Guilt shivered across my skin, and I squared my shoulders. Remember Nevith, I reminded myself. Guilt had no place here, nor did compassion. I had to be as hard and cold as Ash himself if I was to bring the Vipers down.
Time passed oddly in the forest. I moved slowly, trying to keep noise to a minimum, so that it felt as if time was crawling, too. But because I couldn’t see the moon’s journey across the sky, I had no real idea of how much time was passing. It could have been one hour until dawn or it could have been four. I was really regretting forgetting my watch.
All I was sure of was that time was, indeed, passing, and anxiety’s claws curled into my stomach. If I wasn’t back to meet Ash by sunrise, I would fail the challenge. He hadn’t said what the penalty for failure would be, but I didn’t think it would be a matter of writing lines. The Vipers were a little more ruthless than that, as they had shown by sending two hunters after me equipped with real weapons. How many apprentices died on these little challenges of theirs? I had a suspicion that Nuah would have sunk an arrow into me without hesitation if she’d spotted me first, whatever the rules of the challenge said.
By the time I came up against another obstacle, it felt as though hours had passed. A thicket of bushes, bristling with thorns the length of my fingers, blocked my way forward. It looked just like the Aversion that Yriell had surrounding her cottage, but these thorns were real. I scratched myself on a couple before I realised the depth of the barrier facing me and figured I couldn’t just force my way through.
I pulled back, examining the darkness before me. The bushes grew low to the ground, too low for me to attempt wriggling underneath the barrier. Since I couldn’t fly, going over was out, too, which only left going around. But I had a bad feeling that that wouldn’t be an option, either.
Nevertheless, I set off to my right, still circling east and looking for a way through. I thought longingly of the machetes that I’d left on the walls of the armoury. What wouldn’t I give for one of those now? Still, I wouldn’t have made it this far without the bow and arrow.
It took me twenty minutes to confirm that yes, a thorn hedge—because I was almost certain that was what it was—completely encircled something. What were the chances that it was just a random clump of thorn bushes sitting in the middle of this damned forest? Slim to none, if I was any judge of the deviousness of assassins. What better way to protect their shrine and bamboozle struggling apprentices than to build a vicious, impassable hedge around the goal? There was no doubt in my mind that these thorns protected the shrine I was seeking.
Which meant there was good news and bad news. The good news was I had found my destination—but the bad news was that there didn’t seem to be any way to get through to it. Finding myself once again at the same tree where I’d begun my circumnavigation, I hunkered down to think.
Of course, the other bad news was that the second hunter was most likely somewhere close by, perhaps had even spotted me already. I got that itchy feeling between my shoulder blades again, the one that insisted that someone was right behind me, weapon raised to strike. I fought it down. I needed to focus. Time was ticking away, and I still had to get back to Ash with the prize once I’d managed to find my way through the hedge.
The thorns had ripped their way right through my sleeve, and my skin pulsed with pain where they’d dug into my flesh. Touching my arm, I found it warm all around the site of the pain. That wasn’t good. The thorns must have some kind of poison on them. Immediately, I gave up any idea of just gritting my teeth and forcing my way through the hedge.
There had to be an entry somewhere. Obviously, the Vipers had some way to get through to their shrine, but if it involved the use of magic, I was screwed. Willow would have been through that hedge in a flash, the thorns bowing at her feet, but I was no Willow. My weak Spring magic amounted to little more than a green thumb.
Maybe I could use the same trick as before and utilise the trees to help me. If I could find a tree whose branches overhung the hedge, I could just shimmy along the branch and drop down inside the barrier. I began to move again, pacing along the outside of the thorny barrier, looking for an appropriate tree. There weren’t as many pines in this part of the forest, and none of the ones I saw grew close enough to the hedge to help me.
Twenty minutes later, it became clear that the Vipers had already thought of that. No branches overhung the thorny bushes, or at least not far enough that anyone could use them to access the space they protected inside.
I’d scrambled up a tree—some kind of maple, I thought—and now sat on the branch, squinting into the darkness. I could see the tiny shrine where I wanted to go. Ash had been right: it was very small, no more than an offering bowl on a pedestal protected from the elements by a little roof and a waist-high wall. But I couldn’t find a way to get there. I also couldn’t see the second hunter, but there were trees inside the hedge, as well as a couple of boulders that would be big enough to conceal a person. What did I do now?
If only I had one of those boulders out here, and a hill to roll it down. I’d smash my way through those stupid thorns. Even a box of matches would do the trick. I bet they’d burn easily enough. But Ash had made sure that I couldn’t prepare for this challenge by springing it on me when I’d just gotten out of the showers and all I had on me were the clothes on my back.
I gazed grumpily down at the hedge. It was so thick that it was clearly not a natural formation. Leaves from the trees lay on top of it here and there, caught on the thorns. My arm still throbbed where those thorns had ripped my skin. If the poison was anything serious, I could be in real trouble, but so far I felt okay. Just sore.
One part of the hedge, not far from where I sat staring gloomily down at it, had no stray leaves caught on its flat top. I frowned, my interest caught. As far as I could tell in the dark, there were leaves and pine needles and the odd bit of twig from the nearby trees scattered all over the rest of the hedge, just not in this part. Why was that? Could it be because that part of the hedge wasn’t real?
