The old wall came into view, casting deeper shadows in the darkness. Parts of the wall had been toppled during the siege that had taken place well before the borders of the Ebon Province had been drawn.
There were fewer people in this part of the city, but we did catch occasional glances from beyond open shutters, evidenced only by a shadow darting away as soon as it caught our attention. A young couple hurried down the road toward us, giving us a wary glance as they passed by. Judging by their clothing, they were rushing back to a rich estate, and judging by their pace, they were fearful of being robbed now that darkness had fallen. I briefly wondered what they were doing in this part of the city to begin with, then cast the thought aside as we neared the old keep, and the small nomadic civilization that had sprung up around it.
My eyes searched across flickering lanterns and small fires. Clusters of people shared pots of soup and loaves of bread while sitting near covered wagons and stacks of crates.
“This must be where traveling merchants and caravans come to stay,” I said to Steifan as we stopped walking.
“And other sorts,” he added, eyeing a pair leaning against a nearby wall in dark cloaks, their faces lost in shadow. They had no visible weapons, but instinct alone told me they were not to be trifled with.
We kept walking, observing the small camps while keeping our ears open for mention of the witch.
A young woman hurried out the gaping doorway of an ancient stone home. She clutched a wrapped bundle against her chest, her eyes shifting around nervously. Scented smoke wafted from within the home, which glowed with flickering firelight.
I stopped across the street from the home as the nervous young woman scurried off into the night. “Something tells me we’ve found what we’re looking for.”
A merchant sitting near a fire to our right looked up at us. “If you’re searching for the witch, you have found the place. But be wary, those dwelling in these parts are protective of her.”
I nodded my thanks. “I assure you, we mean her no harm.”
A little thrill of excitement trickled up my spine. If these people would protect her, maybe she was a real witch, and a helpful one at that. Just as witches could curse and maim, they could also heal. This might very well be the only chance Steifan and I would have to meet one. If she could help us with the Nattmara, then all the better.
I led the way across the street and looked into the open doorway.
The woman sitting cross-legged in front of the fire was already looking up at me. Her dark eyes, like flecks of onyx set into a pale face, matched her long black hair. She appeared young, I would guess around twenty, and wore a long white dress that looked almost like a night shift.
She watched me warily. “I sensed someone coming, but I did not expect a hunter. Why are you here?”
I stepped through the doorway, making room for Steifan. The feel of magic made me catch my breath. This place was strongly warded, and I knew instantly I had only been able to step inside because she let me.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “How could you tell I was a hunter?” We had intentionally left our armor with our horses, not wanting the witch to believe we had come to kill her.
She seemed small huddled behind her fire, the yellow light giving her an ethereal look. “I can sense what you are, just as much as I can sense what he is not.” She bobbed her chin toward Steifan.
Did that mean she could sense that I was a vampire’s human servant? I didn’t have the nerve to ask. “Are you really a witch?”
She bared her teeth. “Some say I am. What is it to you?”
It seemed I had angered her. Wonderful. A witch cursing me on top of everything else was all I needed. “We are here to ask for your help. Something hunts us, and we do not know how to defeat it.”
She stood, and she was just as small standing up as I had imagined. “The hunters are the hunted? How poetic.”
I was getting the feeling that she wasn’t fond of hunters. If she was a real witch, I couldn’t blame her. While we had stopped hunting witches decades ago, there was a time when we killed them as indiscriminately as vampires.
I glanced at Steifan, who shrugged. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of this woman either. Staying any longer was a risk, but . . .
“Look,” I said, stepping toward the fire, “I have never harmed a witch, in fact I have never met one. Any quarrel we might have is between our ancestors, not us.”
She stepped up opposite me on the other side of the fire, so that we mirrored each other over the flames. “Does our ancestors blood not run through our veins? Have hunters ever paid us reparations?”
She had me there. “If you cannot help us, we will leave you in peace.” I stepped back. If she wasn’t going to help us, I’d rather not make her angry. There was no telling how powerful she might be.
Suddenly she smiled, and it lit her entire face. “A hunter willing to back down, how refreshing. What is your name?”
“Lyssandra,” I answered, hesitating.
“I am Ryllae. What is it you would like help with?”
Her sudden change in mood had me grasping for words. Finally, I managed to ask, “You were testing me, weren’t you?”
“Can you blame me?”
I shrugged. “I suppose one cannot be too careful. Does this mean you’ll answer my questions now?”
“It means we will trade information. You have many secrets, Lyssandra.”
“Lyss,” Steifan interrupted. “Some secrets might not be worth sharing.”
He was right. She had already implied that I was different from Steifan. If she wanted to know what I was, I would be a fool to tell her. If she sold me out to the wrong person, it could get me killed.
Of course, it wouldn’t matter much if Egar killed me first. I recalled the sensation of him clouding my mind, how helpless I was standing before him, and my decision was made.
I stared into Ryllae’s dark eyes. “Fine, if you tell me what I need to know, I will share whatever secret you wish, but only if you have the answers I seek.”
