Page 18 of Red in Tooth and Claw

A sound floated along the air, making my head snap up. My heart pounded a wild beat in my chest. I was in the forest, my bare feet planted into a pile of cold, wet leaves moldering away from winter. I stepped away quickly, stumbling to a harder, beaten path. I shivered. I’d gone to bed in my shirt and drawers.

I’d grown uncomfortable, and taking a risk, I’d slipped out of my breast wrap before bed. I shouldn’t have done it. If anything had happened in the night…but it was getting harder and harder to hide. With access to regular meals, I was starting to fill back out, gaining the weight I’d lost while Pops was dying.

Soon I might not be able to conceal who I was. Should anyone find me now, it wouldn’t matter. My secret would be out, and if I was lucky, I’d be shuffled off to the girls’ bunk.

At best.

At worst? HisBen Dillard didn’t seem the type to find what I was doing as understandable or amusing. No, there would be a reckoning. A chilled breeze came through, flirting with the hem of my shirt, icing me to the bone. I shivered harder this time.

The sound came again, a sort of desperate wail. It was terrifying, the kind of sound that made every hair on your body stand on end. Made your skin prickle and your teeth chatter.

And yet.

There was something so unbearably sad to it. Something desolate. Whatever it was, it called to me, making me step forward, move toward the noise without thinking about it. Before I knew it, I was running, dipping through the woods, moving under branches and skirting bushes. The ground bit into my feet, but I didn’t really feel it.

All that mattered was that sound.

Branches tore at my clothing, scratched my bare legs. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. I just needed to reach that sound. That wail. My heart was breaking and I—

“Faolan.”

I screamed, the sound tearing out of me, my knees shaking. My heart felt like it was going to burst. Hands gripped my shoulders. I smacked them away, clawing at the fingers. Trapped. I was trapped and—

“Faolan!”

This time I came fully awake. I was barefoot, my body quaking from the fear and adrenaline. The forest was gone—I was on a hilltop. Stars glittered coldly above me while the wind whipped through the tall grass. Nothing howled. The voice calling me had disappeared and I felt hollowed out, scraped clean by a dull spoon.

Bereft.

First Pops, then Gertie, and now this. The slow burn of my grief hit a flash point, and I shattered.

I wept, and the hands gripping me pulled me into an embrace. Held me while I cried, sobs racking my entire frame. I couldn’t remember ever crying quite like this. I cried for Pops and Gertie. I cried for the sad, lonely sound that had called me from my bed.

And I cried for me most of all.

I came back to myself in degrees. Warm arms wrapped me tight. I was being rocked, a low, comforting voice singing to me in Rover. The smell of leather, tobacco, and spice, undercut with the faintest tang of sweat and horses, met my nostrils.

It was a comforting smell. And for once, I didn’t push away. I let myself be rocked, crooned, soothed like a baby. A hand cradled my skull, fingers sifting gently through my hair, occasionally stopping to rub my scalp. I’d never felt so cosseted in my life.

I looked up into Tallis’s face.

“Hullo, Little Fox.” He grinned, the scar pulling tight, but worry etched lines around his eyes.

And how quickly he ruined the moment.

I replied in Rover. “You said you wouldn’t call me that anymore.”

He hummed. “Maybe on special occasions, yeah?”

“How is this special?”

Now the grin fully reached his eyes. “Not every day I catch a half-naked stranger roaming about.”

I smiled back, and I realized how relieved I was that it was Tallis who’d found me. How happy—how safe—I felt with him here. Without thinking, I reached for him, my fingers shaking as I touched his jaw. For a second, we stared at each other, and my courage tried to scrabble away, but I wouldn’t let it. At the end of the day, I was a Kelly, and Kellys weren’t cowards. I grabbed my fleeing courage, yanked it back, stood on my toes, and kissed Tallis on the corner of the mouth. I’d been aiming for the center, but it turned out I didn’t have as good a hold on my courage as I’d thought.

His face inched close to mine, his warm breath feathering across my lips in ways that made me feel like I was made of bubbles.

“What was that for, Little Fox?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to say, I don’t rightly know , but I did know, and lying felt like a cheat. “For being here,” I said. “For being you.”

I realized he was swaying with me now, one arm banded at the small of my back. The other hand loosened its grip on the back of my head, sliding down, fingers ghosting along my neck. Tracing my cheek, my jaw. The bubbles had returned and tingled under my skin.