Trying not to get my hopes up, I swung back down to the ground. It could just be the randomness of the wind in this part of the forest. Or maybe there were bare patches like these further on and I just couldn’t see them from my perch in the tree in the dark. But anticipation bubbled in my chest as I slipped as quietly as I could through the tree trunks.
At close range, this section of hedge bristled with thorns, as real looking as any of the rest of it. Tentatively, I reached out. Hard, twiggy stems met my fingers.
Damn. My excitement fading, I moved along, carefully testing each section of the hedge. Perhaps I wasn’t quite in the right place; it was hard to tell from ground level.
Finally, I reached out, and my hand found empty space though my eyes insisted there was hedge in front of me. Yes! Though the thorny bushes looked just as real here as anywhere else, it was all a Glamour. Flushed with excitement, I was about to step through when a sudden thought struck me.
If this was the only way in, the second hunter was almost certain to be waiting to ambush me as I came through. Hastily, I stepped to the side, wondering if they had already seen me. Did the Glamour protect me from view? Would I only become visible once I moved through it? I needed some kind of distraction.
I looked around for a decent-sized rock. It was an old trick, and I wasn’t sure if a Viper would fall for it, but I had to try something. Otherwise, I might as well just walk in there and announce myself in a blaze of light.
Hang on. A blaze of light. That was a good idea!
I moved back to the hedge, hefting my rock in my hand, and took up a position just to the side of the Glamoured section. I took a deep breath and sent a silent prayer to the Lady. I wasn’t sure I believed in her anymore, but I was right outside her shrine, so it seemed only diplomatic. And I needed all the luck I could get.
Then I hurled the rock as hard as I could over the thorns. At the same time, I summoned a burst of faelight and pitched that after it. Then, I dashed through
the opening and pelted for the nearest tree.
A throwing star whizzed past my head as I threw myself behind its meagre cover.
20
Squinting against the glare, I risked a peek out from behind my tree. The star had come from some bushes on the other side of the shrine. I might have picked that spot myself if I was going to lie in wait for someone coming through the Glamour. Whoever was concealed there had a fine view of the entry and a clear shot. It was a wonder they’d missed me, even with the sudden burst from my faelights.
I sent the bobbing lights spinning towards the bushes, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever lurked there in the dark. Instead, they snuffed my lights out.
The second that darkness swallowed the small enclosure, I was on the move, taking advantage of what I hoped was a momentary lapse in my hunter’s attention while he killed the lights. I stepped out from behind the tree and sent an arrow at the bushes, then bolted for the shrine, firing arrows as I ran.
If you’ve ever tried firing arrows while running, you’ll know it’s not great for accuracy. Fortunately, the bushes made a nice big target. I just wanted to keep my hunter’s head down—actually hitting him was only a bonus.
Stars came whizzing after me. One thunked into my quiver as I hurled myself to the ground behind the dubious shelter of the shrine.
So now I had another weapon.
In the moonlight, the star’s edges gleamed duller than the rest of it, and I sniffed suspiciously at them, handling it with care. Something was smeared there—poison, without a doubt. Honestly, these people were all insane. What was the point of taking on apprentices if you spent all their training actively trying to kill them? Or had someone gone off-script? None of the Vipers had been exactly welcoming.
What wouldn’t I give for a gun right now? There’d been no sound from the bushes, so I assumed none of my arrows had found their target. That was a real shame.
My blood was up, and I was ready to take out my temper on someone. I’d show him what he got for throwing poisoned stars at me.
“What will you do now, halfbreed? I’ve got you pinned down.”
Even if I hadn’t recognised the voice, the word halfbreed, thrown at me as if it were the deadliest insult in the world, gave away the identity of my hunter.
“Probably take a nap,” I said in a deliberately careless tone. “You’re not providing much of a challenge, Evandir.”
“Really? From here, it looks as though you’re in rather a tight situation.” The words were mocking, but I caught a hint of anger in the tone. Fae did so hate to be belittled.
Something moved in the corner of my vision, and I whipped my head around. There was nothing there, just shadows. For a moment, I wondered if I was seeing things again, the way I had in Celebrach’s office. Yet, as I stared, a deeper darkness began to creep toward me, rolling slowly across the ground like a black mist.
What the hell was this? It sure didn’t seem like a figment of my imagination. Some kind of Night magic? It smelled of smoke, but it wasn’t.
I hurled another ball of faelight at the creeping darkness, but it had no effect, bouncing back as if it had hit a wall. Definitely magic. The smoke must be the signature scent of Evandir’s magic.
I risked a peek over the lip of the shrine before Evandir could extinguish my light. The offering bowl was empty. Where was this box I was supposed to retrieve?
“Oh, by the way, I should have mentioned.” That mocking voice came again, but it had moved. No longer coming from behind the bushes, it appeared to be inside the rolling blackness. Try as I might, I couldn’t see a figure within it, and unease tightened my chest. Was he really moving toward me or was he throwing his voice somehow? “That box you’re looking for? I took it. If you want it, you’ll have to come and get it.”
