Page 7

7

NEO

T he egg had vanished, and so had Zula.

The trolls set Neo free with the bad news that this time, the egg had been stolen. He’d promised to catch her and return their treasure, but now he stood in the clearing at a loss. Which direction had she fled?

This was the closest he’d ever been to capturing her, and he’d botched it. He wanted to find her, and heavens , he also wanted to apologize—not for being the sheriff and doing his job, but for the crestfallen look on her face when she picked up his badge. Of course, he’d meant to trick her, to treat her the way she treated those she stole from. But it didn’t feel good at all .

He plunged headlong into the jungle, headed back toward the road, wishing he’d done a better job of plotting out the area. That was why he was supposed to return to camp after he caught sight of her, but instead of working with his men, he’d run off by himself to play the hero. His mistake would cost him the bounty, and she’d get away. Why, oh why, hadn’t he stuck to the plan?

Neo ran a bit, branches slapping him in the face, nettles stinging his legs and poking under his trousers. Nightfall didn’t ease the humid heat and, exhausted at last, he paused by the river to splash water on his face and search for tracks. As he cupped cool water between his palms, he reminded himself that Zula was wounded and wouldn’t be able to get far on a bum leg. Not without a ride.

A flash of silver caught his eye. Neo lifted his head. There, across the bank, sat a raccoon, washing a silver spoon. “Bah, you little thief,” he grumbled.

He’d bet his left shoe it was the same raccoon who’d stolen an orange from him. Its little black nose twitched, and then it scampered off into the forest, leaving Neo scowling behind it.

A silver spoon .

Trolls didn’t use silver, so unless the raccoon had lugged the stolen silver from the village, someone else might live nearby. Which meant there might be a horse he could borrow to catch up with Zula. Once he found her trail, that is.

Splashing water across his face, he leaped to his feet and waded across the river, in the same direction the raccoon had gone.

It didn’t take long for him to find a footpath. He followed it up a swell of land, out of the jungle, into an open meadow. Pale lights hovered in the distance and Neo smiled in relief when he saw the field of chameleon beans, the shadows of the vines stretching long into the darkness. It was midsummer and the bean vines were already above his waist, but what encouraged him more was the fact that he knew whose farmland he stood on. Staying on the outskirts of the field, he ran toward the lights, sending the jungle hares scampering into the forest.

The farm belonged to a lord responsible for breeding horses who could handle the wild, unexplored sections of the jungle. He’d borrow the horse first and explain his actions later.

The barn appeared and Neo eased the sliding door open to the sound of hooves. Not what he expected. Before he had a moment to regain his composure, he caught a flurry of color, a muted curse, and then Zula herself charged out of the barn on horseback.

Glee seized Neo. He dashed into the barn, tossed open the first stable door, and eased the horse out. There was no time for a saddle or reins. He swung onto its back and eased it forward, grateful for his mandatory riding lessons that had taught him how to ride so effortlessly, bareback or saddled.

A shout rang out behind him as he galloped out of the barn and he glanced back, catching sight of lights, the red face of an angry man, and in the distance . . . were those more horses? Fear leaped into his throat, but he turned his attention back to Zula, who was headed toward the flat outcropping of a road that led away from troll territory and back to the kingdom.

Neo leaned low over the horse, urging it on as a thunder of hooves swelled behind him. His actions had become reckless in his desperation to catch Zula. Before he’d become the sheriff, he’d been warned against going off on his own and conducting wild chases that caused chaos and damage across the land.

Instead of stopping to regroup and think through a new strategy, he continued the chaos that Zula left in her wake. When this was over, there would be hell to pay. First, though, he intended to catch her.