Maybe she was after the cure, too.
Nevertheless, Hans did his best to remain hidden, keeping in the shadows and away from her. He just wanted to make sure she was safe—and of course, find out what she was really planning.
Lena definitely took her time, not in any hurry as she trekked higher and higher. That didn’t mean to say she wasted time. She trekked without stopping, did her best to retrace her steps randomly to confuse him. Had he not placed the tracker in her bag, he would have lost her already. Impressive.
She moved like a normal human being, except one that was light on her feet. She had the moves of a hunter, he admitted grudgingly.
Maybe she hadn’t been lying.
Maybe she really was human, too.
Just when he thought she wouldn’t stop, she sat on a rock and proceeded to eat some crackers. It took less than five minutes before she was on her feet again, decidedly faster this time.
Noon cracked, and she didn’t stop. Early afternoon came, and Hans felt sweat pouring down his back as they entered a large clearing where the sun shone directly on their skin. Then, another forest.
It was in this forest that Hans noticed something unusual. Instead of going further up, Lena started backtracking again. Then she started circling a particular area, twice. Thrice.
Four times.
What was up?
He got his answer when he crept closer to the edge of yet another clearing. There was grass everywhere, as well as flowers that were even more colorful than the ones he passed earlier. He saw some squirrels running about, which meant this area was free of any rogue infestation for now. There were also some rabbits, a deer and some birds that made him think this had to be straight out of some Disney fairy tale. But that wasn’t the clincher.
In the middle of the clearing stood a small cottage made of colorful bricks. He narrowed his eyes, crouching under some thick bushes to get a better view.
He was wrong. The house wasn’t made of colorful bricks.
It was made of colorful candies.
The thought crossed his mind regarding how damn crazy this was. Then all thoughts ceased when he saw movement to his right—so quiet, he wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t looking.
Lena was creeping towards the house.
She’d stuck to the sides, disappearing from his view. A few seconds later, he found her climbing the cottage roof, the dagger between her teeth and her bag locked tight around her waist. Her feet steadily took her to the highest point of the roof, right beside the chimney. No smoke was coming out.
She surveyed her surroundings one more time, blue eyes pausing in his general direction but missing him. Then she slid inside the chimney like a slithering snake, not making a single sound in the process. Outside, the animals continued scurrying about without a care in the world.
Hans watched for a few minutes, waiting. A feeling of dread coiled in his chest, unavoidable. He knew, without a doubt, that the fairy tale feeling wouldn’t last long.
Trouble was coming.
CHAPTER SIX
She was in the middle of the chimney when Nell realized this was probably not that good of an idea.
It wasn’t stupid, not really. The house had caught her by surprise, and a quick survey around the windows told her that it was too fogged up for her to see the interior. The idea that it was made of candy in itself made her suspicious—hungry, too, but mostly suspicious.
But when did suspicion ever stop her?
She had to see what was inside. Something inside her told her it was connected to that magical lake, completely frozen but without an ounce of cold in it. Something also told her there was something to see here, something that shouldn’t be left alone.
Nell was good at sneaking around due to the training she had with Lucinda and her mate. She was also good at eavesdropping, a necessary task for assistants in case there were assassination plots against the vampire leader that needed to be stopped. She eavesdropped now, using her ears to listen to her surroundings in case there were any surprises inside.
It was silent—too silent for her liking. Either that meant no one was home, or someone was just waiting for her. She decided to take the risk, tying her hair to keep it in place. Then she took a peek down, her eyes at level with whoever would happen to be walking around.
Her first guess was right. The house was empty. But that wasn’t what made her blink.
It was the size, for one thing. The interior was bigger than the exterior, which looked deceptively like a small cottage. Inside, you could fit two of those cottages in, with the wide living room and the extended kitchen…and the tons of sweets in the corner.
There were lollipops and icing and what seemed to be a fountain made entirely of chocolate, which had her mouthwatering more than it should. Damn it. This was what she got for eating only crackers. It was a precaution, even when her system craved blood more than anything. Should Hans have followed her, all he would see was a human being doing a very innocent hike—not that he was following her. She hadn’t sensed him or anyone else in the last few hours.
She contemplated whether to get inside or to just run the hell away from this very eerie scenario when Nell heard it: footsteps. They were soft and light, and she hurriedly removed her head from the fireplace and stayed back up. Her position was slightly upside down, her feet dangling off a metal lining by the brick, when a pair of gnarly hands began to place some firewood below her.
Nell stilled. A head followed, full of gray hair and tiny insects running around it. The sight horrified her, but she clamped her mouth shut and forced herself to breathe calmly. You’d think because she wasn’t afraid of rogues, the same thing would apply to insects. But no. She hated bugs. She absolutely despised them.
The woman was murmuring, though Nell couldn’t tell what was being said. She tuned in her ears again, ignoring the numb feeling at her legs and tingling sensation at her feet. Maybe if she recognized a few words, it would make sense.