She inclined her head. “A fair trade. Now ask your question.”
I glanced at Steifan, buying time. If I was only going to get one question, I needed to make it count. And when it came to Egar, only one question really mattered. I turned my attention back to Ryllae. “Do you know anything of glamour? How to break it?”
“You are hoping to slay the Nattmara,” she observed.
“You know of it?” Steifan asked, stepping up beside me.
She crossed her arms and shivered, though the fire in the small space had me sweating. “It hunts me too. It has not managed to find me yet, but I fear it will eventually.”
Could she be the powerful blood the Nattmara had mentioned? It would make sense. “You’re afraid of it,” I observed.
“I have been hiding since it arrived in the city, watching it when I can. It seeks me tirelessly.”
“You were not so difficult to find, you do realize that?”
She smiled. “You found me because I wished you to find me. I knew it was a risk, but I needed to see if you could be trusted.”
“And can I?”
“You were prepared to leave me when I would not cooperate,” she explained. “That alone lets me know I can trust you. You are not working with the creature. Anyone working with that thing would have tried to force answers from me.”
“Do you know how to break his glamour?”
Her arms still wrapped tightly around her, she raised dark brows. “If I knew, do you believe you could kill it?”
“I slew the creature’s sister in a small village in the North. She had hoped to feast on my blood.”
She finally lowered her arms, her surprise clear. “Did the sister not share in his glamour?”
“Their father was part Sidhe, and the mother pure-blooded Nattmara. The sister took after their mother, but Egar strongly inherited his father’s gifts. The father was keeping them both contained until he was killed.”
She looked down into the fire. “This explains much. The creature has nearly broken through my glamour many times. I hadn’t previously understood how he would possess such gifts.”
“Do witches really know glamour?” Steifan asked.
Her lips curled into the barest of smiles. “No child, I never said I was a witch, only that others believe it to be so.”
My jaw fell open as realization threatened. Suddenly it made sense how a witch could survive in the middle of the city. How she could only be found by those she chose. If she could do glamour, she could hide in plain sight. But witches couldn’t do real glamour. Only one type of creature could. “You’re Sidhe, aren’t you?”
Steifan balked at me, but I was pretty sure I was right. This was why the Nattmara wanted her blood so badly. It could potentially sustain him for centuries.
She watched me for a moment, then nodded.
“So you know how to break his glamour?” I pressed, stepping close enough to the fire that my toes grew hot through the leather of my boots.
“Yes, but there is one problem. You are hunters, and you may someday hunt me. If I tell you how to break the Nattmara’s glamour, you may be able to break mine as well.”
I shook my head. “We have no reason to harm you. The people of this area protect you. It seems you live a life of peace.”
She watched me for a long moment, and I almost thought our slim chance of defeating Egar was slipping through my fingers. Seeming to come to a decision, she said, “I will tell you, but my price still stands. There is a secret to you, something you hide. It makes you different from him.” She gestured to Steifan. “Tell me what it is, then I will decide whether or not I will help you with the Nattmara.”
My stomach seemed to turn over completely within me. I had spoken this secret three times now, but no time had been any easier than the prior.
“Ask something else,” Steifan interjected. “Anything else.”
I turned to him.
“We have only just met her,” he pleaded. “This secret can be a danger to you. If she tells anyone . . . ”
“I am well aware of the danger, but we cannot leave Egar alive. He will kill many, and he will eventually kill us.” My mind made up, I turned back to the woman who had already shared a dangerous secret with us. I had to trust her. “I am a vampire’s human servant. If the Helius Order were to find out, I would be executed. If you can tell us how to break the Nattmara’s glamour, I will take your secret to the grave.”
Her dark eyes scrutinized me. She took a long slow breath, then exhaled. “I will teach you, and only you. You will share this with no one, not even him.” Her eyes flicked to Steifan, then back to me. “And we will swear an oath, we will take each other’s secrets to the grave. As a hunter you should know what it means to swear an oath to one of the Sidhe.”
I did know. I knew that if I betrayed her, the spirits of her ancestors would haunt me for eternity. But I would take the risk if it meant slaying the Nattmara. “I will take your oath, and together we will defeat our enemy.”
She smiled then, another real smile that lit up her face. “Send your companion outside and we will get started.”
“Lyss, think about this,” Steifan cautioned. “She has glamour too. She’s dangerous.“
I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave an encouraging squeeze. “Egar intends to kill me eventually. I cannot wait around for that to happen. I must learn to break his glamour.”
He looked to Ryllae. “If you harm her—”
She smiled indulgently, like one would at a child. It made me wonder just how old she was. “I will only harm her if she harms me. If her intentions are pure, she is safe. Do not fear.”
He didn’t look like he quite believed her, but he squeezed my hand on his shoulder, then turned away. He walked out into the night, leaving us alone in the small stone space.
I turned back to Ryllae.
“You’ll really kill the Nattmara?” she asked.
I smiled and answered honestly. “It would be my pleasure.”
