Page 37 of Elf Shot

"Let's hope they will hold under whatever wards Vili has up," Ciara said.

"If he only has a small group of warriors guarding the entrance, I doubt he's going to waste his magic putting up anything super sophisticated." Layla tapped the patches against her palm. "We are going to have to risk it regardless."

Ciara clicked her tongue. "I hope this elf is worth it, Lay Lay. I mean he's pretty and all, but if we get caught in there, we are never getting out alive."

"Don't come if you are scared," Layla replied, her hand curling around one of the hilts of Arne's sword.

"I'm not scared. I'm just saying, if you go through all of this and he ends up breaking your heart, I'm going to murder him."

Layla tried to laugh, but it came out more of a choking sound. "I will murder him. And I'm not doing it because of hearts."

"Sure, you aren't. You've been smitten with that elf since he first showed up. Anyone with eyes in their heads could see that," Ciara replied.

"Thanks. This whole conversation is making me feel so much more relaxed." Layla didn't want to talk or think about feelings. She wanted to be clear and calm, like she was on a usual job. "I like him. Is that what you want me to admit? I don't understand what the mark and mating bond is doing to me, but I know I will go mad if I don't get him back because they are eating me alive. Once we save him, he can take the damn thing off me, and then I won't care if he's kidnapped again."

Ciara put her hands up in surrender. "Okay, whatever you say."

Layla took a sip of water from her bottle, but it didn't do anything to calm the jitters running under her skin. Whatever the mark he put on her was, it could feel Arne close, and it was setting her off.

Layla would rescue him and then get him to remove it as soon as possible because she couldn't live this wound up all the time. She was the easy-going, go with the flow person, not this highly strung human wreckage she had become.

Layla was starting to pace when Tor appeared through the trees and began to shift. Both Ironwoods turned to give him some privacy to pull his pants on.

"You were right about a back entrance into the caverns. I followed a group of dark elves that were taking some carts up to it," Tor said when he was on two feet again. "I got good news and bad news. Good news, they are having a feast tonight and some of the people going in were girls and entertainers. It means the warriors will be expecting faces they don't know."

"And the bad news?" Layla asked.

"Bad news is the feast is to celebrate the return of the lost prince who has finally taken his rightful place by Vili's side," Tor replied.

Layla's chest tightened. "You think Arne has sided with him?"

"Fuck no," Tor growled defensively. "He's either playing Vili so he can be a spy or to keep himself alive. Or he's under an enchantment."

Layla tried to think through her panic. "Vili is a god. He would be strong enough to fuck with someone’s head no matter how strong they were.”

“Vili is kind of famous for it too,” Tor said, his voice dropping to a growl. “I heard a story growing up that he was once in a battle against an army of dwarves. His magic infected them and stole their will. He made them march back into the city he wanted to conquer and kill their own families. Then he made half of them kill themselves. The other half, he left alive to remember and to tell future generations what would happen if they tried to defy him."

"Fucking hell," Ciara muttered. "This is the guy you are willing to piss off?"

"Yes, because Arne would do the same for any of his friends. And he is one of us."

Ciara crossed her arms. "Would he really do it though? You barely know him!"

"But I do," Tor said taking a step toward her. "And Layla is right. There's no way Arne wouldn't try and get a friend back that had been taken. You add the mating bond into it and how he feels about Layla? He would tear that mountain apart with his bare fucking hands to get her out of there."

"He would?" Layla swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. "W-What kind of feelings? He's never said…"

"How about we go and rescue him, and he can tell you that himself?" Tor said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Layla nodded and showed him the glamor patches Charlotte had made. "I've got a plan."

* * *

Carts filled with casks of wine, mead, and food were still being unpacked at the other entrance of the mountain fortress. It was a square hole leading into a tunnel that was wide enough for carts to move in and out.

Layla's glamor itched against her skin, but as long as no one got too vigorous feeling her up, they wouldn't realize she wasn't wearing a revealing dress, but hunting gear and two swords on her back.

She had tailored the glamors so they looked like dark elf versions of themselves. Tor was looking like the other guards in black and gold armor, his face covered with a helm on the off chance that Varg or any of his followers recognized him.

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