The head disappeared along with the hands, but the logs weren’t lit. Good. The footsteps scurried about, relaxed in movement as she started hearing the words dear and food. The woman was talking to someone about food, but there was no response. She had to be delusional. Or talking to someone invisible.
Already getting a headache at her internalization, Nell shook her head. She allowed herself the luxury of shaking one foot around, the tingling feeling getting to her. Maybe she should just leave while she was still undetected. Maybe she should just—
The head popped in the chimney again.
“My dear, do we have food yet?”
The voice was clearer this time. Nell decided that it was time to leave as soon as that creepy head disappeared.
And then an answering chime sounded that had her blood running cold.
“Yesssss, we do.”
It was coming from above her.
Nell only had time to look up at the hair starting to wrap around her feet and the yellow eyes of a strange creature before pain hit her on the abdomen.
Then darkness took her.
*****
When Nell woke up, she determined three things at once:
Her head was aching.
Her hands were tied behind her back.
She was now inside the house.
The fourth thing she noticed later on was that she was inside a cage, one she hadn’t even seen earlier. Now where did that materialize? She was in the house’s kitchen area, just near the candies that she found appealing earlier. Now that she could see closer, she realized that it wasn’t as delicious as it initially looked—not with all the tiny cockroaches crawling around.
Nell shuddered out of her own accord.
“You’re skinny.”
She almost jumped at the voice, but controlled herself just in time. Nell turned to her side and found the woman who was poking her head in the fireplace—and the woman who had her trapped from above the chimney. Nell gasped at the sight of the hair, the gnarled hands and the yellow ey
es, realizing it was the same person as earlier.
A witch, then.
The witch pushed a tray of plated roasted chicken and peas in front of her, and the scent of the freshly cooked food had her mouthwatering again. Beside the plate of food was a tall glass of what looked like blood. Nell subtly sniffed the air. No, not blood. Red wine.
“Fatten you up…” the witch murmured.
“Yesss…fattennnn…”
Same voice, different tones. How the hell did she get two heads inside that chimney?
Nell looked at the food again. Her stomach grumbled, and she realized her bag was no longer with her. Her mind told her she needed food to give her energy. But instincts told her this was screaming too much of Hansel & Gretel to have her trusting it.
It gave her hope that in that particular story, the kids defeated the witch before they could become tasty meals. She looked at the witch again, who had started ignoring her as she busied about in the living room, bringing something sparkling with her. Nell blinked. Were those jewels?
She tried tugging at the bonds tying her behind—and in doing so, roused something dusty from the ground and into the air. It looked like orange powder and smelled like herbs.
Magic, her mind corrected.
Nell’s eyes widened. Then they started to close as drowsiness took over and clouded her senses. She yawned, got dizzy and repositioned herself on the floor. Maybe if she placed her head on the floor for a little bit, her head would stop spinning. Then she could think better and find a way to escape out of here without dying first or being meat for some starving witch…
She was out like a light before she knew it.
*****
When Nell woke up again, yellow eyes watching her hungrily filled her vision. They were inches away from her face, just outside the cage.
This time, she couldn’t help jump to a sitting position and scurry to the cage’s other edge. Thankfully, no dust was disturbed, though she still couldn’t avoid the yawn that came.
She was still slightly drowsy for some reason, but it was more manageable this time.
Which meant it was time to act.
She didn’t think this particular witch would take kindly to threats or curses, so Nell tried another tactic. She inched closer, bit by bit, careful to keep out of harm’s reach.
Then she smiled—a brilliant, cheerful smile that Finn, Lucinda’s mate, once told her would definitely catch her guys before she even began to speak.
The witch didn’t blink, which unnerved her a little. But the witch didn’t turn away, either.
“What’s your name?” Nell asked, for lack of anything else.
There was no response. Nell tried to come up with something else to say. She opened her mouth.
“Ganda.”
Nell’s eyes widened as the witch’s gnarled hands wrapped around the bars, her face pressing against it as well. She swallowed when insects came crawling from the witch’s hands to the cage, but urged herself not to back away.
A centipede crawled near her toes, and she shooed it away. Still pasting a smile on her face, Nell turned her attention back to the witch.
“Pretty name,” she murmured. “I’m Nell, and I have a mission here. A very important mission that a very important person wouldn’t like me to miss. I think it would be beneficial for the two of us if you release me and I went about my merry way, don’t you think?”
The witch didn’t say anything for a long while. Nell waited, scooping patience from deep inside her and using it to keep the cheerful expression on her face. A cockroach crawled on her hand, and she waved it away and bit her tongue to keep from screaming.
More bugs crawled in, creeping her out. She danced around on the spot, not as gracefully as she would have liked—not that it mattered. She had the witch’s attention now.
“Who is your master?”
Nell shrugged, not entirely wanting to reveal her hand yet. “I’ll tell you if you release me. I promise no harm will come to you.”
