by Chloe Cole
I swept my gaze along the banks, desperate to catch sight of any of the Saint John lions, but was disappointed to realize I’d quickly exited the area of the chase and was heading downriver at a steady clip.
Panicked, I paddled furiously against the current. Part of me knew the best thing to do was to get as far away as the river would take me and do whatever it took to rejoin my pride once the king’s men had cleared out. But the other part. The irrational, madly in love part? Couldn’t allow myself to get so far away that I couldn’t find them or be able to help if they needed me.
Using all the strength I had left, I fought the pull of the water and managed to make it to the bank and pull myself back up onto land.
Now that I was free from the cacophony of the white water, I could hear the hounds still in the distance, but it seemed like miles away now.
Exhausted, shivering and heartsick, I dragged myself to an outcropping of rocks and found a small cave secreted there.
I collapsed onto the stone floor, listening to the roar of the water as it pounded against the rocks. It took long minutes for me to catch my breath, but when I did, I shifted quickly back into my human form.
My damp hair clung to my forehead and I pushed it away as I shivered.
I had no way of telling anyone where I was and no way of knowing if there was anyone to tell. Throat constricting, I thought again of Michael and Lucian running headlong into our attackers to buy the rest of us time. Of Gatlin and Connor, who I was realizing had likely peeled away on purpose to lead the dogs away from me.
I owed them my life, but without them, I wasn't sure how I could go on living it.
For a long time, I sat on the cold stone floor and rocked in place as I tried to figure out what to do.
I knew what they would want me to do. Gatlin would use logic to try to convince me to stay put. He would tell me that, in order to help the people of Ironhaven, I needed to stay alive and gather the writings that supported the prophecy. That the good of the people as a whole were worth more than the lives of he and his brothers.
Lucian would grunt his agreement while Connor reminded me that rushing into the forest to look for them was foolhardy at best, and Michael pinned me with his golden gaze, willing me to stay put.
Then again, they knew I was never very good at following the rules.
I made my way to the cave entrance. No matter what they thought, I’d never get back to the kingdom alive without them to share what I’d learned anyway. The forest was fraught with danger that would only increase the closer I got to Ironhaven. Me alive without them meant this mission was as good as dead.
No, in this, I needed to follow my heart, and my heart was out there in that forest with the Saint John brothers.
I steeled myself. Who knew what I would find when I delved back into the forest? An ambush of all the king’s men waiting for me, or worse…a body…maybe two, belonging to the men that I loved.
I blanched at the thought. I was just about to give control over to my lion when a hulking figure came crashing through the trees. I stood, ready to defend myself, only to find Connor’s lion breathing hard as he stared at me.
My stomach did a flip as he transformed in front of me.
“Ah, lass. You’ve no idea how glad I am to see that you’re safe,” he muttered, dragging me close for a hard kiss.
He dropped his forehead to mine and blew out a shuddering breath as I slid my arms around his waist, not wanting to let go.
“Are you all right?” I asked him, pulling back just a little to scan his naked body for signs of injury.
He nodded. “Right as rain now.”
"Where is everyone else?" I asked, my voice trembling as I awaited his answer.
He was silent for a long moment before replying. "I don't know. But I know that they’re smart and strong and fast. And right now my job is to protect you."
"Then protect me while we find them." I pulled away and made for the cave entrance, but Connor grabbed my wrist.
“Stop it. You’re going to go out there and get yourself killed, damn it,” he said with a frown. “I saw you leap into the river and who knows if I was the only one. There are dozens of them and they could be just upstream looking for you for all we know. Now, you’re exhausted and freezing. Let’s at least get you warm before we fight,” he muttered, stepping away and yanking the pack from his neck. He opened it and pulled out a shirt. “Lift your arms,” he instructed.
I did and stood patiently while he dressed me like a child, relieved to have him close but also anxious to find out where Michael, Gatlin and Lucian were.
The shirt came down to my knees and he topped it with a blanket. Then he quickly dressed himself before sitting on the floor of the cave and pulling me into his lap.
“Connor, we can’t just sit here. We need to make sure your brothers are safe,” I argued.
"They're better off without you there to distract them. I know I would be.”
I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest as I tried to resist the urge to curl into him and soak in his comforting warmth. “We can’t just leave them out there to die.”
"They're my brothers,” he said with a grim expression. “I would feel it if one of them had died."
I considered this for a long moment. I had no way of knowing if it was true--if I would know whether something had happened to Iris.
"How could you possibly know that?" I asked.
Connor shrugged, then met my gaze warily. "There used to be five of us."
I blinked, taken aback as I stared at him. "What?"
"The Saint Johns,” he continued with a nod. “We used to be four brothers and a sister. She was a sweet baby, Lilliana, and we all loved her with all our hearts. It killed us when she awoke one morning, afflicted with the Great Sick. It felt like, with every passing day when she became weaker, we got a little weaker, too.”
My stomach clenched at the grief etched on his usually mischievous face.
“And when she died, I felt it in my bones. Like the ache of a freshly pulled tooth, a deep and throbbing pain of loss. I’d been out on a hunt with Gatlin, but when it happened, we both knew. We rushed home, of course, but what could we do? She was gone."
