Page 40

Chapter Twenty-One

“I’m feeling well enough to continue on today,” Ty announced the next morning.

“Okay,” she replied, side-eying him with skepticism. There was no denying that he did look significantly better today. His fever was gone, his color was normal, and she’d taken another look at his wound to find it already half-healed.

“I told you, the fever yesterday was normal. Daemons heal substantially faster than mortals and witches. It burned whatever infection was there out of me, and now I’m fine,” he said patiently, as if explaining something rudimentary to a child.

“Alright, if you say so,” Ena said, as she lovingly ate the mushrooms she’d cooked over the fire this morning.

“I still need you to come with me,” he said cautiously, as if it wasn’t obvious. As if something had changed between them.

“I know,” she said. She’d already decided to see this through, knowing it was the only way to redeem herself to her Coven, and to Gaia. Now was not the time to get stubborn about it.

“But I meant what I said. I promise I’ll do my best to keep you safe, and once you help us find the amulet, I’ll let you go.”

Ena paused as she ate, wiping her fingers off on her cloak. “You have a history of making promises you can’t keep, you know,” she said, not unkindly.

Ty looked at her with sincerity. “I know. And for what it’s worth…I’m sorry. For not coming back when I said I would.”

His face was serious, no hint of the joking Ty, or the angry mask Ty liked to wear. She knew he meant it, but it didn’t make the fact that he hadn’t come back any easier. It didn’t erase the past. But still, it meant something to hear him say it.

“I know,” Ena said again, quietly.

After packing up the rest of their stuff, which wasn’t much, and putting out their fire, she let Ty’s impeccable sense of direction lead them as they continued heading west.

“How far do you think we are from Attax? I know we lost some time after the…attack.” She said the last word cautiously. She didn’t like talking about it. She didn’t like remembering it. Every time she did, her heart started beating faster and her palms got sweaty. She wondered when that would stop.

“I’d say we’re about a day out. We should be there by tomorrow afternoon. We’ll meet Steig and Turner at the guesthouse there and then continue on together to the Occidens Coven.”

Ty watched her to gauge her reaction to that, but she just nodded and continued walking.

They moved in amicable silence most of the day. The air between them did seem to be clearer after their confessions and whatever they had shared in the river yesterday.

But Ena knew, despite the feelings they’d had in the past, that wasn’t where they both were at now, or at least, it shouldn’t be.

They might have been friendly with one another, but if anything, they were adversaries.

He was using her. She was attempting to thwart him.

It was a strictly platonic, adversarial relationship.

I’m so obsessed with you. I think you’ve ruined me for anyone else for the rest of my life.

His words from the other night came back to her, and they brought a strange twisting feeling to her chest. Despite his insistence that a part of him hated her, and that he had been foolish for thinking they could be together, she remembered the way he had looked at her in the river yesterday.

And when she’d returned from the woods after he thought she’d left him.

And now the apology… She didn’t quite know what to make of it all, so she did what she did best and shoved all her confusing feelings and thoughts aside so she could focus on the task at hand.

They made good time, even though Ena insisted on stopping and resting more frequently out of concern for Ty’s injury.

They camped once more in the backwoods that night.

Ty was back to insisting that she sleep next to him lest she escape.

Admittedly, she thought his reasoning was pretty flimsy at this point; they both knew she was unlikely to try to escape again.

But she didn’t complain. The weather was starting to turn colder, and she wanted his body heat.

They awoke with the dawn to continue on their way, and by midafternoon, they finally, blessedly, came to a large, busy dirt road.

The road was significant—just as established as the Chasm Road.

It was about twenty feet wide with rutted tracks from all the carts that went up and down it.

Every few minutes, a group of travelers passed by, mostly on horseback, although there were a few people on foot pushing handcarts.

Ena knew from studying old maps that this part of the road was highly populated with villages, so it made sense that some people would travel on foot between them.

