already given them your fur.”
“How do you know that?”
“Step around to this side of the counter and I’ll tell you, Jardin. I’ll tell you all about the wolf kings and their magic.”
Thank you for reading Hood and the Highwaymen. If you like shapeshifter stories check out A Wolf’s Resistance or Lust and Other Drugs.
You can subscribe to my mailing list here, or join me on Patreon.
Other books by TJ Nichols
Studies in Demonology trilogy
Warlock in Training
Rogue in the Making
Blood for the Spilling
Mytho series
Lust and other Drugs
Holiday novellas
Elf on the Beach
The Vampire’s Dinner
Poison Marked
The Legend of Gentleman John
A Wolf’s Resistance
Olivier (an Order of the Black Knights novel)
Hood and the Highwaymen
The Witch’s Familiar (2019 Patreon story)
About the Author
Urban fantasy where the hero always gets his man
TJ Nichols is an avid runner and martial arts enthusiast who first started writing as child. Many years later while working as a civil designer, TJ decided to pick up a pen and start writing again. Having grown up reading thrillers and fantasy novels, it’s no surprise that mixing danger and magic comes so easily. Writing urban fantasy allows TJ to bring magic to the every day. TJ is the author of the Studies i
n Demonology urban fantasy series published with DSP Publications and the Mytho series with Dreamspinner Press.
With two cats acting as supervisors, TJ has gone from designing roads to building worlds and wouldn’t have it any other way. After traveling all over the world TJ now lives in Perth, Western Australia.
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