Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

V al kept a good grip on Daisy as she hustled her dog through the main room of the chicken cottage. Daisy lunged and barked, trying to reach the cats.

“Don’t you want to stay for breakfast?” The old woman held up her tea kettle.

“No, no, we’re good. Don’t want Daisy to turn one of your cats into breakfast.” Val didn’t even try to smile as she dragged the dog past the table and curio cabinet.

The crone made a noise in the back of her throat, her face whitening.

Harm paused to shove the blue-and-white teacup at the old woman.

After taking the teacup, she patted his cheek. “The two of you make such a cute couple, dearie. I don’t mind missing out on a pie.”

Harm coughed, glancing at Val as if he wasn’t sure what to do.

“Yes, yes, now we really must be going.” Val fumbled for the door’s latch, but as soon as she released Daisy with one hand, the dog nearly ripped out of her grip. Val quickly returned to clutching the dog with both hands.

Harm hurried past her and opened the door.

Val dragged Daisy out the door, across the porch, and down the steps to the ground. Harm all but threw himself out the door. He skipped the steps entirely and jumped straight to the ground.

The old crone stood in the doorway and waved to them, three of her black cats twining around her feet. “Listen to an old wise woman, dearie. Don’t let a man like that slip through your fingers. Nice ones come around only once in a pink moon.”

Now it was Val’s turn to cough. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

One of the cats slinked a little too close to the edge of the porch. Daisy lunged with such force that she pulled Val right off her feet.

Harm dove and got a grip on Daisy as well before the dog made it up the steps to reach the cat.

The crone’s mouth puckered as her cat clawed its way up the side of her dress to perch on her shoulder. “One last piece of advice, dearie. Perhaps consider getting a cat. They are far less trouble.”

With that, the old woman retreated into her house, her cats following with their tails up in the air. As soon as the last one was inside, she slammed the door, and the chicken cottage lurched into motion. It trundled with the same gait as a chicken as it pounded down the gravel road .

Harm gave a shudder as he brushed black cat hair from his breeches. “I know it was my idea last night, but can we avoid staying with crones from now on?”

“Agreed.” Suppressing a shudder of her own, Val released Daisy. The dog gave a few last parting barks at the rapidly disappearing house before she set to work sniffing at their surroundings.

Val stood to better assess their location. The fields around the road appeared virtually unchanged from the night before, except that one of the fields contained wheat instead of corn.

A distant smudge of white blurred in the distance to their right while, directly in front of them, a line of trees cut across the horizon from one end to the other.

Val pointed in that direction. “Looks like the house took us straight north during the night rather than veering at an angle across the Harvest Court as we’d planned.”

“Is that good or bad?” Harm spun on his heel on the road, the gravel crunching, as he, too, took in the scenery.

“Good, mostly.” Val set off down the road, as it went in the same direction they needed to go. “It saved us two days of walking in the Harvest Court, but we’ll need to take a day cutting through the Goblin Court instead of going straight into the Court of Stone. The Goblin Court is safer than the Harvest Court, so it isn’t a great loss to change our route.”

Val hadn’t planned to go this way since it would have added an extra day of walking. But since the chicken house had done the walking for them while they slept, she could tolerate this change of plans.

“I’ll take safer.” Harm strode at her side along the road, his arms swinging easily. He absently reached out and brushed his hand over the pink tops of the wheat growing alongside the road.

“No! Don’t!” Val grabbed him and hauled him away from the wheat field, the force of her movement making her stumble closer to the field herself.

Something clutched her leg. Before she could shake it off, more things swarmed up her legs, and she was yanked off her feet.

Her back hit the ground, knocking the breath from her body, even as she was zipped into the wheat field by the many, many hands gripping her. Wheat lashed her face, the stalks scraping against the back of her neck.

The glittering cord tied to her wrist snapped tight, jerking her arm nearly out of its socket. Harm gave a yell from somewhere behind her before there came an oomph .

Something brown flashed by her, then there was a shriek and a growl from somewhere ahead. A few of the hands left her legs, but not enough to even slow the breakneck pace.

Val lifted her head and tried to squint into the wheat whipping her face. Little golden things had a hold of her legs as they raced through the wheat field. They seemed to be somewhat humanoid but also stalky with golden skin and rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth that were too big for their mouths.

Grain sprites .

Val tried to sit up enough to bat at them, but she couldn’t move between the force of their dragging and the cord just about yanking her left arm off.

“Val!” Harm shouted from somewhere behind her, but Val couldn’t crane her head around enough to see him. “Lean left!”

Gritting her teeth, she tried to roll in that direction. She shoved with her elbow, which only succeeded in digging a furrow into the dirt. She tried to lift one of her legs, but there were too many grain sprites clinging to her.

Something tall and leafy rushed toward them.

“Brace yourself!” Harm yelled as the tree flashed past to Val’s left.

