“And that’s why you think she was killed?” I filled in the blank. But where was my brother? He wouldn’t have killed the coroner to cover for us. And he certainly wasn’t trying to suppress information about the immortals’ deaths—that was why we were there in the first place. He was the one who got us in.

  He better be okay.

  “Was anyone found with her?” I asked. Where was Paul? Was he hurt? Was he hiding? Had something happened when he was with the coroner? Had someone captured him while he was with the coroner and killed the coroner to cover their tracks?

  My mind scrambled through the possibilities while my heart raced, and my skin prickled. Images of my brother’s face flashed before my eyes.

  “She was alone,” Orion said. “They found her in the alley behind the lab. The guard said she returned from a late-night date to discover the lab had been broken into. She told the guards to stay behind and went to investigate, but she never returned.”

  I let out a long breath. My brother wasn’t involved. He returned her to the Death House before her death.

  “But we were long gone,” Ace said. “It wasn’t us, and it wasn’t Paul. So, who would kill her for investigating our break-in?”

  “That might not be the reason for her death.” I snapped my fingers. “Maybe they had another motive, and when she stepped outside alone, they finally had their opportunity to act on it.”

  Ace nodded.

  “That sounds most likely, but it still doesn’t give us much on the motive.”

  “But it does raise another problem,” Ace said, concern pinching his expression.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Whomever did this had to be watching the Death House. They had to be in a place ready to act when the coroner stepped outside.” He looked up and met my gaze, his dark eyes flashing. “They would’ve seen us enter and exit the Death House.”

  A chill ran over my skin. If Ace was right, the unknown killer would now suspect or assume we knew whatever Carla knew.

  The queen had known we were there. Did she also know who killed Carla?

  Or was she the killer?

  I shivered and rubbed my hands up and down my arms. The queen seemed an unlikely suspect, but I wouldn’t automatically discount her just because it didn’t make sense. Nothing about this made sense.

  But one thing was certain. I needed to speak to my brother. “I need to sleep for at least five hours or I’m going to fall over. After that, let’s go to Paul’s place. He should be back from Wast by then.”

  “I’ll sleep on your couch,” Ace said.

  I opened my mouth to protest.

  “Something’s going on and I think it’s best if we stick together.”

  “Then I’ll stay, too,” Orion said. “I’ll take the armchair.”

  Just great. Like I needed these two hovering around while I slept. “Can you two manage your territorial issues over the living room without damaging the place?”

  They both scowled at each other, which didn’t inspire a lot of confidence.

  “Of course,” Ace assured me.

  Orion nodded.

  I didn’t believe either of them.

  34

  I banged my knuckles on the weathered door of Paul’s cabin for the third time. The sound echoed through the quiet forest, but there was no response. Ace and Orion stood behind me, silent and tense.

  After a fitful four-hour nap, I’d splashed cold water on my face and pulled on leather pants, and a vest to go over my long-sleeved shirt. My hair was a mess, but I managed to wrestle it into a ponytail. With a frustrated sigh, I reached forward and grabbed the handle. It turned easily in my hand, and I pushed open the creaky door. “Paul! If you’re there, say something.”

  Silence greeted us.

  A wave of unease prickled my spine and tugged at my scalp. The cabin was unusually cold, with no fire lit recently. Paul hadn’t come home last night or this morning.

  “Maybe he’s still in Wast,” Ace suggested. “You know your brother, Mouse. Don’t jump to conclusions yet.”

  But I couldn’t stop my mind from running off to the worst-case scenario. My thoughts raced with images of my brother lying dead in some back-alley surrounded by filth and decay while pick pockets looted his belongings, and the rest of the world continued on, oblivious to my loss.

  I swallowed hard and nodded. “Let’s check the cabin.”

  The men spread out to search the living room and kitchen while I went straight to the main bedroom. The thick curtains were drawn shut, blocking out the light. The bed had been hastily made, the cotton sheets rumpled and uneven. But Paul wasn’t here. He wasn’t sprawled across the covers with his usual cheeky grin or asking me about my day in that teasing tone of his.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to push the memories away.

  A gentle hand rested on my shoulder, and I jumped, opening my eyes. When had Ace walked up behind me?

  “What’s that?” he pointed at the closet. A piece of fabric had been caught in the door.

  With a sigh, I replied. “He’s never been known for his housekeeping.”

  “I’m surprised the bed is made.” Ace brushed past me to enter the room and walk over to the closet. As he opened the door, materials spilled out, smacking into his body before falling to the floor.

  My heart stopped at the sight of leather pelts and reams of wool.

  No.

  I rushed over to the closet and peered inside, my nose immediately assaulted by the smell of dust and grain from the storage house. I leaned to the side and sneezed.

  “What is it?” Orion appeared beside me, his voice filled with concern.

  “Leather, wool and what looks like a barrel of grain,” Ace answered for me.

  “Leather, wool and grain?” Orion placed his hands on his hips and turned to me.