They kept to themselves and tried to keep a low profile as they traveled along it for a few miles before they came to a bustling village— Attax. Their timing was blessed by Gaia, because as they approached, rain clouds tumbled overhead, threatening to pummel them with rain any second.

Attax itself was fairly large, about as large as Northumbra, the closest mortal village to her Coven.

It had all manner of stone and wooden houses and buildings, including a stable, a wood mill, a small blacksmith, and even, it looked like, a book binder’s shop.

In the distance, she saw plowed agricultural fields and large animal pens with cows and pigs.

It appeared as if it was a substantial trade hub, catering to travelers coming to and from the coast on a regular basis.

They wandered down the main dirt road through the village until they came to the guesthouse.

It was a large, two-story stone building with wooden shingles, several chimneys, and likely enough space for ten or more guest rooms. It even had a wide porch that wrapped around the entire structure, where Ena saw patrons relaxing in chairs drinking mugs of ale.

She was distracted, taking in all the sights and sounds, when suddenly, the clouds broke and it started to rain. Ena was shocked as Ty grabbed her hand and rushed her under the cover of the porch.

“Thanks,” she said, looking up at him breathlessly.

“I think we’ve both been wet enough lately, don’t you agree?” he asked, flashing her a charming smile before pushing open the door into the guesthouse.

It was a cozy place, with a large, warm fireplace at the back, and a half-dozen sturdy-looking wooden tables dotted across the room with an abundance of chairs scattered around them.

Several different groups of travelers were clustered around the room, some standing by the fire, others sitting and eating. And everyone was drinking and talking.

Ena hadn’t realized how isolated they had been in the backwoods for so long. It felt so nice to be around people again—to hear their vibrant chatter, smell the scents of freshly baked bread. Not to mention, just being in a warm, sheltered environment felt like absolute heaven.

Looking around the room, Ena saw that there was no bar like at most guesthouses.

Instead, there was a large desk near the front door where a brown-haired man in his mid-forties sat writing in a record book.

Ena and Ty approached him as he looked up at them with a genial smile, removing his glasses from where they’d been perched on his nose.

“Great timing, eh?” he said, gesturing to the downpour occurring outside.

“Indeed, my good sir,” Ty replied, smiling charmingly and putting on the same overly polite air he’d donned at Tritam. Ena resisted rolling her eyes at the act. How did people keep falling for this?

The man looked them both over with a slightly judgmental air, clearly noting their bedraggled appearance. “Been traveling a long time, have you?” he asked.

“Yes, my good sir, we come from over the Chasm Mountains, from a village known as Yalta. We have a great forge there where we make all sorts of metallic goods we were hoping to trade. Alas, my wife and I were set upon by bandits on the road, and most of our goods, including our horses and our cart, were stolen from us.”

Ena whipped her head at him. She didn’t know what shocked her more: his use of the word “wife , ” or him bringing up the bandits as a cover story.

He didn’t even flinch or look at her. Clearly, this was a cover story he’d prepared ahead of time, and she guessed it made sense and would make them look less suspicious.

But a little head’s up would’ve been nice, if only to save her from the shock.

“Oh dear!” the man replied. “I do hope you are alright. We’ve heard rumors of a group of outlaws roaming the woods near the Western Road as of late.

Most of them hail from Ternan, a small village just northeast of here that was destroyed by a wildfire not six months ago.

Many of the residents were absorbed by other nearby villages, but there’s often only so much room, you know, and what with winter setting in soon…

Oh dear.” The man tsked and shook his head in sympathy.

Little did he know, that group of outlaws wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Ena wondered how long it would be before word spread of the massacre in the woods. Clearly, no one had found the bodies yet.

“Yes, I’m sure the circumstances were tragic,” Ty replied, placing his hand over his heart in a sympathetic gesture.

“We survived unharmed, thank Gaia, but alas, we only have so many objects left to trade. However, we were hoping to spend the night and secure a horse so we can journey home.” Then Ty looked over Ena appraisingly for a second before adding, “And get a new dress for my wife here.”