Page 19 of The Iron Earl

In a blink, it was gone. Silent as it disappeared into the blackness of the night.

Leaves crunched. Twigs snapped. Then nothing.

She exhaled, terror she hadn’t felt a moment ago rolling into her limbs, sending her hands to shaking.

“Hell and damnation that demon beast near to had me, lass. The torch kept it away until it knocked me back and I fell with me bum leg and it was going for the kill just before ye appeared.” Rupe’s words flew fast, tumbling over one another. “Ye bloody well saved me life, lass. What was that demon cat?”

She couldn’t turn back to Rupe. Couldn’t breathe. She just needed a moment. A breath.

Rupe walked around her, his eyes wide as he looked to her face. “Are ye a witch, then, lass? That why ye can talk to the animals?”

She almost snorted a laugh and the back of her hand went in front of her mouth. Air sank into her lungs enough to breathe again. “No, nothing of the sort, Rupe.”

She looked to him in the flickering light of the torch on the ground to her right. The jaguar’s claws had made three deep gouges along his cheek. They would need to be tended.

“What of ye, then? If yer not a witch, what be ye? A druid gone to live with the English folk? A fairy?”

This time the snort of laughter did escape. “Again, nothing of the sort, Rupe. That was a jaguar, from the Americas, maybe. Though what a black jaguar would be doing in an English forest is beyond me.”

“A jaguar? How do ye know that? How did ye know what to do with the blasted beast?”

Her lips drew inward for a moment and she couldn’t stop her head from shaking. “My stepfather oftentimes had odd animals—predators—shipped from the far corners of the world. Lions. Wolves. Alligators. He once had two jaguar brought to his estate—one spotted and one black. I thought they were beautiful, especially the black one. It was just the same as that one tonight, with its black fur reflecting the light. I would visit them in their cage every day, and I learned if I meowed like a kitten, they would pay attention to me. Let me pet their snouts. I would feed them, of course. Fresh meat from the kitchens. They were majestic—proud—but with my mewling I could get them to come to me.”

“Blasted me, I never heard of such a thing, lass.” Rupe scuffed the wiry hairs on his chin. “Why’d he do that—bring the scourge of that beast upon this land?”

Her shoulders lifted as she drew a deep breath. “My stepfather liked to kill them. He liked me to watch. Would force me to do so.” She said the words fast, factually, to avoid Rupe’s pity.

“Hell, lass, a demon of his own kind, then?” Rupe’s weathered face scrunched into disgust.

Her right cheek lifted in a forced smile. “Yes, one of his own kind.”

“But a jaguar, lass—I never heard of such a thing as a jaguar.” Rupe shifted, agitated, hopping from one foot to another. “Ye sure that be what that was?”

Her head swiveled around and she searched the shadows of the trees around them. “Yes, or some animal very similar. And we best not dawdle here in the middle of the forest. I don’t imagine the rabbit will keep it occupied for long.”

“Best idea I’ve thus heard from yer lips, lass.” Rupe bent to pick up the torch and they started in the direction of the camp.

Three steps and both of them jumped.

Lachlan stood with two men flanking him, all three had swords drawn and at the ready. They had appeared out of nowhere, silently lurking in the shadows.

“Curse me bally, Lach, ye going to send a man to his grave popping out like that,” Rupe grumbled. “Where were ye when that beast was ready to nibble on me arm?”

Lachlan kept a wary eye to the darkness past their heads. “We arrived here just after Evalyn jumped in front of you, old man.”

“And ye didn’t kill the beast?”

“You both were too close to shoot it and Evalyn appeared to have it well in hand—so to speak. There was no need.”

“And if it had swatted her out of the way and come to eat me?” Rupe’s arm swung back toward the tree he’d been pinned against.

Lachlan shrugged. “I would have killed it if it had raised a paw to Evalyn.” He sheathed his sword and took the torch from Rupe’s fist, walking toward camp with everyone following. One of his men trailed them, sword still at the ready. “It didn’t. Beast that it is, it didn’t need to die. Viscount Larring warned me earlier today when I stopped by his manor house that the jaguar had escaped from the menagerie he keeps on his lands. He has hopes of capturing the cat alive. So I deferred to his wishes.” Lachlan looked back over his shoulder to Evalyn. “And to Evalyn’s mewling.”

Evalyn blinked, her eyes squinting in the darkness. Was that a smirk lifting the left side of Lachlan’s mouth? It was hard to tell as the torch was on the other side of his face. His voice had maintained the same low, even rumble as always, so she couldn’t be positive.

Rupe snorted. “Ye could have warned me what be in these woods before I went off searching for berries for yer supper, Lach.”

Lachlan sighed. “I didn’t know a warning was necessary, Rupe, as I had no idea you’d be straying from camp.”

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