Page 7 of Dawn to Dusk
We walked in silence, and she seemed content to stay that way. The lack of action drove me nuts.
“So, why do you have a set up way out here?” The dense forest told me that the main village was far out. There was no evidence of a settlement nearby. The pretty princess had no business out here.
A hum left her, and I could see her contemplating whether to answer me or not. She found the question more personal than I thought it would be. Did it have to do with the trousers I found and wore? Her gentleman caller, as she put it. Maybe that was where she used to meet some forbidden beast lover. Perhaps he was the one who softened her dead heart.
She stayed on her best behavior since joining the faction, but her history was too steeped in blood for her to be forgiven so easily. Balthazar and I argued for weeks about her joining the faction. Just because she wants to play the good witch now, doesn’t change the fact that she was a villain. The fairytale type of villain that murdered families at their dinner tables for the fun of it. Another brainless soldier taking orders and relishing the kill.
“I was the black sheep long before my family called me a traitor.” She finally answered.
Did this woman feel anything? She always wore an expressionless face and spoke with a cold voice, like the Petriv’swiped her out long ago. Maybe that’s what it was, they started brainwashing their children in utero.
“Seems like you were the perfect Petriv.”
Her eyes grew more distant, as if she were barely listening to the conversation. Corpses showed more signs of life than her. The silence stretched on until I realized she simply wasn’t going to respond to my comment, opting to guide us through the thick brush.
The witch saved my life last night, so I tried to not take too many verbal barbs at her. I appreciated what she did, but it would never erase what she had done.
Sunlight poured down on her differently than everyone else. It always gave her this ethereal glow and made the freckles on the bridge of her nose almost look like sunspots. A lovely woman, and that thought disgusted me. I hated that about her.
Esmerey Petriv couldn’t be trusted. My sister trusted her. Jalis was too sweet and trusting, and she paid the ultimate price for it.
I found coded correspondence in Jalis’s house where Esmerey offered her protection from the council. I would not be as easily fooled as my little sister. She was lucky I had the decency not to kill her while her back was turned.
She halted behind a tree and her eyes jerked around. We were at the edge of a clearing with a house settled in an open field. Esmerey eyed the area until she felt it was safe, then led us around to the back door. She knocked on the back door in a specific rhythm.
“Who is it?” A feminine voice sang from the other side.
“An old friend.” The first glimpse of emotion showed on Esmerey’s face. A tiny twitch on her lips and a sparkle in her eyes.
“My old friend can’t be here.” The woman on the other side seemed sure.
That twitch turned into a full-blown smile that beamed with rays like the sun, and I hated her even more for making me even think that. “Your old friend is stupid.”
The door swung open, revealing a sol witch even smaller than Esmerey. The wind could blow this woman away. Her long red hair was pulled into an elegant bun. A scowl warped the woman’s mouth, and she yanked Esmerey’s arm with a surprising amount of strength. “What is wrong with you?”
The woman waved for me to come inside, and I listened. Her scent warned me that someone big and bad claimed her. She smelled like something baking in a warm oven, but there was no missing the sharp metallic scent weaving through hers. She closed the door, putting her hands on her hips. “They have a special rack set up to rip you apart if they find out you even breathed in the Isles’ air. Are you that foolish?”
I inhaled to get a better sense of my surroundings and found that same weird scent cloying the air in here, the same scent on the pants that I wore. It smelled like someone purposely tainted the scent to be indistinguishable. My eyes scanned the room, and I found a huge man sitting casually in the chair in the corner. His body language remained relaxed, but his blood red eyes narrowed on me, watching my every move.
He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him. Then, the whites of his eyes turned red and his pupils narrowed into draconic slits. An almost imperceptible growl rumbled deep in his chest.
A dragon.
My eyes roved the sol witch looking for her mating mark, but the modest clothing of the time period covered it. The scent on her didn’t match his, but I instantly knew in my gut she was his mate. I took a respectful step away from the woman.
“Honey, talk some sense into her.” The witch gestured to the dragon.
“Everything Calida says is right.” The dragon agreed, never taking his eyes off me.
“With more umph, dear.” Annoyance tinted Calida’s tone.
“Calida is right.” The dragon sighed, moving his gaze to Esmerey with a soft expression one would look at a dear friend with. “What compelled you to come back?”
“Pylo is hunting a family.” Esmerey explained, and the dragon snarled, personally offended by the hunter’s name. Esmerey gave him a gentle look to calm down and finished her story. “I’m trying to find them. Have you ferried anyone out recently?”
“No one in a month or so.” The dragon answered her with a disapproving frown. “But you don’t need to be traipsing across Rashik.”
“I can go to the market and fish for gossip.” Calida spoke up energetically.