“You’ve had a shock, I think, a big one. This conversation we’re having, it might have to wait.”

“What conversation?” I asked.

“This one,” Tallis said, touching lightly along my ear. “I’d like to have it—mind, when things are calmer. When you’re more yourself.”

My body was warm against his, and I realized he wore only a jacket, trousers, and boots. No shirt. Combined, we nearly had a full outfit—I almost giggled. Except nothing felt the least bit funny.

“I think I’m more myself now than I’ve even been,” I said honestly, “and if we wait till things are calm, I’ll likely be dead.” I ran my fingers over the warm skin where his neck met his shoulder. “I’ve been told rather reliably that trouble follows me around.”

Another brush along my chin. I sucked in a breath. His eyes were dark, intent. Focused as his thumb glided along my lower lip. More bubbles in my belly went straight to my head. My lungs stopped working proper.

“Can’t say I blame it.” He moved closer. “Breathe, Faolan.”

I sucked in a breath, and it was the worst idea—those scents hitting the back of my throat. Leather. Tobacco. Tallis.

He’d stopped swaying. We were both stock still, the only movement the faint sweep of his thumb.

And then he dropped it away from my lip.

A frustrated huff left me. The corner of his mouth hitched up, but he didn’t put his thumb back. Instead, he very carefully, very gently, put his mouth on mine.

The faintest hint of heat. Warm breath on my lips, his face so close, I’d barely have to lean. Another graze of heat. Slower. Longer.

I had the strangest notion that this is how he’d approach a wild horse—endless patience as he got them used to the feel of him, doing all he could to keep them from bolting. I trembled, but not out of fear. I pressed my hand against his chest, right over his heart. Steadying. But I didn’t push away.

He kissed me like there was nowhere else he’d rather be. No rush. Almost coaxing.

Turned out that there was nowhere else I wanted to be, either. I’d never been kissed before. Never much had the opportunity nor the inclination. I fumbled, trying to match his movement. There was a knack to it, and I wasn’t sure I was getting it. Not much skill on my end, but an embarrassing amount of enthusiasm.

He leaned back, his thumb replacing his lips.

I growled.

He met it with a soft laugh. “Easy, Little Fox.” He tipped his forehead against mine. “It’s not a fight. Follow, okay? And we’ll both win.”

I wasn’t sure how to take that, and any response I had died when he nipped my lower lip between his teeth, tugged, then traced lightly along my top lip with the tip of his tongue.

I gasped and then—I thought we’d been kissing before, but maybe I’d been wrong. Because this.

This.

I wasn’t sure what this was.

I just knew all the bubbles inside me burst at once into a sort of shivery heat. I will admit that I melted.

I was not proud of myself, but there you have it.

When Tallis stopped kissing me, I had all of the internal integrity of a cloth doll. He looked decidedly smug. I wanted to be mad, but…he should be smug. He’d earned it.

A lopsided smile lit his face. “Well, Little Fox. Aren’t you full of surprises?”

I stuttered out a breath. “I’m full of a lot of things.”

His fingers brushed the side of my face before he released me. “As delightful as this is, we should probably go.” He glanced up at the sky, watching the stars. “Then again, the grass is soft, we’re alone—”

I shivered again, this time from the cold.

He sighed. “And if you stay here, you’ll probably lose bits to frostbite.” His eyes met mine, and they twinkled. “And I think I like your bits, Little Fox.”

I glowered at him. “A kiss in no way guarantees you any bits.”

He chuckled and I felt it in my toes . “Guarantees are boring. But earnings?” He nuzzled along my chin, stopping right behind my ear and oh . “I’d like to earn your bits, I think.”

I opened my mouth to argue and…I had nothing.

I guess I wanted him to earn my bits, too. I shivered again, and he sighed, letting me go so he could shoulder his way out of his jacket.

“I’m always dressing you. You need to take better care of yourself.” He herded me into his jacket, and I was suddenly swamped in warmth that smelled like him. He quickly did up the buttons.

“I can dress myself.” I frowned. This time when I shivered, it was from fear. “Tallis, I don’t know how I got here.”

He fumbled the last button. “What do you mean?” Then he carefully threaded the stubborn final button through the proper hole. If he was cold, standing there in only his trousers and boots, he didn’t show it.

