Page 34 of Trial of Three
The shadow moves, still too rough to hint at who—or what—is casting it. A sclice beast? One of the mercenaries patrolling the Gloom? Surely my males would be more careful than this. The shadow hesitates then quickens, its owner finally stepping into my line of sight.
Blood drains from my face. My heart gallops, my breath caught in painfully stretched lungs. No. Impossible. It can’t be. And yet... yet there it is. Webbed hind legs. Leathery gray skin. Standing upright. An expressionless cave of a face with a round maw of needle-sharp teeth pointing in all directions. The beast from Coal’s nightmares—a qoru. Here in Lunos, despite everything River and the council and all the males said.
The qoru disappears into a large stone building with a bubbling ale stein on its sign, what I presume to be a saloon.
Something scratches behind me. I jump, a scream forming in the back of my throat just as a large, calloused hand clamps over my face. I sink my teeth into it, bucking against the muscular body suddenly pressed against my back.
23
Lera
“Easy, lass.” Tye’s soft voice in my ear is too smooth for the reality of the street. His scent of pine and citrus slowly soothes my instincts even as my muscles still tremble. “All right now?”
No. No no no.
Tye releases my mouth, his arms wrapping protectively around me. “Didn’t Shade tell you to stay where you were dropped?”
“I...” I swallow. “It was a basement and there was no escape, so—”
“It’s all right.” Tye’s arms tighten, the warmth of his body anchoring me to sanity. “I’d take you into the Light, lass, but the place is crawling with the Night Guard. Can you manage the Gloom a bit longer?”
I nod shakily, pulling my mind together. Search and rescue, that’s why we are here. And the rescue is of Kora, not me. “There’s a qoru here,” I say, reaching for the cool voice that Tye used in the practice arena. “Down at the other end of the street. And I’m sure you’ve smelled the sclices too.”
“You recognized a qoru?” Tye says, his brow lifting in question. I’ve not exactly told him about seeing into Coal’s nightmares, and I doubt the warrior has volunteered the information. “From Coal.” Tye works out the answer to his question, his face grim. “Qoru being here shouldn’t be possible—we are too far from the Mors border.”
I know the words are coming—you must have made a mistake, lass—but my chest tightens in anticipation nonetheless. Tye doesn’t believe me. Though I understand why he’d doubt my assertion, it still hurts.
Tye shakes his head, his shaggy red hair flipping into his eyes. “Bloody academics and their bloody theories. Next time they want me to read some book, I’m reminding them of this. All right. Where?”
A spark of warmth loosens my chest and I point to a stone building at the end of the street. “The one with the rainbow-shaped signpost and the picture of an ale stein. Do you think the qoru captured Kora’s quint?” Captured. Killed, most likely. “We need to check.”
“We need to keep you alive.” Tye pulls me behind him. “Where the bloody hell is Shade?”
As if summoned by the name, a wolf trots around the corner, his muzzle drenched in rust-colored blood. Clearly, I was not wrong about the sclices. Seeing me, the wolf’s yellow eyes flash and he leaps forward, two hundred pounds of muscle pressing into me so hard that I fall backward, caught only by Tye’s strong arm. A warm, wet nose snuffles into my hand, followed by a low, nearly inaudible whine.
“I missed you too, Shade,” I say, rubbing the soft gray fur on his head.
“Can we all snuggle later?” Tye says. “Not that I blame you, lass, with the likes of us around.”
I roll my eyes, opening my mouth to offer a retort just as Tye clamps his hand over it again, this time pulling me down to the ground.
His lips press against my ear, his words a soft, warm brush of air. “Someone is coming.”
A few moments later, I hear the voices myself.
“...harvest what else they know,” a fae male says. “And make our honored guests aware that their meat will expire in half a day. Unless they feed now, there may not be another offering for a while.”
I grab Tye’s shoulder so hard that I know it must hurt.
“They don’t eat the meat,” another male answers, his voice younger and more nasal. “They suck the life energy through—ow! Sorry, sir.”
“Any other wisdom you wish to share, Jik?” the older male demands, his deep voice quite unamused.
“No, sir.”
“Then be about it. And be sure to return to the Light before too long.” The voice gets louder, as if the two are separating. “That youcanroam the Gloom does not mean youshould. It drains you, no matter how strong you are.”
I wait until the sounds die away and Tye’s hand between my shoulder blades eases. When I turn my head to suggest we follow Jik, I find Shade’s wolf sniffing a piece of fabric that Tye pulls from his pocket, the animal’s ears perked up to attention. Tye’s other hand pushes a few stones into a small pile.
