Chapter 39

The afternoon breathed a welcome warmth through the forest.

Ren and Theo took off their outerwear, tying it around their waists, as they walked. The hound's barking had stopped. Ren wished its absence made her feel any safer. If anything, it meant they had no way of calibrating how much of a lead they still had on Della's crew. And there was an odd stillness in the air too. As if the forest were holding its breath until they'd passed. Ren thought it was inevitable that they'd have to face someone when they made their final stand. She just wished she knew which hunter would reach them first.

Evening saw them halfway to the valley below. Theo wisely corrected their course, however, as the sun started to set.

"If we're porting to the Heights, we'll want to maintain a similar elevation."

Ren nodded. It was one of the few details that had slipped her mind.

"You're right. We're already asking the magic to send us a long way in one direction. Forcing it to turn at a right angle, at the very last moment, poses a challenge."

Instead of down, they started hiking across. Watcher Mountain loomed on their right like a dark and solid shadow. Heavy cloud cover blotted out the light of the stars. In that darkness they were forced to slow their steady pace. At least there were proper trails on this side of the mountain. A good sign that they'd entered more settled territory. Ren wouldn't have minded crossing paths with a pioneer, though she'd felt the same hopefulness about spotting Della's farm. There was no guarantee anyone would help them this far away from proper civilization.

Exhaustion crept in as they trudged through the dark. Theo kept talking, an effort to distract them both from the lack of sleep. "… they have the best desserts there. It's down by the wharf on the corner. The building with that livestone pig out front. The pies are as big as your head. Nothing up in the Heights is even close to that quality."

"Mm-hmm," Ren mumbled.

"That pig is an odd statue. Did you know that no one knows who made him?"

"Oh?"

"Anonymous. Every other livestone statue traces back to a famous artist. Some are miscredited, of course, but every single one is claimed. No one ever claimed the pig. He's useful, though. Back during the War of Neighbors, he's the one who sniffed out an assassin that burrowed under the viceroy's house. Saved by a pig. They never publicize stories like that, though."

It was all Ren could do to keep stumbling on. They were on a wide path with level footing, and if not for that, she'd have already asked Theo to stop and rest.

"… but the first thing we'll do is visit the family estate. My mother will want to meet you. It's beautiful there. She'll want to show you the gardens. Her pride and joy. She's been curating them since they got married. The hounds will be there too. Fisk and Silver and Roland. They're all old as dirt.…"

Ren stopped walking. It took Theo a few seconds to notice. His boots kept crunching down the stone path, his voice barely loud enough to reach her. He was describing his favorite tree on the family estate. Like nothing strange had happened. Pretending that what he was saying was completely normal. Ren's mind kept turning over the same haunting detail. Like a stone that she knew a snake was hiding beneath. But she could not stop her hands from reaching out. Could not stop herself from lifting it up to see what horror would spring out. Theo had stopped to look back at her. There was an unexpected presence between them now. Ren sensed a distant nervousness.

I can feel his emotions,she realized. Which means he can probably feel some of mine?

"Ren? Do you need to stop for a rest?"

"What did you say your dog's name is?"

"Fisk?"

"The others."

"Silver and Roland."

She was thankful for the dark. It hid the murderous look on her face.

"Roland?"

He nodded at that. "Strange name for a dog. I don't know. My father picked it."

"Your father named him? When?"

Theo's head tilted. She could tell he thought these questions were strange. Ren did not care. She'd never needed to know something more in her entire life. "Well, I was pretty young.…"

"How old?"

Theo shrugged in the dark. "Nine or ten? He was my first pup. Not that our family really treat them like pets. More hunting hounds than anything. I'll never forget the time—"

"Stop talking, Theo. Please stop talking."

Her hands were shaking violently. All the years of anger coiled to life inside of her. It took every ounce of control to batter that forming monster back inside the gates, to slam the mental doors shut on its clawed fingers. She knew if she could not shut it out, someone was likely to get hurt. And that someone would be Theo.

Her tone had raised an alarm for him. He knew something was wrong and now he kept silent, wondering what misstep he'd made. The truth was that he didn't have any idea. He could not possibly fathom the depths of her fury. Ren breathed in and out until her hands steadied. She altered the course of her anger, channeling it in a more logical direction.

"I'm just… trying to understand. You're talking about your favorite bakeries. Restaurants down by the wharf. And now we're planning for me to meet your mother when we get home? Is that really the first thing that you think deserves your attention?"

Theo did not answer. He was smart enough to hold his tongue.

Roland. His father named a dog Roland. After my father's death… the heartless bastard…

"Because I imagined the first thing you'd want to do is walk into that teahouse," she said. "Help them clear away the wreckage. Take care of their expenses. Find out the names of everyone who was rushed into the hospital that night. Go and see if there's any help they need. Some of them will have been fired, if they're not in a union. It happens all the time. Maybe that's the first thing you should do, Theo. See if they need your help. If they want your help. And you could go talk to the three musicians that you stole the seventeen-string from. Maybe you could replace their instrument. If I were you, those would be the first things that I would be dreaming of doing."

Theo was nodding to himself as Ren's mind kept digging up other graves. She'd carefully redirected her anger, made it more logical sounding, but she couldn't get rid of the image in her mind. Some tongue-lolling hound on the Broods' family estate bearing the name Roland. My father's name. No doubt it was a slice of gallows humor. Something for Landwin Brood to privately smile about. A reminder that he'd won in the end. He'd crushed the fool who'd dared stand in his way.

The thought made Ren want to set the entire world on fire.

"You're right," Theo whispered. "Atonement first. I will make all of that right. And I will do that the moment I step foot in the city. You have my word."

For the first time Ren saw the road that was waiting for them. Their bond would secure her position—even if his father contested the decision. It would also complicate her angle of attack. Theo was both the bridge and the obstacle to all her plans now. She'd made a promise to herself. In those quiet and sleepless hours after her father's death, she'd vowed to punish the men and women who had his blood on their hands. She repeated that silent promise now. Twice. A third time. Until the thought had the unmistakable shape of prophecy to it.

Landwin Brood will die. His entire house will burn. And I will be the one who sets it aflame.

"Good," Ren said to Theo in a hollow voice. "I will hold you to your word."

They walked on in silence. Ren actually pitied him. He had no idea what she intended. No clue that he was now the key that would open the door and let the monster inside of his family's house. As their footsteps carried them down the darkling path, Ren's breathing steadied. Her future walked in step beside her—handsome and quiet and utterly unaware.