I swallowed hard, the ache in my throat spreading as I battled tears. "I'm so sorry, Connor."
"She was only a cub. Ten months old. But the worst part was feeling so unable to help her. Like we were utterly powerless."
I stayed quiet, rubbing his chest in gentle circles, needing him to get out everything he had to say. Needing to be there for him now.
"So, you see, then? Why we can't give up…why we can't leave the cave until we know for certain that we're safe. That you're safe,” Connor said. "If the king wants you back so badly that he's willing to go to these lengths to get you back, I’m even more inclined to believe that herbalist has it all right. We have to see this through to the end."
"For Lilliana," I supplied softly.
Connor nodded. "For Lilliana. And for the shifters of Ironhaven. When the forest has cleared, we need to go. You need to speak to the hermit and I need to guard you so that you can do it. This is bigger than any one of us, Anaya.”
I nodded, leaning back against his chest.
He was right. I knew it deep down in my gut, but damn it. That didn’t make it hurt any less.
I said a prayer under my breath that the Saint Johns’ had lost their last sibling when little Lilliana had passed. Then I closed my eyes for the interminable wait, wishing for a day that panic wouldn't course like poison through my veins.
Chapter 11
We stayed like that for more than an hour, each lost in our own thoughts. Connor stroked my hair, and I listened to the thrum of his heart against my ear. I had to trust what he'd said was right. That, unless he said otherwise, everyone was safe, or I would drive myself insane.
When even the distant barking of the dogs had faded, I pulled away and stood.
“Can we check? Shift and lope around, close to th
e cave, at least?”
He nodded and rose to stand beside me. Despite his earlier words, the worry bracketing his mouth had another roll of nausea washing over me.
“D-did you feel something? While we were waiting?”
He shook his head slowly, but I didn’t feel reassured. He was second-guessing himself. I could see it in his eyes.
“Connor—”
I broke off at the sound of something large moving through the woods nearby and Connor pushed me back against the wall of the cave. He growled, baring his freshly sprouted fangs as he glared in the direction the sound had come from. Before he could transform entirely, a massive wall of a man stepped through the entrance.
Lucian.
Mostly healed gashes crisscrossed his chest. Dirt still clung to his calves and thighs and as he approached, the smell of something strong and sweet--pine, I realized--hung sharply in the air around him.
I stumbled as I rushed to his side. Slipping my arms around his waist, I paused to get a good look at him before crushing him closer and pulling his head down to me so I could kiss him long and deep.
He returned the kiss with passion, cupping my head and groaning before pulling away to peer down at me.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
“I’m just so glad you're all right," I whispered, but Lucian only shrugged as he closed his arms around me again.
"Of course I'm all right. And you did so well, little one. Taking to the river. It broke the trail of your scent for miles. We’d never have found you if it wasn’t for Michael’s eerily keen sense of smell and him noticing how abruptly your trail ended.”
"Michael?" I asked, my heart pounding with hope. At my words, another pair of figures emerged, bringing the smell of pine and dirt along with them as well.
Releasing Lucian, I rushed to Michael and took him in my arms, kissing both of his cheeks before finding his mouth and kissing him. "You're brilliant," I sighed as I sagged with relief. “You're all brilliant."
I wanted to laugh and cry all at once as I made my way to Gatlin. He cupped my cheek, kissing me in a way that begged for more, but then he pushed his fingers into my hair and said, "You know we'd never leave you, love.”
I nodded, then turned to Connor who stood by watching on, that trademark smile teasing his lips. “You were right,” I said, beaming.
And he was. If we'd left to find them, they might not have found us, and if something had happened to me or Connor along the way? They would all have felt as desolate and inconsolable as we had at the prospect of losing any of them.
Connor folded his arms over his chest, studying the mud that still clung to Lucian's forearms, Gatlin's powerful inner thighs, and Michael's calves.
“Tell us what happened," I said.
"First, we want to know about you,” Gatlin demanded.
Shaking my head, I detailed the chase between me and the dogs and then my dive into the river.
Lucian nodded. “You were lucky to find this space.”
“And you all?” I asked, anxious to hear their tale.
Michael’s hands began to move in a flurry and Gatlin nodded.
“We’re going to wash first and then we’ll tell you all about it. The smell is cloying and the troops have gone for now.”
Slipping the bags from their necks, each made their way to the edge of the cave and scooped water from the clefts in the rock where water still collected.
Already, the deep gashes on Lucian's chest were faded to pink, as were the claw marks I noted along Michael's thigh and the teeth marks on Gatlin's shoulders and biceps.
I hated that they’d been hurt but they were alive and we were together. The block of ice wedged against my heart began to melt.
"Michael was brilliant," Lucian said. "You should have seen him. We doubled back to fight and took the first wave down, then got the second wave of dogs to chase us. When the king’s men finally caught direct sight of us, they leapt from their horses and joined the hunt."
Michael nodded as Lucian continued.
