by Mia Bishop
He stumbled back, clasping his nose and already choking on the blood flowing from it. Rowan tried to tell herself she didn’t care, but that wasn’t true. She did but she couldn’t afford to be weak any longer. Seeing him doubled over and defenseless, she advanced on him, grabbed him by the hair and drove her knee up to meet his bloody face. She expected pain but what she got in return was worse than pain. Her knee felt as if it had shattered when it connected with his face and her head pounded to the point that her vision blurred. “Don’t ever touch me again. I don’t need you.”
She turned on her heels and stalked through the woods toward the fire and Theron, who was waiting for her with a grin on his face. “What?” she snapped.
“Nothing, nothing. I just think that if you truly meant what you said to him, then we should leave now. No sense waiting for the wolf to bare its fangs, you know?”
Rowan couldn’t agree more. She wanted to be far away from Luc so she could figure out how she would defeat both him and his father now that it was clear whose side he was on all this time. “Let’s go then.”
Theron nodded toward the path at the north end of the clearing. “If we want to head them off and get safely to your grandmother’s then we should head this way.” He tucked his flute in his belt and waited for her to start up the trail before stamping out the fire and trailing after her. “You did good, you know that, don’t you? You really managed to put that mangy mutt in his place. I’m sure he’ll have a hard time smelling anything for at least a month.”
She gave a halfhearted smile but she didn’t feel all that great about the cheap shot she’d delivered to Luc with her knee and even worse, her knee was killing her with every step she took. “Thanks, but I don’t want to talk about Luc.”
“I understand, it’s just that, well…” He panted as he jogged to catch up to her. “I think it was good practice for what you will face next time.”
Rowan tried her best not to give a physical reaction to his sentence. Next time she would face one of two scenarios—either Ulric himself or his assassins who were on her trail. Luc only went down because he was distracted and because she cheap-shot him. Up against Ulric or a pack, she didn’t stand a chance, her gut knew this. Her mind knew it too, but Theron seemed convinced she could take them all. “Like I said, thanks.”
“He really did a number on you, didn’t he?”
She arched her brow but didn’t answer him.
Theron laughed and tapped his head. “Up here, I mean. He really messed with your head. Did you think he loved you? That you two would have some romantic happily ever after and ride off into the sunset together?”
“So what if I did?” she snapped but then took a calming breath. “I said I didn’t want to talk about him. I meant it. Please.”
“Okay, I understand. It’s painful but talking about these things helps.”
“How would you know?”
“I was betrayed once, long ago. I remember how it feels to put everything you are into the belief that people will keep their word. It hurts when you find out how naïve you’ve been. It hurts even more when you can’t get your revenge.”
“I don’t want revenge. I just want to be left alone.”
“Isn’t revenge why you are out here to begin with? Don’t you want to kill Ulric for what he did to your family? He killed your parents.”
She shook her head.
“Rowan, you have to want revenge, it’s natural. Trust me, no one would fault you.”
“I don’t want revenge. I just want this thing, these wolves, to stop hunting me. I couldn’t care less about old grudges. I don’t want any part of it.”
“So you came here, you crossed the Arch for nothing? Did you think having a sit-down with the Big Bad Wolf and sharing a scone and some tea would make it all better? You have to be driven by something.”
She stopped walking and turned toward him. “I will do my best to kill Ulric when he comes for me but I will not seek out a fight. I don’t even have the whole story. For all I know, what Luc told me was a lie. Just a fairytale to get me to cross the Arch. What if I’m here for all the wrong reasons? Hell,” she threw her hands in the air, “for all I know Ulric might be the good guy in all this. Luc could have been lying about everything.”
“That is true.” Theron patted her back. “I mean I’ve never met Ulric personally. Maybe the stories of his insanity are overinflated. Luc could actually be the one tormenting the woods.” He pulled out his flute and fluttered a tune. “Good thing you broke ties with him before it was too late.”
Rowan nodded and covered her mouth to stifle a yawn. Theron smiled. “It’s still hours before sunrise and you need some sleep. I think we’ve placed ourselves far enough ahead of Luc for the time being. Let’s take a break and rest. You sleep, I’ll keep watch.”
“You really think it’s safe?”
His soft melody was already working, lulling her to sleep even as she walked, Theron chuckled. “Yes, I think it’s safe.” He guided her to the ground and rested her against a tree. “You just sleep. I’ll take care of everything else.”
There was no fighting the pull of sleep anymore. Her eyes closed and she was lost to everything around her. All she could see in her dreams was Luc, chasing her, hunting her, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t wake up.
Chapter Six
Rowan ran from the clearing. She could hear Luc calling for her as he crashed through the woods but she refused to stop. The morning had started normally enough. She had woken up on the trail Theron had pointed her to the night before when she parted ways with Luc but Theron was nowhere in sight. Instead she heard Luc calling for her and the sounds of wolves howling in the distance.
In a blind panic she bolted. Running hard and fast, she jumped over fallen trees, dodged branches and skidded around corners. After a mile or so, she came upon the river. It was exactly as Theron had said. The bridge was in perfect working order. She was halfway across when the bridge started to rumble. “What is that?”
