Page 51 of Secrets and Ruin

“Or perhaps not easy prey,” the man said, now intrigued.

“Definitely not,” Landon growled. The man chuckled as if Landon was a small child, and he felt like indulging said child, but the woman continued to stare at me, ignoring their exchange. Her surprise shifted to confusion and perhaps anger.

“Where have I seen those eyes before?” she asked so softly, I could have sworn she wasn’t really asking me. Then she snapped out of whatever she had been thinking about and turned to the man, her horse moving instinctively beneath her. There was no sign of a bridle or reins, and she was sitting bareback.

“Let’s enjoy our long night,” she said, the horse jumping into movement. Her husband followed, both disappearing as they hit the tree line.

“And here I thought things couldn’t get worse… or stranger,” Landon muttered.

“They ride with the Hunt,” I said, needing to say it out loud, hoping I wasn’t insane, hoping Landon also realized that.

“They sure fucking do, and we’re in their neck of the woods. At least we learned something. Dirk and Niko are still alive.”

“Yeah, let’s—”

A howl filled the night, and we both started to run toward it, following in the footsteps of the spectral riders. By the time we reached the trees, it cut off abruptly.

21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Fighting through the underbrush and scaring every bird in the trees, Landon and I ran toward the howl.

“That was Dirk,” Landon said as we moved, keeping in step with each other, him just ahead of me, close enough to reach out and grab. I had no idea if he was doing it intentionally because I was running as fast as my legs could take me through the thick forest.

“Are you sure?” I asked, hoping we hadn’t both been tricked by the fae. I wasn’t going to take any chances, though. A wolf howled. It was either Fenris or Dirk, and I was perfectly fine with finding either of them for very different reasons.

“I will never mistake another wolf for him,” he huffed out as we ran, each word accented by a footfall or a breath.

“Do you know how close he was to the howl?”

“Close enough,” Landon said.

Small branches and twigs broke as we tore through them, some clipping us, but the sting wasn’t enough to slow us down. We didn’t trip. Whether we ran in human form or our cursed ones, running through the woods came naturally. An understanding of the earth beneath us and its hazards made me look down occasionally and assess the next portion of the run.

Finally, we skid to a stop, not leaving the treeline, as something interesting came into view.

“We were told there were other structures,” I said, breathing hard as I surveyed the small home or shack in the clearing ahead of us. There were no visible windows, and I couldn’t see the door from our angle. It had to be a single room. I had no idea how someone could put two rooms in such a small building.

“He’s here,” Landon said, breathing just as hard as I was. “Dirk is here.”

“You can smell him?” I certainly couldn’t. Not at all. “Or see him?” I kept looking around, but there was no sign of Dirk anywhere.

“Smell. Back me up?”

“Of course. Let’s get our boy,” I said, nodding. Landon slowly stepped into the clearing, looking around warily. From a desperate run to sudden caution, Landon adapted to the change in our environment, and I followed his lead. We weren’t slow crossing the open field, both of us putting our backs to the house as we moved around it to find the door. Still, I couldn’t smell Dirk and had to trust Landon’s senses.

“This could be a trick,” I pointed out quietly, hoping no one except Landon could hear me say it.

“Have to risk it,” he said, stopping as we reached the only door in or out of the shack. There was a massive lock on it, something old that probably weighed more than a pound. His nostrils were flaring as he inhaled deeply. “He’s in there.”

I wanted so badly to believe it, not stopping him as he began to fiddle with the lock.

“Can you pick it?”

He wasn’t using anything, just fiddling with it like he wanted to see if it would break if he yanked hard enough.

“Father always thought that picking locks was a skill I didn’t need.” Landon smirked at me as he let his bag fall to one side, hanging on his shoulder. He pulled out a small kit and started working. A moment later, it clicked, but Landon growled when he tried to pull it off.

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