50. Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty

Eldrick

“ A lright? There’s an arrow in you!” Tovi said.

She knelt at his side, holding him upright. Snow fell between them like the ticking of minutes.

Eldrick laughed and winced. “It’s not deep.”

She inspected the wound, frantic almost, and sucked in a breath. “ Goddess , you’re bloody lucky. The prongs of the arrow didn’t go past your leather vest, but you’re still hurt.”

“See?” he said, relishing her embrace. “There’s nothing to worry about—”

A man cried out, screaming like a fox in the dead of night. Kade dragged him through the snowy brush, Bétar at his heels, axe dripping blood.

Kade threw the man into the center of them all. “Who the fuck are you?”

Eldrick had to admit, even though he knew his brother, sword in hand with a blood-spattered face, Kade was a terrifying, unnerving sight, beastly and rugged. His brother tugged an arrow free from the snow along with an axe and shoved them into the man’s face.

“These are werewolf weapons. Where did you get them? ”

Eldrick stilled, zeroing in on the weapons his brother held. During the fray, he hadn’t noticed. The axe’s shaft and the curve of the blade was similar to his own—werewolf ruins carved into the wood. But the man on his knees wasn’t a werewolf or vampyr, but a human.

Despite his bleeding and bruised face, the man held his ground. He spit into the snow. “Kill me and be done with it.”

Bétar tugged the man’s braided hair back, exposing his neck to the sky. He lay his axe against the flesh. “Tell us and your death will be swift rather than painful.”

“Did Riven send you?” Kade asked.

“Who the fuck is Riven?” the man asked.

The team shifted on uneasy feet, sharing bewildered expressions.

The man’s wide gaze landed on Tovi for a fraction of a moment then on Eldrick.

“Kade,” Evelyn called, snapping everyone’s attention her way.

Gritting through the pain lancing his shoulder, Eldrick turned and found the Daughter of the Goddess inspecting a dead body, pulling at a necklace. “Some of them are werewolves.”

Tovi stiffened beside him, and Eldrick sniffed the air.

“There’s herbs,” he murmured.

“The same herbs Linx and Blair used to hide werewolf magic,” Kade said.

Eldrick’s chest heaved, arrow still in his shoulder. “It’s why we didn’t sense them approaching.”

His brother nodded, his usual bright eyes grave.

Linx and Todd pulled from the pockets of the dead bodies. Evelyn’s eyes went wide at the coin they threw towards her. She shared a look with Tovi who swallowed, throat thick.

“What?” Eldrick asked.

“That’s coin from Torren,” Tovi said .

Bétar moved his axe to the man’s shoulder, the blade angled into the soft muscle where his shoulder and neck met. Steel kissed skin. Not a death blow, but a painful one.

“Are you a human mercenary?” Kade asked.

The man flashed a smile. “Aye. Got paid handsomely for the job.”

“Can’t bring money with you to the underworld, can you?”

The reality of Bétar’s words rang true.

“How about this,” Kade said, standing over the man. “Answer our questions, and we’ll let you go. You can take your chances with the demons and vampyrs.”

The man’s brows knitted, and he pursed his lips. “Fine.”

“What was the job?” Kade asked.

He jutted his chin towards Eldrick. “Him. Kill him, only him. The witches and white-haired princess were strictly off-limits.”

Eldrick had half a mind to disagree with Kade’s proposition to the man, and by Tovi’s taut posture beside him, it appeared she, too, disagreed. She glared at the mercenary like a lioness zeroed in on her prey.

“Why?” Kade asked.

The man shrugged. “I don’t know. My lot gets a name, a target, and we don’t ask questions. The werewolves with us talked about the unrest it would cause, that’s all. He’s an alpha’s son if I recall.”

“That sounds like the letters Evelyn found in Riven's study,” Eldrick said.

Kade nodded. “And these other werewolves, who were they?”

“Don’t know. They found us in Morrow, proposed the job, supplied the weapons and then we were off scouting your lot in this cold shithole.”

“Morrow was on the coast,” Evelyn said. “Did witches help you travel?”

The man nodded.

“That sounds like Riven and Ingrid were involved,” Lou said.

Snow kissed Tovi’s cheek, but she didn’t say a word. She and Riven stood on rocky ground, but why target Eldrick specifically? A cold realization washed over him .

“Do you think Riven learned about my mother?” he said.

Tovi’s head snapped towards him. “No. If that were the case, he’d not send assassins. He’d not hide behind the fact he wanted you dead. With consideration to the alluded unrest, perhaps the Lone Wolf was involved. It explains the werewolves and the weapons.”

“Is that a name you’ve heard?” Kade asked the man.

“No. Look, the bunch was secretive, alright. They used coin from Torren for a reason. They didn’t want to be discovered.”

“He’s right,” Yennifer inspected an arrow. “They’re generic. No colors or feathers to indicate what pack they came from.”

Kade’s jaw ticked. He grunted and gave Bétar a curt nod.

The second released the man, who scrambled into the wood. A stone sank in Eldrick’s gut. He wasn’t one to shoot a man in the back, but as the mercenary disappeared into the forest, his wolf couldn’t shake a terrible feeling.

His brother’s boots crunched in the snow as he approached. “We need to get that arrow out of you and move out.”

“I’m aware,” he said. “This Lone Wolf sounds like a right bastard, but why kill me? Unless— fuck! ”

Eldrick reared forward, his sights landing on the arrow no longer lodged in his shoulder. Tovi held it.

“What in the stars above?” he asked.

“That’s for being an ass earlier.” Tovi rose to her feet and threw the arrow aside. “We need to find an inn and rest. If Riven does come for us next, we won’t have a fighting chance tired and wounded.” With that, Tovi stormed off from the group, Lou following after her.

Eldrick rose on shaky legs, staring after them. The gazes of the group bore into the side of his face, but he didn’t need to see their expressions to know they agreed with Tovi.

Because she was right. He was an ass .

Moons , he’d been taking his anger out on her. How had he been so unaware, so cruel even? Eldrick shook his head, stomach twisting into knots.

Despite it all, she’d saved him during the attack, putting herself at risk. He recognized the fear in her eyes when the arrow had pierced his shoulder. He recognized it so easily, because it mirrored his own fear—the all-consuming kind that washed over him when the first arrow had been shot and Tovi’d fallen off her horse, exposed as they fell under attack. Or when one had been aimed at her back, the one he'd stepped in the way of and taken the hit with; a decision, a choice that had almost been instinctual. Eldrick could no longer dismiss that he cared for the vampyr princess, his wolf rumbling in agreement.

He stared after her again, not losing sight of her lithe frame as she grew smaller in the distance, hair blending in with the snowy forest.

Regret for everything he’d said and done washed over Eldrick. More regret lay on the horizon if he didn’t make things right with Tovi soon.