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“What the fuck?” a voice snapped from inside the structure. It sounded familiar to Tarley somehow, but she couldn’t place it. “How could they screw that up?”

“Hep went after her. He’s back,” another faceless voice said from inside.

There was a stretch of silence followed by the murmur of voices.

Then the flap on the oversized tent slapped open, and a giant man ducked out through the opening. When he straightened, Tarley shrank back against Hep now behind her, his grip tightening on her shoulder.

“You,” Four Tankards said and grinned. He glanced around. “Where’s your bodyguard?”

Tarley clenched her teeth together and tried to keep the rest of her face impassive even though her heart tripped about in her chest. That, she hadn’t seen coming, but maybe she should have.

“What? Someone cut out that razor tongue of yours?”

“Why have I been abducted?” she asked.

“Sir–” Hep started but Four Tankards raised his hand.

“Abducted? Is that what you call it?” Four Tankards asked. “I call it monitoring your welfare.” He stepped forward. “You’re a woman, all alone in the woods without the covering of a male to keep you safe. This is perfectly within the law of the land.” His hand, palm up, pointed at the ground. “Look at your feet.”

She knew they were a bloody mess. She could feel it every time she took a step.

“There’s a darkling after her,” Hep interrupted. “Stunned the fucker, but it will be after her soon enough–”

Four Tankard’s eyes jumped to Hep behind her. “And you brought her into camp?” He obviously knew what a darkling was.

“The carcasses should mask the scent–”

But not her bloody footprints that led her here.

Tarley glanced around, taking in the space. The number of tents lined up in neat rows, the number of men dressed in nice clothes and boots, no want for supplies, the smell of food, the horses. This wasn’t a random encampment of hunters. This was something else.

Tarley wondered if he might bargain. “You can just let me go. Then that creature won’t even come near this place. Untie me, give me some boots, and I’ll be on my way.”

Four Tankards laughed. “Now what kind of man would that make me—to allow a woman to get lost in these woods? Women have no sense of direction, no survival skills. Besides, I wouldn’t ever give a perfectly good woman to a monster.” His eyes raked her bedraggled form. “Even one as used up as you.”

Tarley ground her teeth.

“Take her into the tent, Hep. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of until we can deliver her.”

“Deliver me?”

“Yes, sir.” Hep pushed her forward, and Tarley ground her feet against the dirt, fighting him.

“Deliver me where?”

“To the convent, of course. After we talk about the royal party that arrived at the inn. Then we’ll take you to the convent south of here, there’s one outside Lilim. You’ll be kept clothed and fed and sheltered until the end of your days. Provided we can keep you free of a darkling.” He looked at the men around him. “Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll get chosen by a husband who comes to the convent looking. Heard that’s rare.” He laughed. “Slaver, more likely.”

What the hell?

Tarley contested Hep’s hold. “I have a father and a brother–”

Four Tankards looked around. “I don’t see them.” He looked back at her, his dark eyes narrowing. “Can you produce them?”

She couldn’t. Other than her family aware of her usual camping place, she hadn’t told a soul where she was going. Had it been her arrogance that made her feel safe enough? What had she done?

36

An hour into the woods—which felt slow on horses as they plodded through the thick landscape—they came across the Fareview horse grazing, his halter broken and no saddle. The care the gelding received from Mattias and Jessamine was honorable, but Lachlan was beyond impatient, then relieved when they tied the horse to Royal Guard Jude’s mount so they could continue on. When they reached Tarley’s camping spot at dawn, his anxiety turned to turmoil.