Heir of the Dog Black Dog - Hailey Edwards Page 0,43
guardianship? If naming me as your wife absolved you, why take out extra insurance?”
His lips mashed into a stubborn line and held for so long I was almost startled when he spoke.
“If your mother is returned to you unharmed, and you yourself return unharmed, then I have done no wrong for which I should be ashamed.” Rook bent closer and whispered in my ear, “My plan, wife, is to find your father before the hounds find you. He can trade places with you. He can run the hunt, die as the new prince is crowned and then rise to snarl over your involvement later.”
Dangerous hope sparked in my chest. “Do you know where he is?”
“No.” He jerked his chin in the direction we had been going. “He was last seen near here.”
Gooseflesh rippled over my skin. “Why are you doing this?”
“I have my reasons.”
“Reasons you won’t share.”
“Either you accept I mean no harm or assume I am as treacherous as I have given you every reason to believe.” He rolled his shoulders. “Either way, I’m not waiting for the hounds to reach us. The princes might want you in particular, but the others will be less choosy. You must decide if you can trust me that far or if you should go your own way.”
Rook left me standing in dappled sunlight. The turning leaves were no longer beautiful to me. The oranges were too bright and the reds called to mind the blood that would soon spill.
I wrapped my arms around myself and wished Mai was here. A sly fox would know how to outsmart those hounds. Wishing wouldn’t make her appear, so I filled my lungs with crisp fall air and exhaled out my fears and doubts.
Think. Frame this problem like it was an exercise dreamed up by Shaw.
Rook might help me find Mac. He might not. Safer to bet not. It seemed to me that if Rook or anyone else knew where Mac was, I wouldn’t be here. Nails biting into my elbows where I cupped them, I forced my shoulders to relax. Lowering my arms, I swung them to limber up and tugged on my glove from habit.
My glove.
My runes.
I could rend and devour souls. If I defeated the princes, I might survive the hunt. At least until the next set of heirs were named. Then the consuls would have to renegotiate terms with me, right? I hadn’t agreed to substitute eternally, just this once.
Weak as it was, that sounded almost like a plan.
I might not be kibble yet after all.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rook must have anticipated my change of heart. That or he enjoyed shuffling his feet in leaves. It took all of five minutes to catch up, and when I did, the only acknowledgment he gave was picking up his pace. Content as I could be with my cut-and-paste survival plan, I fell in line behind him.
Hours later, without much progress, shadows began waking, stretching toward us from the bases of the trees. The air turned cooler. Not winter cold, but chill enough I was grateful for the heat spell on my armor.
Music stirred in the air, sweet singing that twitched in my toes as I walked.
When I couldn’t stand the silence another minute, I jogged to Rook’s side. “Do you hear that?”
“Ignore it as best you can. It’s a lure the dryads use.” His eyes roved over me. “They’re Seelie.”
I shivered. “They’re trying to ensnare me.”
“It’s in their best interest if the Seelie continue to rule.” He cautioned, “Stay clear of the trees.”
His gaze slid past my shoulder, prompting me to search for what had captured his attention. Superimposed over the trunk of the nearest tree was a pale blue outline of a nude woman. Her arms were raised above her head, lifting her pert breasts and accentuating the fluid curve of her waist and soft roundness of her hips. She stood with one thigh in front of the other, hinting at hidden pleasures.
I was enchanted, had taken a step closer before the sap-sweet scent of her lure enveloped me. A sneezing fit seized me, blasting the scent out of my nose and clearing my head.
Guess I owed Shaw a case of ginger beer. Exposure to his lure must have inoculated me against other variants. Fighting hers was easy. Resisting Shaw? Now that was hard.
Rook stood his ground, eyes glazed while the dryad worked her enchantment.
If I wanted to be rid of him, this was a prime opportunity. I could leave him here with little miss