Page 53 of Winter's Edge
Might've had to do with the bow and arrow slung over my shoulder and that I'd shot Lager's finger off. Just a guess.
On my way out, my walking stick hit a chair, and when I shoved it out of my way, my fingers grazed fur. A long, luxurious coat, I realized. Yeah, that was now mine too.
Outside, I shrugged into the coat and wrapped it around my old one. The fire down the street raged, growling like a murderous beast as it licked up into the sky. I could hear it there, looming over the shouts below it. The smoke siphoned into my lungs and stuck there like stinging barbs.
Had Archer found Ronin yet? Why hadn’t Grady come back like he was supposed to so I could hand off Sasha to him before heading into town myself to find Jade and Lee? That had been our plan. Maybe they were at the rendezvous point, out of their minds with worry that Sasha and I weren't there.
I started in that direction, leaving the fiery heat for the frigid temperature of Slipjoint Forest. Sasha wriggled, and I knew she had to be uncomfortable from being cooped up for so long.
"Just a little longer," I whispered, speeding my pace.
I hoped.
But when I crested the hill and peered through Sasha's eyes that no one was there at the bottom by our sleigh, panic clawed up my throat. Why was no one where they were supposed to be, damn it?
"Archer. Grady," I hissed, just in case they were hidden in the shadows. If they were here, they would've seen me.
Something terrible had happened. I just knew it, or they would’ve been back by now.
But if they were headed here now, I knew what they would want me to do—stay here. But if they needed help… I had to go back.
"Sasha," I whispered, "just a bit longer, okay? I'm sorry, girl. I'm so sorry."
I pushed her little head back down into my two coats and buttoned them both, my eyes stinging, my heart clamped tight in a vise. Pushing my lips together so I wouldn't cry, I set the bottle of booze on the sleigh, gathered what little courage I had left, and went back down the hill toward town. I hated doing this. I hated putting Sasha in danger yet again, but something must've really been wrong if they hadn't come back yet.
Skirting away from the main road where the fire was, I aimed my walking stick toward the first building on my right. A butcher, from the smell of pig’s blood and the chime of empty hooks clinking against the outside. I swept around the side of it and then to the back to follow the line of buildings toward Faust’s tavern. I might just have to climb in through the window with Sasha unless I found another way in. I imagined it was empty for the most part since it sounded like many men were battling the fire.
Lager, too. I shivered. I hoped with everything inside me that tonight wasn't our reunion.
Once I hit the edge of buildings on the far side of town, I quickly doubled back before I could be seen. I'd been a tad panicked and bleeding on my way out of here last time, so it took me a minute to find the window again.
Open. This had to be how Archer had come in to get Ronin since that had been our plan.
No sounds came from inside.
I patted the lump in my coat. "I need to borrow your eyes again, sweet girl. Just for a second."
That was a terrible idea. If someone happened by the little room and saw a wolf pup peering in the window…
I had to risk it. I leaned my walking stick against the wall and dropped my quiver and bow to the ground. Then I unbuttoned my coats and hefted her up and then instantly back down again. Fast enough for me to see the room was empty, the door open.
"Okay, we're going in." I untied the harness's knots from around me, but not from around her, and gently sat her in the snow. "Not a peep from you when we do, understand?"
She seemed to get it since I was likely feeding every ounce of my urgency into her. She could smell trouble probably better than I could, and right now, it smothered us in smoky fumes.
After lifting her again,I looped one hand around one of the long leather strapsconnected to her, then lifted her toward the window and lowered her down inside. The effort strained my ribs and shoulder and all my other annoying aches, but I ignored them. When she landed inside, her gaze locked on the open door, and her little nose twitched so much, I could see it in her periphery. Could she smell Ronin and Archer?
After dropping my bow and quiver through next, I pulled myself into the window headfirst, many of my healing wounds stretching and grinding and ripping. Honestly, I was done with windows after this. No more. I landed in a haphazard pile next to Sasha, who still stared at the door. She hardly noticed as I stuffed her back inside my coats with her head poking out so I could use her eyes. Here, in this place again, I needed all the help I could get. If I saw or heard someone I didn’t want to, I’d button her back up again.
Before we left the room, I closed my eyes so I could listen better. Nothing but eerie silence. What if Archer wasn’t even here? Or what if I found him but couldn’t find Grady?
This whole plan was garbage. Something was definitely wrong if they weren't at our rendezvous. Which was why I had to make sure.
We left the windowed room and entered the hallway. I knew my way to the front door, but beyond that, I didn't have a clue. So, this should go well.
My heartbeat stormed louder into Sasha's body with every step I took. The tavern looked exactly like I thought it would with long crossbeams of sanded wood lining the walls and a sawdust floor. Flames danced shadows over the walls from inside glass lanterns hung on the walls every few feet.
We came to an intersection, and to the left was the front exit, not the one I’d originally entered through, and the right led toward a mystery. And the sound of something heavy crashing to the floor. Not sure I wanted to head toward that either.