Chapter Nine
I guessed it was sometime around midnight when I finally emerged from Ryllae’s home. I had already sensed what I would find outside, and my eyes confirmed it. Asher waited with Steifan, both leaning against a portion of wall near a merchant camp. Seeing me, they headed in my direction.
Ryllae walked out and stood beside me, following my gaze. “Oh, now I see why you don’t want to kill him.” Her mischievous smile said she knew exactly who Asher was to me, and she approved of what she saw, at least physically. I knew from our conversation she held no love for vampires, especially ancient ones.
“I never said I didn’t want to kill him,” I grumbled as the men neared. “Just that I’m not going to kill him quite yet.”
“You are an honest woman, Lyssandra. It would be a shame if you continued to go against your nature by lying to yourself.”
I frowned as Asher and Steifan reached us, wishing I had been a little less honest with the woman at my side. I’d felt I had owed it to her to answer her seemingly harmless questions when she was sharing with me the most closely guarded secret of her people.
Said secret wasn’t as complex as I had thought it would be. All it required was a resilient mind, an ancient chant, and enough power to back it up, which she swore I had, though I was doubtful. The jar of ointment she had given me would be supplementary. I could put it on my eyes and ears to block out visual and auditory glamour. The ointment was for Steifan too, but the bit of chanting and magic was just for me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Asher.
But he was looking at Ryllae. “Not a witch after all,” he said. “How interesting.”
Ryllae’s eyes flared at his words. Suddenly she seemed bigger than the tiny woman she was. She took a step toward Steifan. “You told him.”
Steifan held up his hands. “I did no such thing!”
A few onlookers still awake sitting around fires glanced our way like they might interfere.
“I can smell your blood,” Asher said lowly. “I have known your kind before. No one has betrayed your secret, nor will I.”
Ryllae stepped back like he had struck her. “My kind? Where? When?”
Sorrow stabbed my gut. I looked at Asher and saw that sorrow echoed in his expression. I stared at him, unsure where my sudden emotions had come from.
“It was many centuries ago,” he said to Ryllae. “I apologize if I gave you false hope.”
I moved to stand closer to Steifan, further from the vampire. Had I actually just felt his emotions? Karpov had once told me that I would grow closer to Asher the more I was around him. Was that happening now?
I didn’t have time to ask any questions, and now wasn’t the time for it regardless.
Ryllae took a moment to process Asher’s words. I wondered how long ago she had become separated from the last of her kin, and if any could possibly be alive.
She met my waiting gaze. “Remember what we discussed. Return to me when the Nattmara is dead.” With that she turned and went back into her home.
I looked to Asher. “You never answered my question. Why are you here?”
“I will tell you, but not here.” He gestured subtly to the men still watching us.
I met their waiting eyes, then nodded. The Seeing Sword had offered no warnings, the men meant us no harm, but it was best not to discuss anything near listening ears. The shock of feeling Asher’s emotions had made me careless. I wouldn’t let it happen again.
I looked around, then led the way toward the dark remains of the original keep. There were a few other fires in that direction, but more spread out. We should be able to find a private place to speak.
When the three of us were crowded into an alcove, far from any fires, I looked to Asher expectantly, angling my shoulder back so it wouldn’t be touching his.
He smiled, finding me amusing. “I believe I may have learned something that will help in solving your murder. I began
my evening near the home of the man you had me steal the journal from. I witnessed a servant exchanging coin with an unsavory type in the dark shadows of the gardens.”
I crossed my arms, growing colder the longer I was away from Ryllae’s fire. “What sort of unsavory type?”
“The type that carries a sword, has many scars, and bathes little. I followed him as far as I could, then picked up his scent later on near the inn. I attempted to check on your belongings, but it seems someone else now occupies your room.”
I mulled over this new information before looking to Steifan. “You didn’t tell him?”
Steifan shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “I wasn’t sure how much you wanted him to know.”
I smiled, appreciating the gesture. “I suppose we were wise to move the horses.”
Asher looked back and forth between us. “Would one of you mind telling me what you’re talking about?”
I almost didn’t want to tell him just to be petty, but he had brought us the information about the duke’s servant, presumably Vannier, paying someone who looked like a mercenary. “We were attacked this morning,” I explained. “A group of men was hired to kill us.”
He went utterly still. Only the tendrils of his white hair slightly shifting broke the illusion that he was suddenly a statue. “Someone was paid to kill you?” he asked slowly.
“Why do you seem so surprised?”
His expression returned in the form of a scowl. “I am not surprised, I am outraged. For someone to not only mean you harm, but to be cowardly enough to not enact it himself? If the man I robbed of the journal is responsible, I will put an end to him.”
I grabbed his arm, just in case he was thinking about going anywhere. “We don’t know that it was him. Vannier, the duke’s servant, could have been paying that man for any number of reasons. The duke wanted us here to investigate his wife’s murder, I don’t know why he would try to kill us.”
“Unless we were getting too close,” Steifan said. “He probably expected us just to come in and hunt a vampire.”
Trick of Shadows (The Duskhunter Saga Book 2) Page 6