A voice echoed all around her. “Who dares cross my bridge?”
A shiver went down her spine. Whatever was underneath her sounded as if it was gnawing on bones. “I… I just want to get to the other side.”
Water splashed below as something climbed up the riverbank but when the creature who had spoken reared its ugly head, she took a step back and gasped. Its skin was a sickly shade of green. Yellow and black teeth filled its mouth and yellow tusks jutted out from its upper lip. The thing’s hair was black and shaped in a mohawk with the exception of two long braids dangling to the beast’s waist and decorated with bones and beads. It wore no shirt, only a mangled pair of breeches and no shoes on its feet. Various pouches hung from its belt and it carried a very large mallet. She took another step back. The creature drooled as it talked. “You will make a fine meal. You have enough meat on you to feed me for week.”
Her eyes narrowed. “How dare you!”
The creature tilted its head to the side and snarled, “My dinner doesn’t talk back to me.”
“Well, I am not your dinner, buddy.” She pulled out a dagger and twirled it in her hand. “You better let me pass or so help me I will gut you, bleed you out in the river and leave your body for the wild animals.” It was the best badass-sounding threat she could come up with regardless of whether she knew how to do any of those things or not.
The creature raised his mallet and slammed it down two feet in front of her, causing the entire bridge to shake. Rowan stifled her scream but had to stumble back to find her balance. Her foot caught on her cloak and she drew it closer around her to keep from stumbling on it again. The beast’s yellow eyes widened. “Red.”
Rowan frowned. Apparently the creature wasn’t color blind. “Yes, my cloak is red, what’s your point.”
“You are the one in red, the one the wolves are hunting.”
“Great. Does everyone in this damn forest know my entire life’s story?”
He rocked back on his heels
and yipped like a hyena. “Yes. We all know about you.”
“Well, that is just fantastic. And who the hell are you anyway?”
He gave a deep bow. “I am Azlin, the bridge troll. Haven’t you any bridge trolls where you come from?”
She wrinkled up her nose. “No. We have toll bridges not bridge trolls.”
The troll scratched his chin. “I cannot let you pass, one in red. I swore my allegiance to Ulric long ago. I am bound by my oath to him. If the wolves are hunting you then I’m sorry, I have to give you to them.”
“Please, Azlin, you have to let me pass.”
“No, I’m sorry.” His brows drew together in a tight line as his eyes focused on something behind her. Rowan stiffened and turned slowly to see a large black wolf walking toward her. His lips curled as he snarled, showing off rows of deadly teeth. She couldn’t take her eyes off the wolf but she could hear Azlin stuttering behind her. “Ulric, she is all yours. I did well?”
She felt her knees buckle as the wolf spoke, “Yes, you did well. Now leave us.” The troll scrambled over the edge of the bridge and disappeared.
Rowan fumbled with the dagger in her hand. “Wha… What do you want with me?”
“You know what I want. I want you to die.”
“I haven’t done anything to you.”
Ulric growled, “You continue to breathe, that is enough for me.”
She slid her foot back, edging toward the opposite end of the bridge but for every foot she moved backward the large wolf advanced forward. “This isn’t fair.”
“Fair?” Once again she witnessed the transformation from wolf to man, a crackle of electricity, a flash of light and a man stood in place of the black wolf. The man stood tall, at least six feet, six inches, salt-and-pepper hair, a long scar marring his exceptional good looks from his right temple through his eye and down his cheek. His eyes were green like Luc’s and their features were definitely similar. There was no doubt this man was Luc’s father. He was dressed like his son. Black seemed to be the color of choice for evil in the forest. His tone turned harsh as if her question set him off in a fit of anger. “Fair is a concept I’m not too familiar with. Is this scar fair? Your great-grandmother gave it to me. Do you think it was fair?”
“I don’t know.”
“Of course you don’t know. Your mother thought she could hide you from me and even worse, you thought you could run away with my son and you’d be safe.”
“Yeah, well, that was before I knew your son was working for you. Trust me, if I could do it again I’d steer clear of both of you.”
He laughed. “I knew he’d come around and bring you to me. He might not like me, but it is my blood that courses through his veins. He can’t help but do what I demand.”
“You must be so proud.”
“I am. Now enough about my son. You and I need to get to know each other better.” He reached into his pocket. Rowan expected to see a weapon, maybe a dagger, or something, but instead Ulric’s hand was closed. She arched her brow and he chuckled. “What were you expecting?”
“I expected you to kill me or at least try.”
“All in good time, my dear. I’d rather enjoy my meal closer to home so it is time for you to sleep.”
“Sleep? Are you going to bore me into a coma? Because I’m not feeling very tired yet.” She heaved her shoulders. “You know all the adrenaline of the morning and all that.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve come prepared.” He uncurled his clenched hand to reveal a small pile of what looked to be sand.
“What the—” Wide eyed, Rowan tried to take a step back as Ulric blew the sand into her face. She coughed and blinked as a heaviness entered her body. “What did you do to me?”