  I looked away, not meeting his gaze. My mind reeled. This didn’t make any sense. Why would he do this?

  “What am I missing, Mouse?” Ace whispered.

  “Leather, wool and grain are the supplies stolen from the storage house,” Orion said. “Isn’t that right, Emi?”

  “A red scarf was also retrieved from the looted storage house and the same scarf was last seen with Paul,” Ace added.

  “He’s not a thief,” I said. Not anymore. Why would he do this? Why would he be working with the same men who not only framed me, but tried to kill me?

  “Is he a pure blooded galeon?” Orion asked. He hesitated before adding. “Are you?”

  “No, of course not,” I said. My mind stumbled over the events of the last few days as if frantically trying to solve a complicated puzzle. The thief was connected to the rogue hunters and the rogue hunters were killing galeon descendants somehow with magic of a true blood immortal. It looked like they were trying to frame me for it, but what if it wasn’t intentional? What if it was because Paul was involved?

  Paul could be the killer.

  The killer had to be immortal.

  The immortal had to be a pure blood.

  The immortal was killing galeon descendants.

  The only immortals known to successfully kill bonded galeons were…

  No. No. No. No. No.

  My mind refused to accept this line of thinking.

  Ace’s eyebrows furrowed as he gave me a questioning look, clearly perplexed by my behaviour. Meanwhile, Orion stood in the corner of the room with a doubtful expression on his face. Rather than pushing for answers though, he turned and strode out of the bedroom, his footfalls echoing down the quiet hallway. I moved to follow, but Ace stepped in front of me, blocking my escape.

  “You never knew your parents,” Ace whispered. “It could be possible without you knowing.”

  “I’m not.” I lifted my chin, despite his words touching on something I never wished to discuss.

  “When did you say you got hit in the chest with an arrow?” Ace asked.

  “I didn’t.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’ve only lied to me three times since I returned.”

  “What?”

  “Once when you said you were over me, once when you said you’d killed men for less, and…”

  “Are you guys coming?” Orion shouted down the hall.

  Ace towered over me. He leaned down to whisper in my ear, “We’ll discuss this later.”

  Yeah, no. That wasn’t going to happen. My brother couldn’t be involved. He would never hurt me, and I refused to entertain the idea.

  “I’ve been thinking about the Death House. The person or people responsible for killing Carla likely saw us entering and exiting…” Ace started as we headed out of my brother’s bedroom.

  “What about them?” I asked.

  “They’re a problem. They might suspect that whatever the coroner knew, we might possess the same information.”

  “We have an even bigger problem,” Orion said.

  “And what could that possibly be?” I asked.

  “I smell smoke.”

  35

  We rushed out of the cabin, armed with our bows and arrows. I had a split second to register several hunters standing outside with bows raised, arrows glinting in the afternoon sun before I dove to the side. I slammed into the ground, pain jolting up my side. An arrow sunk into the siding of the cabin where I’d been standing moments before. Orion ducked behind the bushes to the left of the cabin, and Ace rushed to join me behind the ones sheltering me.

  The fire wasn’t in the village. Someone had set the fire at the back of my brother’s cabin to force us out the front. I could see it now as the flames licked up to meet the sky and smoke billowed out.

  Were these the king’s men or the rogue hunters? Were they here for me or my brother?

  Flames rose in the distance. It wasn’t just Paul’s place on fire.

  I scanned the trees. Smoke billowed up in the direction of my own home.

  Nala.

  Cold covered my entire body. My skin prickled.

  My familiar was inside.

  I bolted up only to have Ace lock his steely grip on my wrist and haul me to the ground.

  “You can’t get up, even an immortal has limits with these guys. They might have more poisoned arrows.”

  “My cabin is on fire,” I said.

  “Let it go.”

  “Nala is inside.”

  Ace hesitated. “She’ll get out.”

  “I closed the bedroom door, Ace. She’s trapped. I won’t leave her,” I said. “I can’t leave her.”

  “I’ll go,” he said.

  “What? No. She’s my familiar and I’m immortal. She’s my responsibility.”

  “You’re just as vulnerable to these hunters as I am.” He loosened his grip on my wrist, and his gaze softened. “You’re the better archer between the two of us. Cover me.”

  Without waiting for a response, he sprung up from where he crouched and sprinted toward the forest.

  Men hollered.

  I notched my bow and stood to shoot. I kept drawing arrows from my quiver, notching and releasing, notching and releasing. Hitting target after target, their cries of alarm and the sound of their bodies hitting the ground became a highlight note to the crackling fire burning down Paul’s cabin behind me.

  My magic wound around me, tight and demanding.

  More, it whispered. Kill them all.

  I had three arrows left.

  Then two.

  Then one.

  Orion joined me to shoot at the hunters, taking down enough to keep any of them from shooting at me.

  I stepped toward the path leading to my cabin, and sharp pain slammed into me. I looked down to find an arrow protruding from my arm. I snarled, turned, and fired off a shot, killing the last of the hunters. With clenched teeth, I pulled out the arrow and bit back a cry.