The spreading blackness was giving me the willies. Was this what Raven had called shadow-weaving? But that had sounded like a much more discreet thing, as if the weaver would be invisible. These moving shadows might be dramatic, but they sure weren’t discreet.
“Do you always have to cheat to beat the apprentices?” I was pleased that my voice sounded much calmer than I felt. “Not much of a Viper, are you?”
“Do you think I care for the good opinion of a halfbreed?”
In a moment, the smoky darkness would swallow the shrine, then me. I only had three arrows left; I had to make them count.
I stood up, drawing and firing in one fluid movement. I aimed for the sound of his voice and was rewarded with a grunt. Immediately, I sent my final two arrows flying after the first, but he must have moved.
Ducking down behind the shrine again, I gingerly picked up the throwing star and waited for the darkness to envelop me. The world faded around me, and I shut my eyes. It was less disconcerting that way, and it helped me to concentrate on what my other senses were telling me.
I moved slowly around the shrine, trailing my hand along its low stone wall. When I judged I was on the opposite side from where I had begun, I stopped and listened for any sound of movement. My heart beat a rapid tattoo in my chest. I had never expected this challenge to be a walk in the park. but it was turning out far more dangerous than I’d expected. If I made it out of this forest alive, it would be a bloody miracle.
I thought I heard the sound of breathing, but then it came again from a different direction. My head turned from side to side, seeking it out, but suddenly, it seemed to be all around me. I froze in place and raised the throwing star. If only he would speak again; he must be close. I didn’t have any experience with throwing stars, but surely with this poison smeared all over it, all I had to do was nick him. I just needed to know where to throw the damn thing.
He slammed into me without warning and bore me to the ground. His strength was undiminished—my arrow must only have grazed him. The star slipped from my fingers and disappeared into the darkness.
I struggled, but Evandir’s weight lay heavy on my back, and all the breath had been driven from my body when he’d landed on top of me. My struggles were weak enough to amuse him.
“I’ve seen dying rabbits twitch more than that. Is that the best you can do, halfbreed?” He took a painful grip on my hair, hauling my head back.
Terrified that he was about to slit my throat, I found new energy from somewhere and wriggled and bucked enough to half throw him off, though he didn’t lose his grip. My hands scrabbled across the grass—which was bloody stupid if you thought about it, considering there was a poisoned throwing star lying somewhere nearby and I was just as likely to slice my finger open on it as use it to end his life. But I was way beyond sensible thinking, acting only on instinct.
“Any final words?”
“Yeah.” My desperate hand closed on a rock. “Fuck you.”
I slammed the rock into his head, and he cried out. Suddenly, I could see again—he must have lost his grip on whatever Night magic he’d been using. But my reprieve was only momentary. I scrambled back, clutching my rock, but he had a knife. A long, thin hunting knife that would do the job just as well as any scary twisted dagger. And he was coming at me with murder in his eyes.
I kicked out, but he only grabbed my ankle and hauled me across the grass on my back. He was strong—way stronger than me, as most fae were. His teeth gleamed white in the moonlight in a vicious smile. I was out of options and he knew it.
He was straddling me, my arms pinned beneath his knees. I slammed my own knees into his back as hard as I could, and he slapped me across the face with his free hand.
His smile widened. “Why don’t you do that again and see what it gets you?”
I felt the prick of the knife at my throat. “What have I got to lose? You’re going to kill me anyway.”
“You’re right about that. But maybe I’ll have some fun first. Let’s see what makes you so special. Why is Ashovar bothering with a creature like you? Can you really be that good in bed?”
A figure loomed behind him. Something slammed into him, and he toppled forward, cr
ushing me again. His breath was in my ear, so he wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t moving either. Out cold.
I shoved at his body in distaste, trying to wriggle out from underneath him. Someone hauled him off, casting him aside contemptuously.
I blinked up at the figure standing over me. Ash.
I should have known. He made a habit of looming over me, after all. He reached out a hand, and I let him help me up. “Are you hurt?”
Surely that wasn’t concern in his voice? Maybe I was hurt. Maybe I was dead and this was all some dream of the afterlife. I couldn’t imagine the real Ash caring what happened to me. But if so, it was a pretty shitty afterlife. I wanted my money back.
I rubbed my neck, wiping away a few drops of blood from where Evandir’s knife had pricked my skin. “What are you doing here? I thought I was supposed to meet you outside the forest.”
He shoved Evandir with his foot, rolling the unconscious fae onto his back. “When Nuah came staggering out, I decided to come in and see what was happening. It seemed as though the exercise had gotten a little out of hand.”
“You could say that. Evandir was trying to kill me.”
He gazed down at his fellow Viper, fury burning in his eyes. “Yes, I saw.”
I eyed him speculatively. Why so angry? Surely he didn’t care what happened to his unwanted apprentice? I would have thought he’d be throwing a party if he managed to get rid of me so easily.
“Were you supposed to intervene like that? Not that I’m complaining, mind you,” I added hastily as he raised an eyebrow. “You saved my life.”
“Your life wasn’t meant to need saving. If he can break the rules, so can I.”
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