Page 22

Chapter 22

Chipmunk Cheeks Are the Best

Being outside the wall that surrounded Ulmenor was a good start, but that didn’t mean we were safe. Once lost in the shadows cast by the trees and the thick green canopy, Adeline and Jasper shed their cloaks. The chipmunk flopped on the top of Jasper’s head, his tiny chest falling and rising at an alarming rate. What were we supposed to do if the chipmunk had an itty-bitty heart attack? CPR and chest compressions seemed like a bad idea.

We pushed on, putting more distance between us and the capital while heading south toward Wolfrest and Lockeheim. We followed the main road without actually being on it. A few times we spotted Galinaes soldiers on patrol, but it didn’t appear as if they were searching for us in particular.

As night fell, Adeline and Nylian directed us farther away from the road, locating a thickly wooded area for us to make camp and a fire without worrying about catching the attention of anyone insane enough to travel at night.

It was only when Nylian and Adeline stepped away to hunt for a late dinner that I finally cornered Jasper about what happened in Ulmenor.

“You know I have to ask,” I drawled, flashing him my most ingratiating smile. At least, it would have been on my old face. I wasn’t quite sure what it looked like on this new face, but at least he didn’t run off into the woods screaming.

“What?” Jasper’s head snapped up from where he’d been trying to assist Binx in making what looked to be a nest of leaves and soft flower blossoms.

“What the hell happened in Ulmenor? A building blows up, and you’ve got a wizard chipmunk in your hair. That might be a normal day for you, but that’s still a bit out of the ordinary for me.”

He swallowed and dropped his gaze to the chipmunk, who was moving things around to where he wanted them. “Oh…yeah…not an ordinary day for me, either.”

“Are you okay? Do Nylian and I need to go to Ulmenor and beat someone’s ass? Or should I step on the rodent for you?”

A series of high-pitched chirps left the tiny furry creature, its short tail standing straight up and twitching in its agitation. With a small grin, Jasper scooped up the chipmunk in one hand and stroked his fur with the other, calming him. “No, that’s unnecessary. I…” He paused and let out a sigh that sounded as if it had come from the very depths of his soul.

I held up a hand to stop anything else from slipping out of his mouth. “Jasper, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I just wanted to make sure you and Adeline were okay.”

“No, it’s okay. Bad day.” He huffed a sickly laugh. “Really bad day. We got off the boat okay and across town, where I’d heard rumors of Master Binx. That he was willing to help new wizards in their studies. He wasn’t too keen on taking me, but I convinced him. Unfortunately, Master Binx wasn’t the only wizard in the workshop. There was also Master Kolman. While I was working with Master Binx, Adeline was catching up on some sleep. I ran to the room where my stuff was stored and found him…bothering…my sister. Except she wasn’t kicking his ass like she normally would. I…I…”

“And you were afraid that she was holding back because of you. That she was afraid of ruining your chance to get a mentor,” I filled in for him.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. He put the chipmunk on the ground, only to have it scramble up his pant leg again and rest on his knee. “I’m not exactly sure what happened next. I lost my temper. The building exploded. Master Kolman was gone, Master Binx was a chipmunk, and we were running for our lives.”

“That is an impressive day you had.”

“I never meant to hurt anyone or blow up an entire building,” Jasper said.

I reached out and put a hand on his too-slender shoulder and squeezed. “You did it to protect your sister. Sounds like Master Kolman got what was coming to him.”

“Yeah, but Master Binx got caught in the crossfire somehow, and I don’t know how to fix him.” The young wizard sighed at the chipmunk, who appeared surprisingly happy and chipper for being a wizard trapped as a tiny rodent.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Or maybe we can find another wizard to help.” I dropped my hand from his shoulder and picked up a long stick to poke at the logs in the fire. “For now, he gets the luxury of riding on your head or in your pocket while the rest of us get to walk.”

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Jasper’s shout had me jumping almost to my feet. As it was, the stick in my hand swung wildly around as I searched for the would-be attacker lurking at the edge of our camp. “You and the prince were trying to sneak into the palace and get information about his brother’s killer. Did you learn anything? Did the king and queen have something to do with Prince Orian’s death?”

I slumped on the log serving as my seat and willed my heart to return to a somewhat normal rhythm. This kid was gonna be the death of me. Or he was just going to change me into some animal. Either way, not good.

“From what we could learn, they had nothing to do with the poisoning. However, it sounded like Queen Sumina wished it had been her. She pointed the finger in Lockeheim’s direction, since that country is where all the world’s poisons are made.”

Jasper made some sounds of agreement as he moved the chipmunk off his leg and to its little nest. “That makes sense. They do have some fabulous poisons, and not just for killing. They’ve got plenty that will raise the dead and control your mind. There’s a rumor they can make a poison that if given to two people at the same time with a drop of their blood in the mix, their souls will even swap bodies.”