Val jerked to a stop by her wrist with such force that something popped in her shoulder. She cried out at the flash of pain, even as she twisted around to catch a glimpse of Harm. He had flung himself around the tree, and he currently gripped the cord in both hands, his feet braced on the tree trunk.

The grain sprites chittered. Then their teeth flashed as they swarmed over her, biting at her legs and working their way up her body as they chomped. Val’s leather clothes protected her for the moment, but if the sprites got to her exposed skin, they’d take the flesh right off her bones.

With her free hand, Val reached into her pocket and fumbled to draw a sword, a spear, a halberd. Anything long and pointy with enough reach to beat off the sprites.

“Grab your fire thingy!” Harm’s words ended with a yell of pain, followed by a shout that didn’t seem to be directed at her. “Get back, you blighters!”

“The bottled dragon flame?” Val caught a glimpse of a few of the sprites swarming Harm.

“Yes!” Despite the sprites chomping at him, Harm didn’t let go of the rope to beat them off.

Right. Val fumbled through her pocket, willing the item to come to her hand.

Something smooth pressed into her palm, and she yanked it out of her pocket. She held a small, stone jar with a hinged lid. Even with the lid closed, it felt cozily warm in her hand.

With her thumb, Val popped the lid open. A tongue of blue flame licked out the top. Val brandished the stone jar at the nearest grain sprite. “Back! Get back! Or I’ll set this whole field on fire!”

The grain sprites skittered backward, though the ones by her feet didn’t let her go.

“I mean it! This is dragon fire! If I set this field on fire, it will go up in seconds, and there will be nothing you can do about it!” Val held the stone jar only inches from the nearest unbroken stalk of wheat.

Chittering in their strange language, the grain sprites backed away even more.

Harm released the cord, rolled to his feet, and drew his sword. Batting a few of the sprites aside with his sword, he rounded the tree to stand over Val as he pointed the sword at the sprites.

Val rolled upright. Her left arm hung uselessly at her side while she still gripped the bottled dragon flame in the other. She gathered her legs beneath her, then rose to her feet without using either hand. She nodded her head at the line of trees along the nearest edge of the wheat field. “Head for the border.”

Before either of them could take a step, Daisy crashed through the wheat and bowled into the nearest grain sprite. All three of her heads were out as she barked and growled.

With shrieks, the grain sprites scattered into the field. Daisy raced after them, disappearing among the wheat, though the crashes, screeches, and barking rang over the whole field.

Harm glanced over his shoulder at Val, his sword still in his hand. “Do we make a run for it?”

“Yes.” Val flicked the lid closed on the jar, then stuffed it into her pocket. Holding her dislocated left arm, she broke into an awkward run.

Harm kept pace with her as the two of them crashed across the field, heedless of the wheat stalks they broke and trampled. With one last leap over the creek dividing the two courts, Val stumbled from the wheat field into the fall forest of the Goblin Court.

Harm staggered to a halt next to her, gulping in a deep breath. He held up his sword. “Are we safe now?”

“Safe enough.” Val stepped to the edge and whistled. She had to whistle several times before something crashed through the wheat and Daisy popped out. She plunged through the creek, heedless of whatever creature might lurk within the water, and clambered out on the other side, promptly shaking water all over the two of them.

Harm jumped out of the spray and sheathed his sword. Then he gestured to Val. “Do you need…uh…your arm…”

“I’m fine.” Val clenched her teeth, rotated her arm, and braced herself. With a firm motion, she snapped her joint back into place. “We should keep moving.”

Harm gaped at her for a moment before he nodded and fell into step with her.

Val set out in the direction of the white-capped mountains in the distance. As she walked, she dug into her pocket, pulled out a vial of healing potion, and uncapped it. She tossed it back, swigging it down in a single gulp.

This trip sure was getting expensive.

Worse, Val couldn’t get the image of Harm standing over her, his sword drawn, his stance protective, out of her head. When it had counted, he’d had her back.

Though it wasn’t like he’d had much of a choice, given the magic rope tying them together. And he had been the one to bring the grain sprites down on them by touching the wheat.

Val cleared her throat and flicked a glance at Harm, trying to force the words out. He had a few scratches on his face and hands, adding to the rugged look he’d gained thanks to his growing beard and leather jerkin.

Harm caught her gaze, his thick blond eyebrows raising. “What?”

She cleared her throat again. The words were somewhat strangled, but at least she got them out. “Thanks. For back there. With the grain sprites.”

Harm shrugged, his broad shoulders pulling the blue shirt tight across his muscles. “I did get us in trouble in the first place. The least I could do was try to get us out of it for once.”

“Still, I appreciate it.” She couldn’t quite describe the shift. Perhaps it was the crone’s parting words still ringing in Val’s ears. Maybe all the time she’d spent with Harm was going to her head. Or it could be seeing him with that more competent, confident air just did stuff to her heart.

