Page 11 of The Midnight Death Match

“Not me,” Brynja mutters.

Runa shakes her head quickly. “They wouldn’t believe me. When it happened before, everyone said it’s just stories in my head, but it feels real. Like it’s going to happen.”

I glance at Brynja, who’s watching from the corner, arms crossed.

“She’s always been imaginative.” Brynja says tightly. “You know that.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

Brynja nods. “Something’s wrong. I spotted a mysterious man two nights ago. He was too tall for anyone local, and he was watching the house.”

My stomach turns. “Did he come back?”

“Not yet.”

Runa grip my arm. “Do you think he’s fae?”

“I think he’s trouble.” I look between them. “And I think I need to make sure you’re protected.”

I reach into my cloak and press a charm into Runa’s palm. It’s old, carved from pale wood. “Keep this under your pillow. If you see him again, or if anything changes, you run.”

Harek calls my name again.

I ignore him. “There’s something important I need to tell you before I leave. Something you’ll have a hard time believing, but you need to trust me. It could cost you everything, and I can’t risk that.”

Brynja’s face pales. “There’s more?”

“Unfortunately.” I draw in a deep breath. “You’re all halflings. Mother was part of a werewolf pack before moving here. You can’t ever kill anyone, ever. Do you understand me? That will trigger the curse, and you’ll start shifting.”

A crash sounds outside.

“I have to leave.”

Harek appears in the doorway, his eyes wild

Runa clings to me. “Stay!”

Brynja steps forward then, the edge in her posture softening. “You don’t have to protect us forever, you know.”

“You’re still my family,” I say. “That doesn’t change.”

Then I run.

Chapter

Six

Harekand I don’t stop running until the trees thicken around us. My heart pounds in my throat, and I don’t realize how tightly I’ve been holding his arm until we collapse behind some trees and I let go. He scans the tree line behind us, hand on his blade, every muscle coiled.

“They’re safe.” I say it mostly to convince myself.

He doesn’t answer. Just exhales hard and turns away, pacing like he’s trying to shake off the urge to go back and burn down the whole village. “We need to leave and never come back. It’s too dangerous for everyone involved. The townsfolk are against fae, and even my parents fled. My house is abandoned.”

I reach for his arm. “I was hoping you hadn’t noticed that.”

He doesn’t look at me. “How could I not?”

“We can stay with Einar for as long as we need to.”