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Everett

“Remain vigilant. Sometimes the enemy comes from behind."

Surviving The Unseelie Lands, Author Unknown

I waited all night on the bridge like a lovesick fool, but Kerris never showed. Her choice should come as no surprise. No doubt, her cousin and the rest of her family explained the realities of our situation, and she decided I am not worth the hassle.

She is right, of course. I have unwillingly been pledged to another, and the consequences of breaking that promise would be dire, indeed. I should be happy that she saved me the trouble of explaining, but I am not happy.

I am fucking miserable.

Some would say it is because I barely slept after my shift, but the truth is that part of me believed we might find a way to make this work.

Maddox sits outside his barrel-top, stirring whatever rubbish he is cooking in the cast iron pot hanging above an open fire. When he sees me emerge from my carriage, his hand stills and nose wrinkles. “If you are getting sick, do not come near me. I am taking Aurora to the river later and she will never forgive me if I cancel.”

“I am not sick.” I am heartbroken.

“I do not believe you. Sit over there.” He nods to a log well away from him, which is a blessing, really, because whatever he is making smells like boiled death.

Dampness seeps through my trousers the moment my arse meets bark. Maddox looks on, a clear question in his narrowed gaze. I glance around, making sure no one else can hear our conversation before explaining the reason for my melancholy. “Kerris did not show up last night.”

“And?”

And it should be pretty fucking clear that I am upset about it.

Maddox slips the spoon from the pot, clanging it so loudly on the edge that my head starts to ache. He tosses it aside in exchange for a shaker of heaven-knows-what, sprinkling it over the boiled muck. “Poor Ever has too many females vying for his hand. I really should leave you to your gloom,” he mutters, putting the shaker down to resume his stirring. “But since you are one of my best friends, I suppose I will put you out of it. The king has called for a curfew in Rosehill.”

That cannot be true. There has not been a curfew in decades. “Why would he do that?”

“A couple of cute little fuzzy animals killed and whatnot. Probably a weasel or fox by the sounds of it.”

“How did you find out?”

“River told me this morning.”

“And you did not think this was something I would like to know?”

He lifts a shoulder. “I did not think you would care because you already have a mate.”

A mate I never wanted in the first place. I should march straight over to the chieftain’s home and explain everything. But then that would mean pitting myself against his daughter.

Even if she told him the truth, he might not forgive me for the role I played in stringing her along.

I had hoped that Leah would get tired of waiting and choose someone else, not force my hand.

All he will see is betrayal after betrayal.

“The Seelie did not institute a curfew for a fucking weasel or a fox.” There is only one beast that would result in such a panic. “They think a wolf crossed the bridge.” If a wolf did somehow manage to cross the bridge, then no one in Rosehill is safe.

Kerris is not safe.

I need to go to her. I need to?—

He shoves the spoon toward me, reddish-brown liquid dripping like blood down the wood, splattering into the pot. “Sit your ass back down. No wolves crossed the canyon. Everyone in this camp knows how imperative it is to protect the bridge. I asked those who were on duty while we were gone if they have seen signs of a wolf, and do you know what all of them said?”

I bet he is going to tell me.

“They said there have been no tracks in the forests or on the paths. Whatever did this… it was not a wolf.” He tosses the spoon into the pot. “I have a theory though. But you are not going to like it.”

I do not like many things I have heard over the last couple of days but that has not stopped me from listening. “Tell me anyway.”

His eyes narrow. “I do not think the curfew has anything to do with wild animals at all. I think they are trying to keep an Unseelie fae from stealing their prince’s bride.”