Page 69 of Tethered In Blood

The people of Silverfel had been desperate for a cure. They had whispered of sickness but ignored the curses. And here, in Vaelwick, they weren’t ignoring them. They knew. They carved symbols into their doors, strung charms over their homes, and muttered about rituals meant to ward off the evil.

Had her knowledge drawn these creatures to her? Had they come because of what she was?

My jaw tightened.

No.

It didn’t sit right. The pieces were too scattered, and the logic was too thin.If they hunted herbalists, why her? Why had the thing in Silverfel fixated on her? Why had the creature in the fields lunged for her instead of me?

It wasn’t just because an herbalist meddled with forces beyond her control. There had to be a connection I couldn’t see yet.

What I saw was that they hunted her.

And she hadn’t even realized it.

WHENMORNINGCAME,Istill hadn’t slept. Not for lack of trying. I had laid there, staring at the ceiling, waiting for exhaustion to take hold. I willed my mind to be quiet, but it didn’t. My thoughts churned, picking apart every detail, every inconsistency, and every damned thing that didn’t sit right with me. I dragged a hand down my face, irritation bristling beneath my skin. None of it made sense.

Eventually, I gave up. Sleep had eluded me, and waiting for it to arrive did nothing to change that.

With a deep sigh, I pushed to my feet and ran a hand through my hair, the strands sticking up in every direction. Quinn’s room sat next to mine. She hadn’t said a word to me since we had parted for the night, which wasn’t unusual. But after Silverfel,I had minimal trust in her ability to stay put.

I rapped my knuckles against the door.

No answer.

I waited a beat. Then another. Still nothing.

If she had slipped off without telling me again, so help me—

The door swung open when my fingers wrapped around the knob, and Quinn barreled into me. “No time!” she clipped, slipping past my grip.

“For fuck’s sake, Herbalist, not again!” I snapped, spinning on my heel and taking off after her. She was ahead of me, dodging around corners as if she had planned this.

I cursed under my breath as I bolted down the winding staircase, my boots slamming against the wood. Quinn, however, had made my life even more difficult. Instead of running like a normal person, she launched herself onto the handrail and slid down it with infuriating ease. I gaped for a moment, then moved faster, my frustration boiling over. She landed at the bottom with the practiced grace that told me she had done it more times than I cared to know.

Saints fucking preserve me.

“Dilthen Doe!” My voice thundered through the vast mansion. “At least tell me where you’re headed this time!”

She nearly crashed into Lord Everette. With infuriating nonchalance, Quinn recovered with a half-hearted bow before slipping past him as if he were furniture. Lord Everette’s brows shot up in surprise as I stormed after her, bracing myself for whatever madness she dragged me into this time.

Quinn skidded to a halt when we reached the stables, where Neryth stood behind a gate. His ears flicked as if even he knew something reckless was going to happen. I hadn’t even caught my breath when Quinn spun on me, her eyes gleaming with wild, exhilarated intensity. She heaved, her chest rising and falling in frantic bursts. Sweat clung to her brow, and strands of hair stuck to the flushed skin of her cheeks and neck.

Despite Vaelwick’s warm weather, she wore excessive layers, pulling her sleeves down to her wrists for extra protection. It should have been obvious by now.How had I not noticed?

I pushed the thought aside and opened my mouth to demand what in the five hells she had been thinking, but she didn’t give me the chance. “I figured it out!” she blurted, throwing a shovel at me. Its weight felt like an omen in my grasp. I couldn’t even properly scowl at the damn thing before she gripped another, ready to march forward, her eyes burning with that reckless, unshakable fire. “There’s something buried in the crop field.”

Saints, help me.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I steeled myself against the frustration that clawed at me. Naturally, she had figured something out, and it had led to this.

I didn’t doubt her. Quinn didn’t charge headfirst into chaos without reason. She was sharper than most, quicker, and annoyingly perceptive. But she had no sense of self-preservation. No hesitation or fear. She threw herself into the unknown with nothing but sheer willpower and the unspoken expectation that I was right behind her.

The problem was that her expectations had been correct. I would have followed Quinn Larkspur through the Veil if it meant I could have kept her safe. Alive. With or without Alric’s command.

And that unsettled me more than I cared to admit.

My jaw rolled as I glanced at the shovel in my hand, feeling the weight of inevitability. With a resigned sigh, I hoisted the damned thing over my shoulder and met her eager, determined stare.

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