Page 21

Moments later, Stiny places a pint and another glass of wine in front of us. “You watch yourself now, Forde. She’s with Ledger, and we don’t need you creating any problems.”

“ Me create problems? I wouldn’t dream of it, Stine.” He grabs his pint and takes a sip, a grin playing out on his face. Stiny grunts and takes the order of a customer at the bar.

I bristle, feeling a bit uneasy, but try to keep the conversation going. “So, are you a tracker?” I ask, taking a generous pull of my wine .

“One of the best trackers in all of Grimwood.”

“Modest,” I respond, smiling.

“There is no point in lying, and if I’m being honest, I’d like to impress you.”

“Consider me impressed, we ran into a pack of Kerolu today. I can’t imagine tracking and encountering those creatures intentionally.”

“Someone must keep them from spreading too far across the lands. We offer population control, and their furs sell for a high price in the markets.”

“I bet, but why you’d ever want to snuggle up in Kerolu fur is beyond me.” I grimace.

Forde laughs. “I like you, Layla. Tell me, how’d you get mixed up in Ledger’s crew?”

I pause, thinking of how much I should divulge. This is someone who knows the lands and the creatures and could be my opportunity to get back to Bellehaven. I frown at the thought, wondering when my desire to return had faded.

Returning to the castle walls and the wretched King holds little appeal to me now. Thinking of returning to the drab castle makes me claustrophobic. Beyond seeing Maddox and my mother again, I can’t think of anything I want less.

The thoughts scare and confuse me. What is my life without Bellehaven, without Maddox, and would the King ever really let me live peacefully outside of his kingdom ?

I pause my thoughts, seeing Forde’s expectant look. “It’s a long, unfortunate story, and I wouldn’t want to bore you.” I wave him off and glance over at Ledger. His eyes are still trained on Forde and me, a quiet simmering rage behind them.

“Ledger seems like a big fan of yours,” I pan, looking away.

“He’s never really liked me since I was involved with his sister.

Even less when she wandered over to Grimwood a year back.

Ledger came to us frantic one night, asking for our help tracking her.

We agreed but ran into a pack of wild boar not long after we set out.

We found her tracks after a few hours, but by the time we came across her, she had already met her unfortunate demise.

All that was left was one of the silly little flower crowns she always insisted on wearing. ”

My stomach twists.

“Ledger went insane; he killed every last one of the Kerolu responsible. I’m sure a part of him still blames me for not doing more, for us not getting there sooner.”

My mouth hangs open; whatever I expected him to say, it certainly wasn’t that. I set my drink down, suddenly sick. “That’s horrible,” I respond as Forde’s hand finds my arm. He grips it softly as if to offer some kind of comfort. It doesn’t feel warm and reassuring; it feels cold, wrong.

I jump as a dagger is slammed into the bar top, the tip securing Forde’s sleeve. My arm is torn out of his grip. I see Archie out of the corner of my eye start to creep towards us with his hand on his own dagger.

“If I hear my name or my family’s name come from your mouth again, I will cut out your tongue.” Ledger’s voice is laced with fury. His face is threateningly close to Forde’s.

Forde doesn’t even flinch as he takes a sip of his pint. “My sincerest apologies, Ledger. The last thing I would want to do is upset you.” His words don’t come out as sincere; the look on his face almost taunting.

I frown, looking back and forth between them. Ledger looks like he is contemplating killing him.

“Ledge, what do you say we call it a night? It’s been a long day.” Archie appears, his hand going to Ledger’s shoulder and putting light pressure there.

Ledger’s eyes don’t leave Forde, his gaze intense and furious. “Ledger,” Archie tries again.

I reach my hands out, lightly touching his forearm. At that, his eyes leave Forde’s to glance down.

He yanks the dagger out of the wood, the sharp side of the knife nicking Forde’s arm. Blood instantly stains the fabric. I notice that, for once, my power doesn’t react.

“You stay away from her,” he threatens as he abruptly turns, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the bar.

When we make it back to the room, he slams the door, making me wince. I stand awkwardly as he takes a few deep, steadying breaths. “Stay away from him, Layla. ”

“Okay, maybe we should go to bed. Archie was right, it’s been a long day.” I can’t bring myself argue with him.

“I’ll sleep on the floor.” Ledger grabs a folded blanket from the foot of the bed and a pillow.

I sit, watching him. Forde’s earlier words swirl in my head, an ache forming for him in my heart.

“Do not look at me like that.” His movements tense as he unfolds a blanket with too much force, snapping it against the floorboards.

“I’m not looking at you like anything,” I reply flatly.

Ledger removes his shirt with one hand, balling it up and throwing it in the corner. He steps out of his trousers and blows out the lanterns.