“Child,” I groaned and scrubbed a hand across my face.

“What? It’s important for all wizards to be versed thoroughly in poisons, because they’re used in a lot of potions and even some amulets. And thanks to the incredible skills of the poison makers in Lockeheim, most wizards won’t bother to make their own poisons. They’ll purchase them from Lockeheim.”

That didn’t help to put my mind at ease. “So anyone could have purchased the poison that killed Orian. We’re stuck trying to track down the source and from there, locate the person who bought it.”

Jasper shrugged. “It depends on what the poison was. Some are impossible to get your hands on. Some are so rare that even if you are allowed to buy it, you have to be as rich as a king to get it. Do you know which poison it was?”

I shook my head. “Nylian has someone researching it, but he hasn’t heard yet.”

“Nylian hasn’t heard what yet?”

Speak of the devil. Just say his name, and the evil elf magically appears with a brace of rabbits in one hand and a branch of what looked to be blackberries in the other. He handed the berries over to Jasper. “I thought this might work for your wizard master.”

“Thank you! I was worried about what he was going to eat tonight. I don’t think a chipmunk’s digestive system can handle rabbit.” Jasper plucked the berries off one at a time and placed them in front of Binx. As soon as they touched the ground, Binx popped them into his mouth, extending his cheeks out farther and farther until I was barely keeping myself from poking those bulbous cheekies. He was so freaking cute!

It was hard to remember this was a wizard trapped in a chipmunk’s body. I wanted to pet him, but I was afraid if I did, he would bite me or turn me into something the second he was back in his elf form.

“I was telling Jasper the result of our time in Ulmenor,” I answered as Adeline dropped some more wood by the fire.

Adeline straightened and dusted her hands off against each other. “Nylian told me as well. Not a total loss, I guess.”

“It could have gone better,” Nylian muttered.

“And we could be dead right now after attempting to escape Ulmenor,” I pointed out. “But we’re not. We’re in the middle of the woods on our way to Lockeheim to find some poison.”

A slow grin spread across Nylian’s lips, and I swore it felt like a kiss. No one had ever looked at me like that. Or maybe they had, and I never noticed. Either way, Nylian was the first to make me feel truly desired, even cherished, and it was becoming so damn addictive. How was I supposed to return to my normal, boring life when there was this sexy elf who looked at me like I was the only thing that matter in all the world?

“Oh, Master Binx! You can’t eat them all at once. You’re going to make yourself sick.”

Thankfully, there was a gluttonous chipmunk wizard in our camp to keep me from throwing myself at Nylian.

After Adeline and the elf finished preparing the rabbits, it was my job to take over the cooking. Which was largely turning them slowly on the spit to make sure they didn’t get burned in one spot. I might have even stolen a few of the blackberries from the chipmunk and squeezed them on the meat for a little seasoning. I narrowly avoided losing a finger in the endeavor.

As much as I didn’t care for camping or being without even the most basic supplies, it was nice to be out in the woods with my three companions. Adeline was always full of fun stories from her adventures, and Jasper usually had something interesting to chime in with. Nylian added his own twisted commentary, and I soaked it all in as we sat about the campfire.

After dinner was completed and cleaned up, Jasper opened his grimoire and began searching for a way to turn Master Binx back into an elf. I stood, intending to sit next to him so I could read over his shoulder. I’d yet to see what was written in a grimoire, and I was curious as to what kind of spell was needed to reverse Binx’s current curse.

However, I didn’t get more than a single step before Nylian grabbed my arm and jumped to his feet as well.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

I cocked my head to the side, my brow furrowing at his tone. There was no way he was jealous of Jasper. We’d covered this already. “I wanted to take a peek in the spell book. Just help him a bit.”

“Absolutely not.”

“What?” I choked on the word even as Nylian wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me back a step.

“We’ve watched him reduce ogres to squirrels, change scoundrels into ducks, and now his own mentor is a chipmunk. You aren’t allowed anywhere near him when he’s casting spells.”

“That…is an excellent point,” I conceded. “You’re right. Forgive me?”

“Ooooh,” Nylian purred as he added as a second arm to my waist and pulled me in even closer. “I like how that sounds.”

“Forgive me?”

He shook his head with a smirk. “No, the other thing.”

Instead of rolling my eyes at his ridiculousness, I leaned in closer, brushing my lips over his as I whispered in a husky tone, “You’re right.”

“Ha! I knew it! About freaking time!”

Adeline’s shout and laughter nearly jolted me out of Nylian’s arms and into the fire. Good thing the elf had better reflexes. He jerked me close, nuzzled my neck long enough to place a kiss behind my ear, and shot Adeline a glare without missing a beat. Had I mentioned that my elf was smooth? Yes, very smooth.