  Magic from the arrowhead spread through my body. Seeping into my bones. I winced and waited for the poison to take hold.

  Nothing happened.

  The poison mingled with the magic already inside my body, with the poison that already ran through my veins—a poison that my body had eventually accepted after the initial reaction.

  I chucked the arrow to the ground and turned to Orion. “Come on.”

  We raced to my cabin, the smoke in the air burning my lungs.

  Ace barged out of the front entrance of my cabin with Nala in his arms as we exited the path. Steam and smoke rose around him. Nala’s eyes were closed, and she lay limp in his arms.

  “She’s alive,” Ace said.

  Shouts rose from the centre of the village.

  I glanced down the path. “There might be more.”

  “We need to run.” Orion nodded at me. “Get as far away from here as we can before that poison hits you.”

  “Poison?” Ace stiffened, his gaze raking my body.

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  “But you won’t be,” Orion said.

  “I don’t think it was laced,” I said.

  “Poison?” Ace repeated, his voice dropping low, vibrating with danger.

  “She got hit with another arrow,” Orion explained.

  “I’m fine,” I insisted.

  Orion’s words from what seemed like a millennia ago echoed along my memories. Her body will acclimatize and absorb it.

  “We’re not risking it. Let’s go.” Ace took off around the side of the cabin toward my workshop and I followed.

  “I need arrows.” I ducked into the back entrance to my workshop and grabbed an armful of finished arrows. The flames licked the walls and travelled toward me. Billowy smoke gathered along the roof. I coughed as it surrounded me.

  “Emi?” Ace called out.

  I followed the sound of his voice and stumbled from the building.

  “Come on.” Orion grabbed my upper arm, careful not to break my grip on the arrows, and hauled me toward the path where Ace waited. They both wore grim expressions as they turned away from the flames.

  Without a backward glance at my home going up in flames, I followed Ace into the forest.

  I’d lied to both of them. The arrow had been laced, but my body didn’t react to the poison—at least not like it had before.

  This time my body absorbed it. I only had two explanations. Either my body had developed some sort of immunity to the poison, or I shared the same bloodline used to create this poison. That could only mean…

  An immortal killer.

  A pure blood.

  A…

  I shook my head at the possibility and swallowed.

  Did he try to kill you with his blood? Sley had asked me. I heard somewhere that’s how phaanons killed galeons.

  Ace and Orion were right. We needed to run, but my reasons were rapidly changing. We needed to run because I’d figured out something they hadn’t.

  It wasn’t that my brother might be the mastermind behind these attacks, though he was involved somehow—I knew he couldn’t be responsible for targeting me. He would never harm me.

  It wasn’t that Paul and I were pure blooded galeons, which is what Ace, Orion and the queen suspected.

  Which is what I suspected until tonight.

  What I tried to keep hidden and secret all these years.

  No.

  Cuts on your face, arms, legs. Even your ears…

  It took every ounce of self control not to reach up and touch the tips of my ears.

  The curse of immortals.

  A more dangerous secret lurked beneath the surface of my skin and if anyone ever dared to look, dared to question, my life would be forfeit even though I had nothing to do with the killings.

  My life, my familiar and everything I’d built over the last twenty-five years would be gone.

  Because I was a pureblood phaanon.

  And someone was using my blood or that of my brother to kill immortals.

  Characters & Terminology

  Actaeon “Ace”: Emi’s new partner.

  Apollo “Paul”: Emi’s brother.

  Artemis “Emi”: Guardian of the Forest.

  Bonded galeon: a galeon—pureblood or descendant—who has bonded to a familiar. Immortal and cannot be killed by any current day means.

  Blake: queen’s messenger.

  Carla: Wast’s coroner.

  Danu: referring to the gods.

  Danu Forest: forbidden forest where unbonded familiars live.

  Danu river: river that runs southwest/northeast through Danu Forest.

  Dita: first galeon descendent victim.

  Galeon descendant: descendent of pureblood galeons. Immortal, but can be killed if unbonded.

  Galeons: immortals who won the war against phaanons. Galeon (sing).

  Gales: money. Currency of Wast and Vitor.

  Gavin: Perga’s woodworker. Graham’s best friend.

  Graham O’Reilly: Perga’s blacksmith and Sley’s ex.

  King Oberon: pureblood galeon ruler of Wast.

  Lesley “Sley”: Emi’s best friend. Supply coordinator and tailor.

  Maria: Perga’s baker.

  O’Reilly: Graham’s uncle. Former blacksmith.

  Orion “Rye”: Perga’s healer.

  Perga: town surrounded by forest and borders the Danu/forbidden forest. Close to Wast and under the control of Wast leaders.

  Phaan: referring to the underworld / hell. Also used as a slur/swear word.

  Phaanons: immortals who fought the galeons and lost. Only beings capable of killing bonded galeons. Now extinct. Phaanon (sing).

  Pureblood galeon: pureblood immortal who is immortal and indestructible, with or without bonding to a familiar.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22