I lay on my side, staring at the outline of his body as the moon emits a soft glow through the window. Ledger lays down, tossing and turning for a few moments, punching his pillow and huffing back down.

His back is to me, and I can see it moving up and down as he breathes. The bed seems too big and too suffocating all at the same time. I sigh and then make up my mind. Grabbing my pillow, I shuffle over to Ledger. I toss it down next to him and lower myself to the ground.

“Layla,” he growls. “What are you doing?”

“I’d rather be down here with you.”

“Get back up on the bed.”

“No.”

“Layla,” he grits .

“Ledger,” I snap back. “There is no reason for me to be on a comfortable bed while you sleep on the hard floor. If you sleep down here, so do I.”

“You’re infuriating,” he snaps.

I don’t respond, instead turn on my side and watch him. He is on his back now staring up at the ceiling.

“Thank you for helping me heal myself today.” My voice is soft, and I swear I see Ledger stop breathing at my words.

“Do not thank me for that.” His lip curls.

I shift onto my back, mirroring Ledger. “I’m sorry about your sister.”

We stay silent for a long moment, staring at the ceiling.

Just when I think he’s fallen asleep, he speaks.

“Legend says that a Kerolu’s venom, when extracted and mixed with the right herbs, can have healing properties.

” I don’t move, don’t dare breathe too loud in fear that he will stop speaking.

“My father had been sick for a long time, and the healing solutions we had been giving him were getting less and less effective. My sister got the idea one day she was going to get the Kerolu venom. She snuck out one night and rode to Grimwood, hoping to find a pack of Kerolu. I’m not sure what she was thinking or what her plan was, only that she was desperate.

“When I realized she was gone, I rode to Grimwood—and…you’ve heard the rest.” His voice cracks.

“If she would have just waited, knew we had other options.” He pauses.

“Knew you existed. She would still be here.” The raw em otion in Ledger’s voice makes my heart squeeze.

My power thrashes inside of me, wanting to help, wanting to fix, but there is no physical wound to be mended.

“The worst part is that Forde could have brought her a Kerolu claw and given her the venom so she could have put that thought to rest. I’m sure it wouldn’t have worked, but it could have at least purged the thought from her mind.

She told me she’d asked him for it, and he’d laughed at her, told her it was the ramblings of a crazy woman. ”

I reach my hand out tentatively brushing his knuckles with my fingertips not knowing what to say.

The silence lingers before I speak. “Is that what you need my powers for? Your father?” When he doesn’t answer, I continue, “I can’t bring your sister back, but I’ll do whatever is in my power to help.

I know what it’s like to lose the people you care about.

” Ledger hand turns and his thumb brushes mine.

We lay like that for quite some time, close but hardly touching.

“Have you ever worked on someone with the nullifying ability?” Ledger’s question is so soft I hardly hear it.

“You mean someone that can nullify powers?” He stiffens almost imperceptibly at my question, but nods.

“Not to my knowledge. I can’t imagine my powers would work on someone with such an ability.

” I frown, and Ledger falls silent. When I look over at him, his brow is drawn, and his face is laced with an emotion I can’t quite place. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. ”

“I wasn’t able to save my father.” I offer up a small piece of myself after he falls silent again.

“Sandor confronted him at our home and when he spat at his feet the King speared him right through the chest with a sword. My mother woke me in a panic and carried me outside. My ability was starting to emerge, but I was so young and unpracticed.” I reach for the power inside of me as a small comfort, and it warms in response.

“She begged for me to heal him, pleaded, and wailed as I tried desperately to conjure my power. I was so scared, so horrified, I couldn’t even manage a small spark of energy.

His warm blood soaked into the soles of my bare feet and then stayed crusted there for days after, until they allowed me to bathe. ”

The scene flashes in my mind, fresh and as terrifying as the day it happened.

“Your blood, Layla, it is in your very blood.” That sentence was the last thing my father had ever said to me.

The words made as much sense to me now as they did the night he’d perished.

I shake the echoing words from my head and continue, “His eyes had barely closed when the guards seized me, leaving my mother wailing in the streets holding his lifeless body.”

I don’t need to turn back to Ledger to feel his eyes on me. “I was wrong about you. You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for.” As he says the words his fingertips stroke mine. The small act somehow more intimate than I could have imagined .

He doesn’t offer cheap words, instead a deep understanding. I lay next to this man, my captor, feeling strangely safe and, for the first time in a long time, seen.

I rouse, being set in a soft bed, my bones aching from the hard ground. Warm arms release me, and I protest.

“Stay.” The word is a foreign request on my tongue.

I swear I feel the ghost of a touch slide against my cheek.

And though my request goes unanswered his words drift into my ears, distant and hazy under the cloud of sleep taking over. “You’re going to ruin me.”