blood and Xander missing.
It was me.
I was the murderer.
I was the beast.
Chapter Twenty-Two
My tears soaked the wool blanket upon which I lay. My right hand curled into the straw-covered earth as I silently screamed in horror, sobbing, letting my heart cry out but refusing to make a sound other than soft gasps. I mustn’t alert anyone of my troubles. My blackouts, the visions, the killings. Too many times I’d awoken covered in blood and shredded clothes to not put two and two together. My mother and Lorn were wrong. They had to be. It was why I was so closely connected to the killer, because we were one and the same.
The medicine no longer worked to keep my darkness at bay, and because I lacked the access to readily available magic here, it weakened me, making me succumb to the beast within. This kingdom really was cursed. Leaving was my only option, hopefully before I injured another person.
Washing my feet, hands, and face in the horse trough, I tried to hide and destroy all evidence of the blood. Grabbing a rucksack, I packed it with what little provisions Xander had brought to the stall, as well as extra blankets for my journey. It seemed the only way to keep my promise to the prince was to leave. Only then would he be safe. If I were a strong enough person, I would try and take my own life, but I was a coward, and I feared death.
I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and headed deep into the woods, using a compulsion to keep everyone from looking my way. I turned back only once to the manor house and saw the compulsion hadn’t worked on everyone, for Earlsgaarde was staring right at me with alert and perceptive eyes.
Had he known all along what I was?
He didn’t raise an alarm at my sneaking away; in fact, he seemed quite calm. He even gave me a nod.
Turning my back on him, I picked up my pace, hoping to avoid the guards who had already began their search for the missing person.
It wasn’t until I heard the search party call out the person’s name for the third time that it truly registered how evil I was and what I had done.
“Pru!” Tipper’s voice echoed in the woods. “Prudence!”
My knees buckled and my legs gave out as I fell to the ground shaking.
No. Not Pru! Had I killed the one and only person who I could call my friend?
Getting back to my feet, I fought the tears and continued to run through the woods in the darkness, away from the sounds of the hounds.
I stopped and listened. Through the boughs of the trees, I could see a faint torchlight and hear the crashing of horses through the dried leaves and the calls of the men searching for Pru. A fluttering object on a tree branch caught my attention, and I slowed enough to recognize the blue hair ribbon. It was Pru’s.
But I dared not let the men find me before I found her. I needed to know for sure.
The bushes near me wiggled, and I heard the crisp crackling of leaves and Gobbersnot’s cussing. His beady black eyes looked at me hungrily through the long blades of overgrown grass.
“Oh, thank the stars. Gobbersnot, can you distract the dogs and lead them away from here?”
He nodded but grumbled out, “Dugaday?” trying to bargain with me.
I rolled my eyes. “No, you cannot eat the dogs.”
The goblin held his hands parallel about a foot apart and repeated, “Dugaday?”
“No, not even a small one.”
Gobbersnot did not like that answer, and I feared I wasn’t keeping up my end of the bargain. “Please, Gobbersnot! I promise I will get you blood when we’re done.”
He sneezed at me and disappeared back into the bushes. A few agonizing seconds later, I heard the dogs bay again and change direction, heading away from me.
Spinning on my heels, I scanned the ground looking for clues, hints of her whereabouts. If I could find her, then maybe, just maybe, I could right a wrong and still save her. Taking the ribbon, I tossed it into the air and commanded it to “Seek.” The ribbon lifted from my hand and floated in circles above my head as it began its search.
But using a blue ribbon in the dark wasn’t going to help me. I would need light. Creating a mage light, I cast it low to the ground to glow about my feet. The ribbon