Page 12 of A Kiss of Embers
Instead of answering, he returned to his pile of weapons and began strapping them on once more. He allowed his words to escape as a frustrated growl. “I can’t seem to get anything out of her either. Let’s just hope she acted alone to save ourselves the trouble of tracking others down.”
The guard grunted in agreement but otherwise ignored him as he left the prison. The first thing he’d usually do is track Ashryn down and tell her everything. But this time?
If he got caught, he would be killed, and he wanted his best friend in complete ignorance should his impossible task sink into the deepest mud puddles of Anadari.
He frowned as he thought of the Ember Queen once again. Perhaps if he managed to break the Ember child free, it would protect the people of Attleglade.
The very people who couldn’t care less about him, but he wasn’t going to allow that to stop him from trying.
The woods were quiet.
But Seraphina knew it meant nothing, as no place in Attleglade was safe as long as the guards strutted about with their bone masks and their bone weapons. Any of them could lie in wait, jumping out at her when least expected. Unfortunately, she had no idea how many were in the Guard. At least ten, it would seem. Four of those ten were injured, likely unable to patrol tonight.
Her gaze scanned the ground below as she hopped lightly onto a branch in the waxing darkness. The rough bark brushed against the bottoms of her feet, but the sharp pressure didn’t hurt against her scaled, armored skin. Several deer lazily passed by below, unaware of her presence above. She winced as their hooves crushed sticks and dried leaves. Even the smallest sound might give away her presence.
Sure enough, two Forest Fae leaped out of the higher boughs and dropped silently to the ground to investigate the sound.
Blazes!
She held perfectly still as she cursed their presence. After her fourth journey sneaking around the settlement, she realized it was surrounded by vigilant patrol guards. They knew she was here.
And judging by the number of guards she’d spotted within the past five hours, they knew who she was.
Silent fury clenched her fists, and she glared at the guards now moving farther away from her location. There was no way into Attleglade, at least none that didn’t involve burning the entire village to a crisp. But she didn’t dare risk the safety of her sister by attacking. Ironically, Pri was safer without her involvement. At least for the time being.
She clutched the ember necklace hanging from her neck and tried once again to reach out to her sister.Pri. Can you hear me?
Silence.
Even if Pri possessed pieces of her shattered stone, she was still too far away to communicate.
Her brows furrowed as she headed in another direction, away from the Forest Fae but closer to the settlement. After her hours of spying, she knew of one way to get what she wanted. It was a huge risk, but so was attacking the village.
Hold on, Pri,she begged silently as she fingered her dart gun.Just hold on.
“And he fell into the water!” Ashryn doubled over with laughter while Bastien scowled at her, arms crossed as they traversed through the dark forest in their patrol team of three.
“I would have won that skirmish had the rocks not been slippery beneath my feet.”
Ashryn rolled her eyes and shoved him in the shoulder, and he pretended to stumble to the side as if her strength far outmatched his own sturdiness. “You just can’t handle the fact that you were beaten by a girl.”
With a huff, he turned back to his companions and gave Sylvain a mock pout. “She thinks the world of herself. She just can’t handle the fact that I let her win.”
She kicked the back of his knee, and he retaliated by grabbing her in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles along the top of her head until she shouted for mercy. When they broke apart, both of them were laughing after their bout of playfulness. He draped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed.
But then he froze when he noticed the uneasiness in Sylvain’s expression as he eyed them. Bastien quickly dropped his arm. To outsiders, his and Ashryn’s interactions likely looked a lot like flirting. But it was all in friendly playfulness. However, if Ashryn was interested in the fae man, then he didn’t want to do anything to discourage the relationship from progressing.
Bastien cleared his throat and took several steps away from his friend.
“What are the northern regions like?” he asked to recenter the conversation, all while he eyed every shadow that crossed his path. The Ember Queen was still out there. It was better to catch her sooner rather than later.
Or at least Stinky Socks said as much, quadrupling the patrol for the next week or more. But it would be unnecessary.
Because Bastien planned to break the Ember girl out of prison. Tonight.
“Snowy,” Sylvain answered in a light accent. “By the end of each shift, my eyelashes would be coated in a layer of frost. My homeland is beautiful, surprisingly colorful despite the snow. But I do enjoy the cold quite a lot. I plan to return in a few months.” The man cast a sideways glance at Ashryn as if gauging her reaction.
But her nervousness seemed to get the better of her when she didn’t answer and instead wrung her hand over one of her knives strapped to her chest. She was getting nervous now of all times? Was she hoping to fail?
