Page 9 of I Ran Away to Evil #3

She Had Very Cute Freckles

Julian

Julian followed the troll to the courtyard below his window.

At first, he’d lost her in the town square. She’d disappeared so suddenly that it’d startled him into searching for her … but no matter where he’d looked, he couldn’t find the troll.

She’d well and truly vanished.

He didn’t know why he’d cared; he shouldn’t have cared. But she had left his hair on end and his senses reeling. It wasn’t bloodlust or killing intent. She didn’t feel like an assassin … though she could very well be one.

After a cursory look around the market, he’d forced himself to stop. The festival had suddenly lost its appeal, and he’d turned homeward, disappointed.

That was when he’d spotted the lone green figure walking out of the palace guardhouse. And despite everything he’d just told himself …

Julian had followed her.

He’d taken up watch on the palace wall as she’d made her way to just below his window—all right, six floors neath his window—and crouched to pick up something beside the bench.

It was a locket.

His locket.

His hands reached up to press against the absent weight on his chest as he activated [Light Foot] and hurried toward the troll. He was midair when she summoned a tiny, unassuming hammer.

And hit his locket .

Anger boiled in his heart as a piece of the latch broke off, panic lacing his voice as he landed behind her and shouted, “Stop!”

But it was too late; the troll hit his pendant a second time.

“ What do you think you’re doing? ” There was a dark pit in his chest as he desperately lashed out, grabbing her wrist. Wordlessly, the troll stored her hammer and offered him the pendant in her free hand.

It shone like new.

Even the years of wear and tear were gone, and there was a newfound luster to the gold casing and loop. He hesitantly released her wrist.

“Take it,” she said, dropping the pendant into Julian’s hand and taking a step back.

“How …”

“Good night,” she stated firmly. And as if that was the end of the conversation, she turned on her heel to leave. Julian couldn’t let her escape; he followed after her.

“How did you know it was here?”

She ignored him and headed for the nearby palace steps.

“ How did you know it was here? ” he repeated, moving ahead to block her path halfway up the stairs.

She stopped, but didn’t look him in the eye. Drawing in a deep breath, she pointed at the pendant in Julian’s hand and asked, “What’s in the locket?”

He wasn’t expecting her to ignore his question for one of her own. “I’ll answer yours if you’ll answer mine?”

She finally looked up.

Honey brown eyes met his, and it was no surprise they were the first thing he’d noticed across a crowd of people. They were just as striking and unnerving as he remembered, and he almost flinched under their intense scrutiny. His gaze fell to the freckles that bridged her green nose.

She had very cute freckles.

“I found it and was going to fix it and hand it over to the servants,” she said slowly.

“You just found it,” Julian stated. For some reason, he didn’t believe a word.

“Yes.”

“In an out-of-the-way corner of the castle, hidden in the grass.”

“I saw it on my way inside.” She pointed up at the spiraling coral tower above them. “I’m staying in the west wing.”

The door at the top of the stairs opened into the corridor that connected the main building to the west wing. Each of the towers of the Coral Palace was connected to each other by a corridor on the ground floor and by ornate sky bridges high overhead.

He frowned. Julian didn’t believe in coincidence; Lady Luck was not his patron.

“My family,” he answered.

She looked confused, her brows arching slightly. “What?”

Julian pressed the latch, and the locket opened, revealing the portrait of his family on one side. “It’s a picture of my family.”

The troll stared, but she wasn’t looking at the portrait. Her eyes caught the gleam of the tiny crystal shard locked behind a panel of glass. “Ah, that makes sense,” she mumbled, and then looked at the portrait. She smiled. “You were so young.”

This entire conversation was strange. Julian snapped the pendant shut. The troll—No, he should stop calling her that. “What is your name?”

“Gerda Jones, Your Grace, but you can call me Gerda.” She crossed her arms.

The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“Gerda.” He said it softly, trying to remember where he’d heard it before—From his “Elites of the Dark Forest” papers. There’d been a recent addition. “The Bridge Troll?”

She shot him a smile, flashing white teeth. The lower canines were the only teeth longer than the rest, impressively so. “The very same. Now, it’s late, and we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, so … if you’ll excuse me?”

He hesitated, but he knew; wanting to talk to her wasn’t reason enough to trap her here any longer.

Julian stepped aside, and Gerda marched up the rest of the stairs with purpose. The pendant weighed heavy in his hand, and he rubbed a thumb over its smooth casing. She’d reached the door when he added, “Good night, Miss Gerda … And thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied, not looking back. Then she was gone.

Julian stood on the stairs for a long time.

He felt like he’d made a mistake somehow, but he didn’t know what, replaying their conversation over and over in his head.

Eventually, he unlatched his necklace and slid it through the repaired golden ring.

He had no idea how it’d broken. If he hadn’t watched Gerda pick it up, he would’ve thought the only way it could’ve left his person was if it’d been stolen by some master thief.

The item was epic grade. It didn’t just break .

Perhaps it was Luck.

But why?

He put it on and headed into bed, the troll still on his mind.