Page 13 of To Hunt a Ruby Remedy

Scarlette stayed away until noon. Filling her basket wouldn’t have taken that long, so she must have decided that her presence in the cottage would do more harm than good. I wouldn’t tell her that her absence had been nearly as distracting as her presence the morning before. I didn’t want her to worry about the charm.

She didn’t need to worry. I wasn’t about to let anything stop me from making the most powerful healing charm I could, not even myself. I was mentally and magically exhausted by the time Scarlette returned, having channeled the node’s power in greater quantities than I had ever before dared. When I was done, this charm would have enough magic to keep the growth of her mother’s tumor in check for decades.

Scarlette entered the cottage from the garden door and set her basket on the kitchen counter. I rose, slipping the charm into the drawer of the small table by the chair, and stretched. My stomach growled loud enough to be heard across the cottage.

Scarlette smiled at me, then glanced at the fireplace and the expression slid right off her face. “Oh, no. I forgot to put the soup on before I left to pick berries.”

“It’s fine.”

She didn’t hear me. “I’ll get something started. I’m so sorry. You must be hungry and it won’t be ready—”

“Scarlette.” When I said her name, she froze. “It’s fine. We have half a loaf of bread and hard-boiled eggs and cheese in the chill box. You don’t need to make soup.”

She was practically quivering, the need to be helpful a physical force pushing at her.

Giving her something to do would work better than insisting she didn’t need to do anything. “Why don’t you pick some lettuce and a few vegetables? We can throw together a salad.”

She leapt out the door and into the garden. I sighed and gathered the rest of the food. Then I mixed together a bit of oil and vinegar in a large bowl. When Scarlette returned with her skirt full of vegetables, I almost laughed. “How much salad do you think we can eat?”

She glared at me, and I did laugh.

“Most of this is for supper. I want to get it over the fire as soon as possible.”

I took the lettuce from her, rinsed it and shredded it over the bowl. “After we eat. Let’s focus on one meal at a time.”

She chopped a carrot and a few radishes and tossed them on top of the lettuce. I mixed everything together and brought it to the table. Scarlette gave the remaining vegetables one last lingering look, then joined me.

“I’m going to check Grandmother’s traps this afternoon,” I told Scarlette as we ate. “I need a break from magic before I work more on your charm. It’s coming along well. Are there any wild ingredients I should look for while I’m out?”

“Mushrooms would be nice.”

“I think I can manage that.”

A loud banging on the door made us both jump. It wasn’t a knock, but a demand. Instinctively, I glanced at the summons stones hanging from a leather thong around my neck. Neither glowed. Whatever the emergency, the villagers didn’t need healing, or one of the stones would have glowed, telling me which village needed help.

Scarlette was on her way to the door. I raced ahead of her and grabbed the doorknob. I swung the door open. “What?”

The open door revealed a man who didn’t bother to hide his impatience, as though I was the one inconveniencing him. Perhaps a few years older than me, he wore his brown hair tied back at the nape of his neck, his face clean-shaven, and his sense of superiority in the jut of his chin.

It was too much to expect a second surprise visitor to be anything like Scarlette. At least I wouldn’t feel guilty sending this one on his way. I noticed the chain mail hauberk, sword, hunting knife, and crossbow he wore and revised my opinion. The dragon-hunter. Not only would I not feel guilty, I’d take great pleasure being as rude to him as possible.

“I heard there is a guest room available at this cottage. I need to rent it for the next few nights.”

“You heard wrong.” I swung the door closed, but he put out his arm, stopping it halfway.

“I can pay well.”

“Good for you. I’m sure the innkeeper at Wulfkin appreciates your coin. Now leave.”

At my side, blocked from the hunter’s view by the door, Scarlette frowned. Ward shield me, I knew exactly what she was thinking. She thought I was refusing a paying guest because she was using the room. I glared at her, willing her not to step into view and offer her bed to the huntsman. It didn’t matter that there were still empty beds in the cottage. I didn’t want the hunter here.

The hunter pushed against the door, but I held it steady, not letting it swing so much as an inch wider.

“Let me talk to the old woman. I’m sure I can make her see reason.”

“Are you threatening my grandmother?” I wished I was in dragon form for a moment, wanting to tower over this bastard and let out a belch of smoke in his face. I couldn’t breathe fire, like the true dragons, but I did exhale smoke when agitated in dragon form.

Maybe avoiding the man was the wrong strategy. Ward only knew how long he’d remain in the forest, hunting. If I let him see me, on the other hand, perhaps I could get rid of him for good.

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