Chapter 14

Inasgow. Burned out shells of houses blacken the landscape. Where there should be green, where nature should be taking back the long-abandoned village, there is fog and ash.

There is nothing.

A tight fog curls around the remains of the once bustling town. White mist licks around our horse's legs, their breath coming fast and hard from keeping a punishing pace on the journey here.

Bitterness coats my tongue. This is not right.

"How long ago did this fight, er, battle, happen?" Gisele asks, her voice low. Even now, the scent of fire lingers in the air, the reek of smoke clinging to the gutted buildings. It should be impossible.

"It was no fight," Kaus says. "It was a massacre."

"Over a hundred years ago." I dismount, leading my horse on foot. He's tired, he needs the respite more than I do.

"But it seems…" Gisele doesn't finish the thought. She doesn't have to. It appears fresh. I haven't been to Inasgow since that fateful day, but it's as if no time has passed at all.

"There's no animals. Where are all the animals?" Ali's scared voice pains me, but I steel myself against her. It's better for both of us to keep my distance. She's made it clear she wants nothing to do with me. I'll receive the markings that will keep me sane and her safe, and then she can be free to do as she pleases. With or without me.

An aching tightness spreads across my chest, and I rub a hand against it.

"Living things steer clear of here," Kaus replies.

I quirk an eyebrow at his tone. "You've been back?"

"Once or twice. These mountains butt up on the Alsewood. No one's heard from House Lupus since the massacre here. Either they've fled the mountains or have been routed." He shrugs, great hooves thudding near silently on the ground. "I like to make sure my territory does not face any threats. That includes any threat that comes from here."

"What do you mean, a threat from here? You just said nothing living will come here." Ali asks, and there's no mistaking the tightness in her voice. White knuckles grip the reins, her usually plump mouth a thin line.

"Shiiiit," Gisele says quietly. "He means the vampires."

Kaus gives a tight nod. "Better to make sure they do not dare encroach on my territory, on the Alsewood, than leave it to their ruination."

The group falls silent, and I can't help but glance back at Ali again. She holds herself stiffly in the saddle, as though she's in pain. I bite my cheeks, inhaling deeply. I should have insisted she ride with me. She's unused to being on horseback, and no matter how little she complains about her ankle, I know it must be hurting her.

Unnatural fog climbs her legs, melting off Molmith's deep black coat in curling white fingers.

"Why does this feel…" Gisele starts, her eyes wide. "It feels familiar."

Kaus rolls his shoulders, fixing her with a suggestive grin. "Maybe you are simply reacting to me. You know, we could test our connection. See if I light you up."

"No, it's definitely not you." Gisele raises one brow, completely unimpressed by Kaus.

Ali snorts, a hint of amusement on her face. It smooths out just as quickly when her eyes meet mine. Heat rises in me, an instantaneous reaction to her attention. The pull between us has only intensified in the past two days, probably because we are finally spending time together.

My fingers itch with the need to touch her, but I turn around, concentrating on the task at hand. On finding the plant that will help create an ink strong enough to bind my powers, keeping the whatever curse that ails me and the rest of the Starbound at bay.

"Riddle me this." Gisele seems determined to chat her way through the silent ruins. "If nothing grows here, why is the plant here?"

I blow out a long breath, considering an answer.

"If we knew that, gorgeous, we probably would not have to travel to Donnora to have it pressed beneath our skin with sharp needles." Kaus smirks down at her, taller than her in his House Sagittarius form. "I can think of far more pleasurable ways to spend the time."

"You're a centaur. This whole time you've said we're magical. So why don't you know how the magic works? Makes me think you don't know how a lot of things work." She purses her lips, dragging her gaze down. Kaus stares at her a moment before realizing the jab.

I blow out a sigh, caught between amusement at the two and irritation at their bickering. Like a moth to flame, I can't resist catching Ali's eye again. Her face is drawn with exasperation, and she rolls her eyes at Kaus and Gisele. I refocus on the path in front of me, hope budding painfully inside.

"Our magic is not worked with spells and herbs. It's innate. It's in our blood. It takes time to learn to control it, to wield it, but there are no incantations or other trappings," I finally answer, picking my way around a fallen beam and carefully guiding my horse through it. "Careful there," I call back to the rest.

"Explain," Ali says, and even though her tone is bored, even though it's one paltry word, she's addressed it to me. I swallow against a pang of longing.

"The magic lies in wait for all of us, the Starbound men receive it as they mature, the women less likely to tap into their magic before fate finds them a bond."

"Less likely," Kaus scoffs. "Not likely at all. More like impossible."

"Not impossible." I don't bother turning around. "Perhaps you have forgotten the stories of the strongest Starbound warriors, who were all unbound women."

"That's all they are. Stories."

"Warrior women," Gisele repeats. "I like that."

"Me too," Ali agrees.

I can't keep my smile down. "I'll have to tell you the stories of them tonight. Kaus seems to especially need the lesson."

"Then we will begin training them, right? Gisele, it will be my pleasure to show you all my favorite fighting holds." Kaus waggles his eyebrows at her.

"And it will be my pleasure to kick you in your tiny nuts."

I look back, only knowing the term because I heard Ali make a similar comment once. Kaus' face creases in confusion.

"I don't have any nuts."

Laughter bursts out of Ali, and despite my misgivings, I'm glad the two are here, if only to make her smile and laugh, two things I've proven completely incapable of eliciting.

"She's talking about your balls," Ali finally says.

"Yep. Those little door knockers down there. Itsy bitsy." Gisele points, and Kaus' eyes go wide, then narrow.

"She's going to kick you in the family jewels," Ali continues.

"Right in the crotch," Gisele agrees. "Wham bam thank you, ma'am."

Kaus sucks in a thunderous breath, his mouth wide open in shock. "She would not."

"Oh, I definitely would, you horse's ass."

Ali laughs again, the sound bright and completely at odds with our surroundings.

The sound cuts off suddenly. I tense, a prickling sensation crawling between my shoulder blades.

We are not alone.

Kaus opens his mouth to argue some more, Gisele's wide taunting grin seemingly begging for him to continue.

"Quiet," I say, my voice tense and urgent.

Slowly, I draw the broadsword on my back, the steel blade whispering against the scabbard. Kaus, thankfully, does not need to be told twice, pulling his bow upright and drawing an arrow with a deadly speed that belies his easy-going fa?ade with the women.

"Ali, Gisele, stay close."

Ali's frozen though, her mouth open wide, her rosy cheeks paling as she stares at something to my right.

My heart lurches. I cannot let anything happen to her.