Page 58 of Ties of Legacy

“Just use that,” he said. “I’ll take it to them. Avery will rescue herself.”

“What?” Elliot stared at the pack. “What are you talking about? There aren’t any weapons in there. And you said she was unconscious. Are they waking her up?” He wasn’t sure whether to be excited or nervous about that prospect.

“They said to let it wear off,” Frank cawed. “They’re sick of running and want to ask questions. But it will take hours. They won’t be expectingthat.” He dipped toward the pack again, bobbing his head in its direction.

Elliot slid off Nutmeg’s back to pull open the pack in question, digging through it. They had kept their stops as short as possible, only stopping for significant lengths of time when it was dark, so he still hadn’t sorted through the haphazard items he had packed on the day of the abduction. He was sure he would have remembered packing a useful weapon, though.

Rummaging through, his hand made it all the way to the bottom of the pack, where his fingers brushed against something unfamiliar. He grasped it, pulling out a small, silk pouch. One he had no memory of packing.

As he opened it, a scent wafted out, hitting him in the face and making him cough. He quickly closed it again, but a burst of energy filled him in response to the aroma, sending his mind racing even faster than it had before.

“The tea to wake you up?” he asked, staring at the pouch. “From Mattie’s house. But how did it end up in here?”

“Thought it might be useful,” Frank said impatiently. “I was right.” An unspokenas alwayslingered at the end of his words.

“You put this in here!” Elliot stared at him. “You didn’t say anything about that either.”

“It wasn’t relevant,” Frank said. “But now it is. I’ll take that to Avery. She’ll rescue herself.”

A grin stole over Elliot’s face as he held up the pouch so Frank could swoop down and grasp it in his claws. He wasn’t leaving Avery to rescue herself alone, but if the two women were awake and able to take their captors by surprise, that would give them even numbers.

He swung back into the saddle. The time had at last come to let Nutmeg gallop freely. They needed to arrive in time to help Avery.

Chapter 20

Avery

Something bright and insistent and unpleasant shot through Avery. She was warm and sleepy. She didn’t want sharp awareness to pierce through her cozy cocoon of unconsciousness. Not when it brought irritating sound and aching pains in seemingly every muscle.

“Nuisance bird!” an angry voice shouted nearby.

The mocking laugh of a parrot responded, moving through the air above her. Was that Frank?

She pried her eyes open a slit, still not willing to move. Who was yelling at him? It didn’t sound like Elliot.

“Worst part of Glandore, those awful birds,” a male voice muttered. “Even worse than the infernal roses everywhere.”

Awareness flooded in, increasing her aches. Avery barely bit back a groan. The name of the owner’s voice came back to her—Clyde. Or as she thought of him, the thickest of the three abductors. They had seemed thrown by ending up with two women instead of one and had debated what to do with her and Mattie for long enough that she’d learned their names. The other minion was Ty—also known as the lazy one—and the leader was Rene. She had not, however, learned why they had been abducted.

As soon as sleeping potion during the ride had been suggested, she had known it would turn out unpleasantly. But even so—how long had she been flopping around on horseback to feel this achy?

She subtly sniffed the air. Was that salt? Had they made it all the way to the sea? No wonder her body was protesting. There was a limit to how long you could keep someone unconscious with sleeping potion, so they must have ridden night and day to reach it so quickly.

She stirred slightly, keeping her movement small and her eyes slitted. To her surprise, she didn’t feel any bonds. Apparently they trusted in their sleeping potion more than they should have.

She moved her head slightly and caught a whiff of something that drove off the last of the fog in her brain. It almost smelled like…tea! It took everything Avery had not to sit bolt upright at the realization.

There was a sachet of Mattie’s tea lying on the ground near her face, half-hidden in her hair. But where had it come from? Was Mattie awake?

But if Avery moved her head slightly, she could see Mattie lying still on the ground beside her.

“Incompetent fools!” a familiar parrot voice called from the distance—apparently the bird was getting in one last insult as he flew away.

“Frank,” she breathed, finally realizing where the tea must have come from.

He had dropped it by her head, thus enabling her to wake up earlier than expected. Did that mean Elliot was nearby?

Her blood quickened at the idea of allies. But Frank flew faster than Nutmeg could run—at least for any sustained length of time. So further help might still be some way off. She had to assume she was on her own.

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