“What would have happened if we hadn’t gotten away?” Harm shot a glance over his shoulder at the wheat field behind them.

“The grain sprites would have chewed the flesh right off our bones until we were picked clean.” Val grimaced and swiped at the drop of blood trickling from one of the scrapes on the back of her hand. Grain sprites were particularly nasty creatures.

Harm swallowed, going even more pale as he held up his arm with the cord. Bruises showed around his wrist. “Even with this?”

“Yes. They could have eaten us. Our skeletons just would have been tied together for all time.” Val didn’t want to think about it too much.

“I’m really growing tired of this realm.” Harm patted his sword’s hilt. “Far too many things want to eat me.”

Val rubbed her aching shoulder. She was from the Realm of Monsters, and right now, even she agreed.

Harm gripped the knife Val had lent him as he faced her in the light of their campfire. To one side, Daisy snoozed after her grain sprite fighting earlier that day, her stomach full of the leftovers of their supper.

Darkness had long ago fallen over the fall-decked branches of the trees of the Goblin Court. During their walk that day, they passed small clusters of homes tucked into the rocks and trees. Little stone houses with wafts of smoke drifting from the chimneys. Mushroom cottages with red and white tops. Dens formed of caves with little fox-faced people peeking out as they passed.

Despite all the time Harm had spent in the Fae Realm, he hadn’t been able to help his gaping. Everything was just so quaint and not terrifying that he almost couldn’t believe it. There was just something about the villages framed in autumn colors that reminded him of home.

A crisp breeze rustled the leaves overhead, and Harm had to resist a shiver. “Are you sure your arm is healed enough for this?”

Val rolled her eyes, her stance as easy and lithe as ever. “Yes. Now stop stalling.”

“I’m not stalling. I just…” Harm trailed off, not sure how much concern he should express.

“I’m fine. Even with a healing arm, I can still take you.” Val darted forward, slashing with her knife.

Harm stayed light on his feet, but he kept his ground. Val was faster than him. Far better than him. But he had a few inches of height and overall mass on her, and she’d taught him how to use that. He shoved her hand aside, then stabbed with his own knife.

She grabbed his wrist, yanking him to force him off-balance as she aimed her knife for his throat .

He leaned to the side to avoid the knife, bringing up his forearm to stop her arm. He turned his other hand, breaking her hold and getting a grip on her wrist instead. He tried to get a leg behind hers to send her to the ground.

Instead, he lost his own footing. Val didn’t waste a moment. She shoved against him, and the next thing he knew, he was falling backward.

He tightened his grip on her arm, wrapping his other arm behind her back even as he fell. Her eyes widened as she lost her balance, and both of them tumbled to the ground just outside of the ring of firelight.

Harm landed first, his back cushioned by the layers of fallen leaves. But then Val landed on top of him, all solid bones and muscles and weapons, knocking the breath out of him and bruising far more than the ground.

Val pressed the flat of her blade against his throat. “You’re dead.”

Harm tightened his arm around her, the tip of his knife resting against her back over her heart. “But I took you down with me.”

Val huffed, her breath warm against Harm’s face. “Mutual death isn’t going to get you back home to your family.”

Harm tried to think of a comeback to that. But he couldn’t concentrate with Val’s face only inches from his, her dark brown eyes meeting his. Her hand—the one not holding her knife—rested on his chest with only the thin layer of his shirt between their skin. His grip on her wrist had loosened, and he had the strange urge to rub his thumb over the soft skin of the back of her hand.

Could she feel the way his heart thumped harder and his breath caught in the back of his throat?

With a tromping of paws on the ground, Daisy bowled into the two of them, clambering and wiggling and licking, as if utterly overjoyed that they were down at her level. Her spare heads made an appearance, all the better to lick both of them at the same time.

Harm sputtered and dropped the knife to better fend off the dog. He tried to extricate himself, but everything was a tangle of limbs, flailing dog, and the cord wrapped around them.

Val shoved off him, rising to her feet and out of Daisy’s reach. She swiped one arm across her dog-slobbered cheek before she sheathed her dagger. Her gaze landed on the knife beside him. “You dropped my knife. Again.”

“Sorry—trying—Daisy—” Harm sputtered as he tried to push all three heads away from his face.

“That’s no excuse.” For a moment, Val remained stern as she glared down at him. Then the smile broke through as she held out a hand to him.

He took it and leveraged himself to his feet and away from Daisy’s wet tongues.

Still riled up, Daisy burst into zooming circles, running crazily around the hollow where they’d camped.

For a moment, he and Val stood there, his hand still gripping hers .

Then she tugged her hand free and turned away. “We should get some sleep. We have another long day of walking tomorrow.”

Harm swallowed. He needed to get a hold of himself. This spark between him and Val needed to be squashed.

He cleared his throat. “Right. Good. Yes.”

He was supposed to be hurrying back to his family as quickly as possible. So why did a part of him want to keep lingering here with her?