“Don’t worry about it. We will have our fun later. For now you will sleep.”
* * * * *
One minute Rowan was standing on the bridge and the next minute she was tied up in a small cave. Ulric was pacing in front of her. “Now where do we start?”
“Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with?”
“I like to play with my food before they stop twitching.”
Her stomach knotted up. “You’re a sick bastard.”
Ulric smiled. “You have no idea.” Moving closer, he ran his hand down her cheek, “You see, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” He leaned in and ran his nose against her neck, inhaling deeply. “We are going to have some fun.”
“Oh God, just kill me now. Isn’t it bad enough that your son manipulated me?”
He laughed. “Not even close. My son at least gave you a choice. Here in this place, I make the rules and I take what I want and you will only die when I give you permission.”
He stood back and brought his hand down, connecting with her cheek. She cried out at the unfamiliar sensation of pain. She’d thought her knee hurt when she defended herself against Luc but the sting of the backhand from Ulric brought tears to her eyes. Rowan fought the urge to beg for mercy, she knew he would enjoy it too much. She steeled herself, gathering up every ounce of willpower. “Do your worst.”
“I plan on it.” His hand gripped her throat, pushing hard against her windpipe as he brought his other hand up so she could watch as his nails transformed into claws. She gasped for air and in fear of what the beast was going to do next. He didn’t make her wait long. As soon as his claws were fully extended, he ran one of them down her chest. She hissed against the pain of his claw cutting a line from below the hollow of her throat to her cleavage. It burned but she refused to open her mouth for fear that she would give in and beg. She could feel the blood trickling down her chest.
“Hurts, doesn’t it? Just think of how much worse it will be when I tear the flesh from your bones.” Both hands moved to the cut he’d made. His claws dug in at the wound as if he were going to tear her open.
She took a deep breath. There was no getting ready for this pain. She prayed that somehow she’d lose consciousness before he got too far. She could feel the tips of his claws digging in more but he stopped. Tilting his head to the side, he looked as if he was listening to something. Several minutes passed as she sat in the cave shaking with fear, but Ulric didn’t move.
The wooden door to the cave opened and Ulric launched himself at the intruder. Snarls and yelps rang out. It sounded like a dogfight only much louder. Rowan took action. She wiggled and struggled against her bindings. It didn’t matter who was out there, this was her opportunity to run and she was going to take it. She launched herself backward, landing with a grunt on the floor near the jagged wall. Squirming back until she could feel a sharp rock jutting out, she worked her ropes up and down until the rock cut through them. With her hands free, she untied her legs. The wolves were still fighting outside. She could escape if they stayed distracted.
She crawled to the exit and froze. She’d assumed the ones fighting would be in wolf form but instead Luc was attacking his father. He straddled the older man, gripping Ulric by his hair and slamming his head into the ground. Her eyes were as wide as saucers. It made no sense. Luc’s head snapped up, he locked eyes with her and nodded his head toward the trail. Her heart drummed in her ears. Was he helping her? But he’d betrayed her. Theron had been right about Luc. She hadn’t moved until Luc’s voice echoed around the clearing. “Run, damn it!”
* * * * *
She didn’t stop running. Her leg muscles cramped and burned but she kept pushing forward. Her chest hurt. Her legs were giving out. Every few feet she would stumble and crash to the ground, but she couldn’t stop. Something came into sight and she ran harder until she could make out what it was. Her heart fell. She was back at the bridge. The troll would never let her pass. All the running was for nothing. She was trapped again. Rowan fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed.
Something touched her shoulder. She couldn’t help but flinch. Anything or anyone who would touch her was her enemy. They all wanted to hurt her. The voice she heard wasn’
t what she expected. “Red, I’m not going to hurt you.” Luc’s hand tightened on her shoulder. “We have to keep moving.”
“Why? So you can take me back to your father?”
She could feel his body next to hers. He must have crouched down beside her. “I’m not taking you to anyone except to your grandmother’s house. I was never going to hand you over to him.”
“That’s a lie. I heard you talking to that other person,” she sobbed, “or wolf, or whatever you call yourselves.”
“I was being sarcastic and trying to buy myself some time to figure out how close my father was. Why would I try to unlock your fighting skills if I was going to hand you over to the Big Bad Wolf?”
She shrugged. It sounded right when Theron had convinced her Luc was up to no good but now that her head was clear and Luc was pleading his case, nothing seemed to add up. “I don’t know.”
“We can talk about this later, Red. Come on.” He pulled her up to her feet and led her toward the bridge.
Rowan dug her heels in and fought against his grip. “No, we can’t go that way. The troll, he works for your father.”
He smiled and pulled her onto the bridge. Each step they took, she waited for the troll to appear but even as they neared the end of the bridge, he still hadn’t appeared. “I am part of my father’s pack. He won’t even bother you while I am with you. Which is why I was trying to catch up with you this morning. If I had been with you, my father wouldn’t have had the chance to grab you.” He looked away and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Even when he looked away, his grip stayed steady around her waist. She leaned into him, finally giving in to her fatigue. “I don’t know if I trust you.”
