Page 48 of Hold my Reins

Thursten shouldered his ax. “Let me get dressed.”

“I’ll start the car.” And if Thursten wasn’t back in two minutes, he’d start driving and hopefully run into Lynck. And then what? Run him over to stop him?

And if Lynck had already reached the portal? Did he follow him through?

“Do not leave without me,” Thursten growled.

Rox wasn’t about to admit he’d been considering it, but waiting for a large monster who knew something about portals and frost giants seemed like a good idea. That didn’t stop him from being anxious as he shoved on his runners as he walked out the door. He started the car and watched the seconds tick by.

Thursten climbed into the truck. The passenger seat was already pushed back as far as it would go to make room for Lynck’s long legs, but Thursten’s head almost touched the roof. He rested his ax on the floor between his feet. “Drive to the lake.”

“Not the forest?”

“When you reach the road by the lake, head toward the forest.”

Rox put the truck into gear and rolled along the street, searching for Lynck. “What will we do if we see him on the way?”

“Nothing. We will follow him.”

Rox glanced at the troll. “That isn’t a plan.”

“Nor is trying to stop him. He may not even be in the form you are familiar with.”

“He said he can’t shift in this world.”

Thursten nodded. “And maybe he can’t until commanded. The magic of the bridle superseding everything else.”

“Shit.” If Lynck was a horse, how would they stop him? Horses were big, or was Lynck pony-sized?

Not that it made any difference, as Rox knew nothing about horses or ponies.

The streets were empty, given the early hour. Sensible people were at home asleep.

Sensible people didn’t worry that their boyfriend might be compelled to kill them by a frost giant fuck-stick.

“So what happens when we follow him to where he’s going?”

“I’m not sure about that either. Since you couldn’t cut through the bridle, I assume the only way to break the magic is to kill Bothvar.”

“Bothvar will order Lynck to protect him.”

“Then you will need to distract him,” Thursten said as if that were obvious.

“Lynck said Bothvar ordered him to kill anyone he got close to.” Which meant him.

“Bothvar doesn’t know you are lovers. All he will see is a troll and a human. You should pretend to be military.”

Rox glanced at his aqua nails. He didn’t need to look in the rearview mirror to know that his hair was a mess and far too long to be military. “I don’t look like a soldier.”

Thursten considered him for several seconds. “You are more like one of those undercover special agent people.”

Rox lifted his eyebrows. He was not a special anything. He opened his mouth, but the retort died on his tongue at the sight of a white and gray dappled horse at the intersection. A horsewith green in its mane and tail. Silver glinted around the horse’s muzzle. The bridle.

“Keep pace with him,” Thursten ordered as if that wasn’t what Rox had already planned on doing.

Lynck’s ears didn’t even twitch at the noise of the car. He acted oblivious to everything except for where he was going. Rox stayed a couple of yards back, driving well below the speed limit. If a cop appeared, he had no idea how to explain the fact that he was following a horse who was actually his monster boyfriend, who was acting under compulsion due to frost giant magic.

For a couple of seconds, Rox wondered if he’d had a car accident and was in a coma because his life had become so weird. Like, weirder than he could’ve imagined when deciding to take a job in Elder Ridge.

---