Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic #1) - Rin Chupeco Page 0,94

his face taut. He was angrier than Tala had ever seen him.

“We’ll ride out as soon as it’s light,” Zoe decided. “I think it’s best if we bypass Ikpe altogether and keep going.”

“Ikpe?” The name sounded familiar.

“Those other howls didn’t sound like ice wolves,” West said thoughtfully. “I wonder if it was—”

“The Dame!” Tala exclaimed.

West’s expression changed to one of puzzlement. “The Dame chased them off?”

“No, she said we needed to spend the night in Ikpe. She didn’t tell me why, but she seemed to think it was important.”

“You must be joking,” Zoe said. “Those ice wolves could attack the village; they’re this close.” She ticked off a finger. “That’s a con.”

“If Great-Aunt Elspen thinks we should stay the night, then we should stay the night,” West declared firmly. “That’s a pro.”

“Pro: We’ll need to warn the village,” Ken said. “Isn’t that our responsibility?”

“I’d assume they’ve spent enough winters in here to know about the ice wolves,” Zoe noted, suspicious. “And you seem a little too enthusiastic about this responsibility than others you’ve had.”

“Ikpe’s still got that glyph mine, doesn’t it? Now that we’re here in Avalon, won’t it be important to secure the place and make sure no nightwalkers have gotten to it? You’ve seen to what extent the Snow Queen wants her hands on those.”

“Our last three Avalon representatives for the Miss Universe pageant were also from Ikpe,” Alex murmured, and Ken’s ears turned pink. “Ken, you don’t even know if the village’s gonna turn out like the last one.”

“No.” It was Zoe who spoke up. “Disingenuous as it was, he’s got a point. We need to know what the state of the mine is, and if any of the nightwalkers have breached its protection spells. I know we need to get to Lyonesse as fast as we can, but…” She hesitated, glancing at Loki for confirmation.

“It won’t change our traveling time much. A day, at the most. It’s your call, Zo.”

“Thanks,” Zoe said sourly. She looked down at the ground, and Tala could almost see her mind going through more pros and cons, her lips moving wordlessly. Finally, she sighed.

“I suppose one less night spent in the woods is always a good thing.”

“A day here means almost a week outside Avalon,” Alex said tartly. “Or don’t you remember? I want to get to Maidenkeep as soon as possible.”

“We only get one shot at this. If the seeress says we need to do something at Ikpe, let’s at least be thorough about it. Unless you think she’s lying?”

Alex bit his lip. Tala remembered that night at the castle, the fear Alex couldn’t hide after his encounter with the Dame. “Fine. But let’s make it quick.”

“To Ikpe it is, then.”

“To protect any survivors,” Ken asserted.

“Right, but who’s going to protect them from you?”

* * *

“Here,” Alex said to Tala the following morning. “It’s probably not breakfast food, but I figured I’d use up my turn before West can get his hands on the cornucopia again. It probably doesn’t taste as good as you remember, but it’s the best I can do.”

It was a plate of adobo, exactly the way her mother prepared it, and on a large bed of rice besides. Tala tried to hold back her tears again. “That’s your favorite food?” she managed to whisper.

“Prepared by my favorite people,” he said quietly, and walked off before she could formulate a reply.

21

In Which the Group Finds New Lodgings and Strange Butterflies

They encountered no other ice wolves in the day and a half it took to reach Ikpe, to everyone’s relief. They took turns standing guard the next night, rising at first light so they could travel as many miles as they possibly could.

The firebird dozed frequently in its saddlebag, tired from its nightly duties of providing them warmth when their campfire wasn’t enough. Occasionally Alex would lift and transfer it onto his lap whenever it showed signs of discomfort; always gentle, always supportive. The firebird would coo its sleepy thanks before snuggling drowsily against the boy’s stomach.

Its snores, while not loud enough to attract unwanted attention, raised eyebrows among the rest of the group. Once or twice Tala even caught the normally expressionless Cole sneaking incredulous glances at the sleeping bird, like he couldn’t believe any animal was capable of producing that kind of noise. Only Alex didn’t seem to think it was anything out of the ordinary, and Tala wondered if he’d lost his hearing.

“That might be the scariest sound I have ever heard of in my