None of that fazed Adeline. She laughed so hard she fell off the log she was using as a seat and still continued to cackle like a Halloween witch.

“Are you done yet?” I inquired as I leaned into Nylian, enjoying the feel of his muscular body supporting me.

“Never. I will never be done,” she gasped between more crows of laughter. Really, it wasn’t that funny.

After another minute, she pushed herself upright, her face bright red from laughing. “You have no idea. That whole trip to Riverhold, he was mooning over you or trying to get your attention. I thought he was going to hit you over the head with a stick and drag you into the woods if you didn’t catch a clue soon.”

“Utter nonsense,” Nylian grumbled, but I noticed he refused to meet my eyes.

Swallowing my chuckles, I leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I don’t believe her. There’s no way I could have looked away from your handsomeness.”

Adeline dissolved into more cackles, and even Jasper sounded as if he were going to choke to death in his attempt to not laugh at us. Nylian muttered something under his breath that sounded like a swear and released me, intending to move back to his seat.

He didn’t get more than a step when a hawk’s cry cut through the giggles and the crackle of the fire. Binx squealed and darted into the sleeve of Jasper’s robes. All the mirth dissolved from Nylian’s face as he turned toward the sound of the cry and lifted one arm upward. With a flap of great brown wings, a hawk dropped to our camp and lightly landed on Nylian’s forearm. Its black talons circled his wrist but seemed careful not to puncture his skin.

“Whoa,” I exhaled, my heart still racing at the sight of the raptor the size of a medium dog. “How did you do that?”

“I didn’t.” Nylian didn’t take his eyes off the hawk as he answered. The fingers of his free hand plucked at a small cylinder on the hawk’s leg, pulling out a tiny scroll of paper. The second it was free, he lifted his arm, sending the hawk into the air.

“Who’s that from?” Jasper asked.

“How did it even find you?” Adeline chimed in.

“My uncle. The hawk is trained to find me anywhere,” Nylian replied, his eyes skimming the paper before he wadded it up in his fist. He turned his gaze to me, all laughter and teasing long forgotten. He was as serious as I’d seen him since we first met. “We need to go to Blackscar. My uncle has news for me about Orian.”

“Blackscar, that’s in Wolfrest, right? Are you sure we can trust this uncle?”

“Yes. I’ve always been close with him, even though I haven’t been able to see him often. I don’t believe his intent is to harm me but to help me get to the bottom of what happened to Orian.”

I didn’t like this. After so many people had shown that they wanted Nylian dead or wanted to somehow use him, it was a little hard to believe that this uncle wasn’t among them. However, if he really had some news about Orian’s death—particularly about the poison or who’d put the poison on the sword—we would have a better chance at finding the true culprit. It was a chance we had to take.

With a couple of steps, I closed the distance between us and covered the fist still holding the paper with my hand. “Wherever you want to go, I’ll go with you. We’ll find the truth together.”

Nylian dropped his head forward to rest his forehead against mine and released a quiet sigh of relief. “Thank you. I don’t think I would have made it this far without you.”

“Yes, me and my brilliant collection of distractions and fuckups,” I teased. I wasn’t sure what good I was for Nylian. But so long as I wasn’t holding him back, that was all that mattered to me. I just wanted him to find his happiness again.

“While I’m sure his distractions are handy, I think you could also use my sword,” Adeline interjected.

Nylian lifted his head and tilted it to the side so he could look at the woman standing next to the fire. “You’re sure? If Uncle has something useful to tell, I have a feeling we’ll be going to Lockeheim next, and my funds are getting low.”

The grin that spread across her pale-pink lips was positively mercenary. “Funny that. I want something other than money this time.”

I snorted. “What? Land in Wolfrest? A title?”

She shook her head. “Nope. A proper teacher for Jasper. The human wizards have been useless so far, and Galinaes is too dangerous. I’ll help you get to Blackscar and then to where you need to go in Lockeheim, as long as you agree to find Jasper a teacher.”

“Adeline!” Jasper cried out as if he meant to argue, but she held up one hand, halting whatever he was going to say next.

“Done,” Nylian agreed without needing to hear anything else.

We had our next destination that could bring us one step closer to getting the answers Nylian sought, but this one sank like a boulder in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t trust this uncle, even if Nylian did. Until someone proved otherwise, I was sure they were all out to hurt him. If Nylian’s goal was to find his brother’s killer, my goal was to keep him alive.

I mentally crossed my fingers that this was going to be a long, slow trip to Wolfrest and Blackscar. That way, I’d have a chance to learn how to use a sword. Gone were the days of not knowing how I was going to keep him safe. No one was touching my elf.