I snuggled deeper into the jacket. Ostensibly for warmth, I will admit to myself that I was mostly hunting for his scent again. I’d never thought myself a particularly biddable or easy person, but apparently one kiss and I toppled like a wobbly house of cards in a windstorm. “Last I remember, I was in bed, and I put the pillow over my head because Will was snoring something fierce. Then there was a noise—like a wail? A sound. It was so sad, and I was chasing it, and then…” I looked up at him. “Then you were here.”

He put his hands on his hips and frowned at the ground. “You don’t remember leaving?”

I shook my head. Cold swept through me as I looked up at the sky. Along one of the edges, the faintest of graying could be seen. Was I imagining it? I didn’t think I was. Dawn would be here soon, and not only was I not in my bed as I was supposed to be, but I was in my drawers in a Rover coat with nothing to bind my peaches. If I went back now, like this, and someone caught me…“Tallis.” I didn’t know how to finish my statement, but my fear must have shown on my face.

He rubbed a hand over the nape of his neck. “I’m not entirely sure you should return to such a place, but if you leave your Settlement, it should at the very least be with the clothes on your back.” He grabbed my hand, laced his fingers in mine, and pulled me close. A quick kiss this time, a hard pressing of lips. “But I’m giving serious consideration to sneaking into that cursed place, tossing you onto the back of my horse, and making for the camp.”

And I was tempted to take him up on it, which, frankly, was terrifying.

“I’ll get my horse.” He kept my hand but tipped his head back and let out a sharp, short whistle.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” I couldn’t imagine him out here, running around the hills in the middle of the night.

Tallis hummed again, head tilted so he could watch for his horse, his hand warm in mine. “We’ve been very careful about sending out regular patrols since Yakob was attacked.”

Fear crept into me, claws digging in. “You found him close to here, didn’t you?”

Tallis nodded slowly. “Which makes it very interesting to discover you out here. We have a…system. Something that lets us know when someone wanders into our lands. And you, Little Fox, tripped it.” He lifted our joined hands, examining my fingers, his expression thoughtful. “Yes, very interesting indeed.”

He shook off his thoughts, planting a quick kiss on my hand. “I volunteered to come check it out.” He grinned. “I’m very glad I did. My sister was supposed to take tonight, but she was with her betrothed, so…” He shrugged. “I offered to go.”

“Your sister is betrothed?”

Hoofs thudded along the grass as his horse, Neev, cantered toward us, stopping close enough to snuffle his hair. He laughed. “Yes. Somehow she caught the eye of Anna. My uncle is very proud—a healer in the family. Quite a feat. We’ve been holding our breaths, hoping that my sister doesn’t mess it up.”

My eyebrows pinched together. “Why would you think that? Zara’s very beautiful.”

He scoffed. “Handsome, yes, and doesn’t she know it? She’s a handful, my sister. Lots of spirit.” He said it like a compliment. “It’s good, yes? But takes a certain handler. Anna seems capable, but…” He lifted a hand, palm up, and dropped it. “If she can handle it, then a very good match, I think.”

“You think Anna will calm Zara, then?” My voice must have expressed how unsure I was about the question. I didn’t like the idea of anyone tamping down Zara’s spirit.

He hugged his horse’s face to his. “Why would we want that? When you suffocate fire, it goes out. Anna will help build it—guide it—or the match won’t work.” He examined me carefully. “Is that the way of your people, then? Putting the fire out?”

“My people?” I wasn’t sure what my people would do. But the Settlement? “If HisBen Dillard had his way, I think he’d prefer cold ashes.”

Tallis didn’t like my response, but a quick look at the sky stalled any rebuttal.

His horse didn’t have a saddle, only a bridle. I guessed he’d been in a hurry to see what had triggered the alarms. He made a stirrup out of his hands. “Before you chatter at me, my horse is tall, you are not, and time is wasting.”

I sighed, put a hand on his shoulder, and stepped into his hand. He boosted me up easily onto the horse’s back. I tightened my legs and held out a hand. He took it, leaped, and swung up behind me.

Neev’s muscles bunched beneath me as she sprung forward. We tore down the hill, our bodies hunched low, Tallis a hot line at my back. I should have been scared. It was dark. The horse left the hills, tearing through the trees. If we didn’t get back in time, I’d end up in the Box for sure.

