Page 58 of Wilds of Wonder
“Oh, I’m sorry. Am I annoying you? Do you have better things to do in this dark crypt than talk to me?”
He raised a brow. “I could be sleeping.”
“You said you weren’t tired. Getting your stories mixed up now, bone collector?”
“Fine.” His eyes locked on my legs, then traveled up my waist, to my collarbone, resting for just a moment on those bruises, before meeting my gaze. “It was you. You’re what made me want to be the bone collector.”
I stilled at that. “What?” I could barely get the words out. “What does that mean?”
“Do you remember that night you were digging in the field behind the academy?” To my surprise, Maverick laughed. “When you found that soldier’s golden helmet?” He grabbed the end of the scarf and finished wrapping his hand with it.
“I remember.” My voice came out scratchy, huskier than I wanted it to. “But how do you know about that?” It had been my very first find.
“Right behind the academy,” he said fondly. “Risky, little rabbit.”
I raised my chin. “It was in the middle of the night. No one was supposed to see me.”
“Well, I’d been working late.” He tilted his head. “In my office, and I was just leaving when I looked out the window and saw a hooded figure in the distance, digging for something. I was curious. So I decided to investigate. Imagine my surprise when I came across someone in a white fur cloak holding that golden helmet. I suspected it was a helmet worn by a general in the Old World army.”
“Then he must’ve died,” I continued, “and his family buried the helmet along with him to honor him.”
“Exactly.” Maverick’s eyes glittered, then he sighed. “My job is a privilege. I love it. But when it started, it came with a lot of restrictions. A lot of rules. I wasn’t even allowed out in the field until later in my career. Just in the last two years, actually. I craved excitement. Adventure. And when I saw you digging in that field in the blistering cold, late in the night—a thrill shot through me. I found you again. And again. I watched you work. Watched you find treasures and artifacts. Then I decided it was time to formally introduce myself.”
That day in the highlands when I’d found the scarf now wrapped around his hand. Whatever I’d been expecting him to say, it wasn’t that.
“After that run-in with the eel at Halfstard Lake,” he continued, “Irealized something in my life needed to change. I went straight to the frost queen the very next day, right over the head of Arch Historian Gungar. I told her there were amazing artifacts out there just waiting to be discovered, but we had to be brave enough, bold enough, to go after them. She agreed, only if I reported directly to her. She must’ve liked something about me because she asked if I wanted the role of her historical advisor. She removed Gungar from the position and appointed me, and well, you know the rest.”
I did. He started going on dangerous missions to find rare artifacts, started gaining a reputation and following as Maverick Von Lucas, explorer extraordinaire. And it had been because of me.
“So why did you keep doing it?” I asked. “Once you started becoming the famous Maverick Von Lucas. Why keep being the bone collector?”
His shifted. “There’s something I need to tell you about why I’m here.”
That wasn’t an answer to my question, but I was intrigued, so I stayed silent.
“You wanted to know why I took that bolt. Why I went after it. It wasn’t to best you, little rabbit. I needed it because I knew I’d be coming here, and I also knew that in order to survive and escape, I’d need something powerful.”
“What could possibly be that important that you’d risk coming here?” I asked.
“My sister,” he said quietly, still staring at the ground. “She’s here, in the Deadlands, and I have to find her.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
EMORY
Yet again, the bone collector had surprised me.
“Your sister?” I repeated.
I wanted to be angry that this man swooped in after I’d confessed my plans to him and stole that bolt right out from under me. But I couldn’t. Not when he’d done it for such a noble reason. His sister. His sister was in the Deadlands. I had so many questions. Maverick Von Lucas had a sister. It shouldn’t have been shocking. He was just a person after all, but I’d never seen him as just a person. I’d always seen him as this larger-than-life figure.
“I’m sure you’ll find her.” I blew out a breath. “It’s just a matter of time. We’ll get out of here, and you can go your way, and I can go mine.”
“What if that’s not what I want?” he asked, then rose to a stand and prowled toward me, a predatory look dancing in his eyes.
There was nowhere for me to go, my back already pressed to the wall, as he stopped right in front of me, his face inches from mine, his eyes searching.
“I’d say you don’t have much choice in the matter.” I attempted to use a haughty tone, but my voice came out breathy.