The witch was listening, she could tell. Nell kept up the talk, diverting to how the mission she had here would help get rid of the rogues roaming about. That was a risk in itself, but it paid off when the witch wrinkled her nose—or whatever could constitute as a nose on her bumpy, odd face.
“Pesky creatures.”
“That’s right,” Nell crooned. “Pesky creatures indeed. I’m going to get rid of them.”
“Skinny thing?”
She scoffed. “I’m skinny but I’m strong. You want to be rid of them, don’t you?”
There was silence again. Nell wasn’t sure if her suggestion was being contemplated or not, but instincts told her that she was getting somewhere. The witch opened her mouth, bugs crawling out, and Nell leaned forward, anticipating the coming response.
Then something happened that made the witch shut her mouth back and whip her head in the direction of the door. Anger flashed, dark and strong, making Nell freeze in place. The witch moved, a blur so fast headed straight for the door.
Then someone was breaking the door down from the outside.
All hell broke loose.
Splinters flew in the air, some headed for Nell’s direction. She evaded one just in time, but couldn’t hide from the others inside her cage. They hit her skin in places, cutting. She managed to cover her face in time, then lowered it right away as a shriek came.
Hans was there, tied up with the witch’s hair and looking drowsy as hell. His green eyes pinned Nell in place, probing her condition before nodding his head. Behind him was…an identical face of the witch, swinging manically from the edge of the door.
Shift, Nell’s mind screamed. Shift now and get us out of here!
But she knew before he could even say anything that the witch had done something to his shifting abilities.
Hans growled, the sound chilling her to the bones.
Then he fell to the floor with a hard thud.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Hans woke up with a start as something poked his side.
Disoriented, head pounding with what might have been the start of a headache, he blinked when the poking happened again—this time more insistently. He wasn’t disoriented enough that he wouldn’t know where he was, considering he had a feeling him barging in the cottage had only happened a few minutes ago. Sure enough, when his vision cleared, he found a cage, with him inside. Hans made a move to touch it—
And was immediately yanked back by a hand.
“Don’t you dare do that. There are bugs around the iron bars. Don’t disturb them.”
Hans whipped his head to the side, where he found Lena glaring at him. Right. He did see her earlier. But his expectation turned to surprise when he found her wrist connected to his via some kind of chain. The chain was green and glowing, but the knowledge of it paled in comparison to realization that Lena was talking to the witch.
Sweetly.
“Come on, Ganda. Weren’t we in absolutely good terms earlier? You were about to release me and everything…”
The old woman—witch—glared in her direction, though it was obviously directed at him.
“Ganda…” Lena cajoled, a smile appearing on her face. “Come on…release me and I promise I won’t bother you. This shifter won’t, too—”
Her words were cut off with a yelp when fire was thrown in their direction, almost singeing them. Hans yanked Lena back via the chain, and she tumbled in a sitting position. Her shoulders slumped and she crossed her arms.
“You’re as tense as a string,” Hans observed. He couldn’t blame her, considering she was trapped here for a couple hours now. It must have been getting to her. “Ease up. We’ll get out of here.”
“Says the person who is at fault,” she muttered under her breath.
“And how is this my fault?”
She glared again. “I was so close to convincing her to release me. Then you just had to barge in and play hero, didn’t you?”
Hans scoffed, suddenly not feeling like consoling
her anymore. “You’ve been here for almost two hours.”
“And I was about to get out,” she insisted. “Now I’m not because she seems to hate you.”
As if on cue, banging sounded from the living room, followed by a blur appearing in front of them. Then the old woman was there, a tray in hand with two plates of food on it. The scent was amazing, and the sight was even more so—roasted ribs with some kind of glaze.
“Skinny…” the old woman hissed. Then she turned yellow eyes towards Hans and visibly bristled before glaring and wildly stomping off.
It only confirmed his suspicion. This had to be the witch that had cast the curse. Anger boiled in his blood as he thought of his dying clan back home, but he stamped it down for now. No use when he was inside the cage. He needed to keep a level head.
He caught Lena eyeing the food longingly and shook his head.
“Hansel and Gretel,” he warned.
She looked at him in surprise before turning to look at the ground. “I know that.”
“Except she doesn’t look blind to me. We can’t trick her that easily.”
“There’s no we…” She trailed off when he held out their bound wrists pointedly. “Fine. We. Temporarily.”
Hans couldn’t help smirking. Lena sulked some more, stubbornly looking away from the food. The bugs were now crawling at the edges of the tray, and in a few minutes he knew all that food would be contaminated.
Finally, she looked back up. “I’ll do the tricking. You shut up.”
Hans raised a brow, but didn’t comment. The witch had taken his bag, and the chain seemed to be preventing him from shifting. He was stumped at the moment; any idea of how to get out of there eluded him.
Maybe Lena would be successful.
*****
Hans (The Clan Legacy) Page 4