But I wasn’t afraid. We were moving so fast we were flying, the night air flowing beside us as we cut through the trees. Tallis behind me, steady and sure. I laughed, feeling better than I had in a long, long time. The sound bounced along the trees, and behind me, more feeling than sound, Tallis laughed with me.

The black of the sky had shifted to mostly gray by the time we made it to the edge of the woods at the Settlement. Soon the roosters would ruckus and people would rise. I tried to see where the guards were, but I couldn’t make out anybody along the palisades.

Tallis hummed again, a warning sound. “I really don’t like leaving you here, Faolan. This is a bad place.”

“I know,” I said. “But I have to go.”

He sighed. Kissed me, stopped, thought better of it, and kissed me again. “If that’s what you want.”

“For now,” I said.

He grasped my waist and lifted, helping me down from his horse’s back. “Soft feet, Little Fox.”

“I just wish I could see the guard.”

He grinned, a quick flash of teeth in the dark. “Don’t worry about that.”

Then he leaned down, grabbed my chin, and kissed me a final time. Before I could respond, he clucked at his horse and she took off, belting along the tree line. Invisible to the guards, but the sound would carry. And their attention would be focused all along Tallis’s path.

So with quiet feet, I ran along through the shadows. Across the grass. Through the hidden door. All the way back to the bunkhouse.

It was only then, my back to the door, my breath sawing in and out of my chest, that I realized that I still had Tallis’s jacket on.

Jesse’s eyes met mine in the dark, and I raised a single finger to my lips. I stood there listening to the stove pop as embers collapsed. I went over and edged the stove door open, feeding it another log. Now if anyone woke up, I had an excuse to be up and about, even if I’d have a hard time explaining the jacket. A few of the more restless youngins shifted in their bunks. Jesse watched me with careful eyes but didn’t say a word. Finally, he rolled over and buried his face into his pillow. I knew better than to think I would get away with it completely—he’d have the story out of me soon enough, and he knew it. Until then, he was going back to sleep.

The jacket was a problem. Unlike Pops’s watch, it wasn’t easy to hide. The soft leather was obviously not Settlement issue, so I couldn’t wear it. My bunk could be searched at any time, so I couldn’t hide it under the mattress or with my things. That left me with precious little in the way of options.

I closed the stove door and resettled blankets onto one of the smaller boys who’d tossed them off during the night and listened for anyone who might decide to peek in on us. I didn’t think I’d been seen, but I couldn’t guarantee I hadn’t, either.

When my heart was no longer thumping along like a jackrabbit going full tilt away from a pack of hounds, I moved as softly as I could over to the gunslinger’s bunk. He was snuffling in his sleep, a quiet snoring sort of noise. His pistols weren’t with him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t armed. Didn’t see how I had much of a choice, however.

I put my hand over his mouth, hoping it wasn’t the last thing I did on this earth.

His eyes flashed open, the blanket rustled, and the next thing I knew there was the cold bite of a blade against my jugular. I fought the urge to swallow. He blinked again, his brows furrowing. His lips moved against my hand, but he didn’t make a sound.

I held a finger to my lips, then removed my other hand from his mouth.

He put away the knife. “I almost slit you from neck to gizzard.” His words were barely a whisper in the quiet cabin.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, shouldering out of Tallis’s jacket. “Can you hide this for me? I’ll explain later.”

I folded up the soft leather jacket, handing the bundle off to the gunslinger. I could trust him to stash it somewhere smart, and they were much less likely to search his things. After all, he was a guest here, and an adult.

As soon as he took it, I climbed into my bunk, nestling under the covers. Miss Moon would be in soon to rouse us. As I curled up, exhausted but my blood singing with triumph at getting away with it, it struck me that I had two more problems. First, I would need to rewrap my chest before Miss Moon called us from our beds. A hassle, but no big deal.

The second problem I wasn’t sure how to fix—now that they were warming up, my feet were beginning to hurt. I’d run who knew how far on bare feet. My feet were tough, but they were used to boots, and they ached dully now. The warmer they got, the worse they were going to hurt.

And I couldn’t think of a single way to explain my injuries, which meant I was going to have to put my socks and boots on and march about the forest after breakfast, dragging Stuckley around behind me.

I was going to be miserable, no two ways about it.