"The two that came after us were both panthers, so we were lucky in that respect. They were too small to fight us claw to claw and had to wait for reinforcements. By that time, we were long gone. We shifted into human form and Michael tied a pair of our dirty shirts together and was able to get them around the neck of one of the abandoned horses.”
“Brilliant,” Gatlin joined in with a clipped nod. “I wish I’d thought of it.”
“And you?” Connor asked Gatlin, his brows raised.
“I had some close calls and some squabbles to be sure, but it took them a full day of riding to get here and the horses were spent. They waited too long to shift and take to ground. By that time, I’d fought off most of the dogs and I had a good head start and had begun laying looped scent trails down to confuse them. Then, once we all found one another again, we rolled in mud and pine sap to disguise our scents.
“Instead, I spent most of the time fighting. The panthers were small, but those damned dogs? Those were like hell hounds. Massive and relentless. I’d kill three and then four more would show up in their place.”
I shivered at the detail, knowing what a miracle it was that we were all here together. “I’m just so glad you're safe."
"We won't be safe here long, though," Gatlin replied grimly. “Eventually, they’ll come back here with fresh dogs, fresh men and fresh horses. This is the first sighting they’ve had of us. They’re not just going to let it go.”
"So what’s the plan?” Connor asked.
Lucian frowned. “Same as it ever was. Anaya has to get to the hermit as soon as possible.”
In all the excitement realizing they were safe, I hadn’t even thought about the prophecy.
“The book?” I asked, glancing around for my bag that Gatlin had taken when we’d run from camp that morning.
“Safe,” he confirmed with a nod. “And we’re going to make sure it stays that way. Connor will get you and the book to the hermit while the rest of us make a merry chase for the king’s men."
"What are you saying?" I asked, the thought of splitting up again when we’d just found one another making my temples throb.
"We can't all go together, Anaya,” Lucian said. “If we do, we will die together. We'll meet back up at the pub in Hammertown tomorrow afternoon.”
My throat constricted, but I knew there would be no more arguing. Lucian and Michael were already preparing to shift as Gatlin rifled through my bag and pulled out a shirt.
“This should do it,” he murmured. I watched on miserably as they moved to the entrance of the cave. “This is the only way, Anaya," he said softly.
I gave him a shaky nod and Connor and I watched as three of the brothers shifted again, their glorious manes appearing as they slipped into their lion forms. They prowled near each other, bumping shoulders before tossing their massive heads toward Connor and I.
I worked up a smile and raised my hand, but I refused to make it into a scene.
This wouldn’t be our goodbye. I wouldn’t let it.
As we watched them go, I turned my focus to the next task wholeheartedly.
It was time to see a hermit about a prophecy.
Chapter 12
The next few hours went by in a haze as Connor and I took to the heart of the forest for our trek to Hammertown.
Everything was happening so quickly now and the sense of urgency seemed to drive us as we moved through the trees. We made it to the town’s edge without incident, and followed the directives that Theodora had given us to locate Viktor’s cave.
As Connor and I quickly dressed, we both eyed the unremarkable-looking dwelling. It looked so small from the outside—the entrance only four feet wide and equally as high—it was hard to believe we were at the right place. In fact, I was on the point of telling Connor as much when the wind shifted, bringing with it the rich, musty scent of a bear shifter in the air.
We’d just slid our bags over our shoulders and were about to approach the
cave when a massive male, six and a half feet tall, easily, shimmied out. A huge, bristly beard covered the whole of his rounded cheeks and chin and dragged halfway down to his barrel chest. When he saw us, he grinned and motioned for us to come closer.
"I don't bite. Or, at least I haven't in a while. But I never say never," he said with a broad wink.
I glanced at Connor again and he gave me the slightest of nods and I followed him closer.
"Surprised you found the place so easy. Most folks keep going. Mind you, I don't see folk very often to begin with." He grinned at us and I offered him a curious smile, though Connor remained impassive.
"I see we're not a chatty bunch," the man pressed on. “Theodora mentioned as much in her note. I'd be wary of strangers if I were you as well, but I promise, you’re safe with me. Come inside. Let me feed you while we talk.”
He disappeared into the mouth of the cave and we warily trailed behind him. Connor went first and I had to bite back a chuckle as he crouched to fit through the tight space.
When I joined him, though, the laughter died on my lips.
The place was magnificent. Golden lanterns lit a large, sweeping space with ceilings so high I had to squint to see them. Large, comfy furniture was staged around a fireplace that crackled merrily and the scent of cooking rabbit filled the air. I turned in awe to take in the rest of the place, marveling over the bookshelves lining the walls, fairly splitting at the seams with volumes.
Viktor busied himself in the kitchen area, picking up a knife and sawing away at the crusty loaf of bread on the butcher’s block.
“I made the trip into town this morning just for you,” he said, setting the knife down and handing each of us a hunk of bread.
“We appreciate it,” Connor said, seeming to warm to the man a little as he took a bite.
I nibbled on the edge of mine as I watched the bear shifter move gracefully around the kitchen, grabbing a wheel of cheese and some bowls. He set the small kitchen table and gestured for us to join him.
