53. Chapter Fifty-Three

Chapter Fifty-Three

Eldrick

T he team traveled west instead of south.

Over fresh biscuits and sour gooseberry jam, Kade and Evelyn had asked Tovi how far out of the way her brother’s estate was. As it turned out, Sven wasn’t out of the way at all. A smile had etched across Eldrick’s face at the glint in Tovi’s eyes. Mirth. She’d known, and by Kade’s heavy sigh, he’d guessed it, too—Tovi had led them in her brother’s direction all along.

“How did you know Kade would change his mind?” Eldrick asked.

He and Tovi walked side by side as he guided their horse. Shin-deep snow covered their particular path in the forest, making it difficult to ride with two. The others had followed suit, trudging through the powdery terrain.

Tovi sighed. “I didn’t, but hoped he might. Sven might have answers to this entire prophecy. That is too vital to pass up. Even if we returned to Drengr Village, we’d eventually have to come back.”

The promise of home rippled through him. An ale at the Shield-maiden. Lucy would have pumpkin beer brewed by now. The horizon lined with snow-capped mountains, not a slant of shale in sight. Blue birds sang as the sun rose, even against the morning frost .

Eldrick brushed his knuckles against Tovi’s fingers. She reciprocated the touch, lacing a finger with his. Between the thoughts of home and the touch of her skin, a lightness spread across his chest. He’d introduce her to the pumpkin beer. Perhaps she’d enjoy it a little more than the sour blueberry one. When spring came, he’d take her to the waterfalls west of the village and admire the snow’s seasonal melt.

Maxie pranced through the snow, occasionally pouncing mound to mound, her orange fur becoming lost in the crater of soft snow she created. During the fifth time, Evelyn’s familiar underestimated the depth of the snow up ahead. She jumped and fell through three feet’s worth, her orange coat disappearing. A desperate meow disturbed the peace of the snowy forest, and the Gray Fenris laughed at Maxie’s unfortunate predicament.

Thankfully, Todd strode past, dipped down and dragged Maxie to freedom. Her golden eyes landed on every team member, half-slits that gave the impression she plotted against them. Her tail, though, swaying side to side, gave away her playful spirit. Todd plopped her atop his horse’s backside, and there she stayed.

Tovi sidestepped a few inches, leaving an empty spaced between their hands. Eldrick followed her line of sight. Up ahead, Bétar wiggled his brows at them while Yennifer flashed a smirk in Tovi’s direction.

“Goddess, does everyone know?” Tovi whispered.

Eldrick chuckled. “Why? Embarrassed?”

“What? No!” She shook her head. “I was hoping, I don’t know. We were in the stables, perhaps they hadn’t heard us.”

Eldrick held back another laugh. Her cheeks burned red, and he didn’t want to increase her embarrassment. “I’m sure being in the stables helped with our noise, yes, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know.”

“What? How?” Her eyes were wide, searching the team.

Eldrick scratched his chin. “I thought vampyrs had a keen sense of smell, too. ”

She blinked, shaking her head as she reared back. “We do, but we don’t go around sniffing for who someone slept with.”

“I don’t recall us doing a lot sleeping.” Eldrick winked.

Tovi slapped his shoulder. “Eldrick Drengr, this isn’t funny.”

“What? The fact you two finally released all that tension that’s been building the last three weeks?” Linx had appeared from thin air, and she annunciated the word finally with such dramatics Eldrick rolled his eyes. Tovi, on the other hand, stared with her mouth open and eyes wide.

Bétar didn’t bother turning around when he said, “About bloody time, you two!”

“This is mortifying,” Tovi whispered.

Eldrick leaned close to her ear. “Don’t worry about it too much. No distractions, remember?”

Tovi narrowed her eyes to slits. “No feelings, remember?”

“Precisely,” Eldrick said. “You can’t be mortified.”

Tovi glared, but before she objected, Kade and Evelyn stopped up ahead. As the rest of the team joined them, the Daughter of the Goddess pinned Tovi with a hard stare, but Eldrick detected a hint of a smile. Tovi stiffened, and her jade eyes didn’t know where to land.

Todd whistled, the high-pitched sound cutting through the awkwardness between friends.

“Now, that’s an estate,” he said.

The group congregated outside a set of iron gates. Through the bars, a black bricked home large enough to compete against Lār stood amidst a winter-touched garden. The shapes of hedges, bushes, and fountains were blanketed by snow, and around the bend, a man emerged, his hair the winter twin of his snowy surroundings.

Shovel in hand and shirt unbuttoned to his navel, sweat and exertion clung to the vampyr. He readied to plow snow on a path when he stopped, attention fixating on the newcomers waiting in silence outside his gate .

Tovi approached the bars in her usual businesslike walk. The siblings assessed each other. It wasn’t tension strung tight between them, but apprehension. Years of it, prickling the air. Sven tossed his shovel to the side and headed towards them. Strong, well-built, the vampyr was accustomed to labor and work. Mud covered his leather boots, and dirt covered his hands. His Verena hair was cropped short, out of his face and neat.

“Sister,” he said a step away from the bars.

“Brother.”

Eldrick’s wolf sat at the surface, guarding Tovi from afar. Sven unlocked the gate. It wailed as it swung open. With nothing separating them, Tovi and Sven assessed each other briefly once more, and then her brother dragged her into one of the fiercest hugs Eldrick had witnessed.

Still, he stepped forward, hand resting on his axe. His wolf paced under his blood, uncertain of the new vampyr in their company, but his chest swelled with a warmth as Tovi held her brother back.

When they parted, she held his face—an older sibling marveling at the younger.

“You look well,” she said.

“You look like you’ve made a lot of new friends.” He smiled at the group. His nostrils flared and eyes narrowed. “Some are werewolves I see. Witches, too. Why have you visited, Tovi?”

The shift in Sven’s tone had Eldrick gripping the eye of his axe tighter. The group noticed too—Evelyn’s fingers twitched at her sides, Kade caressed down Bleu, reaching for his sword, and Todd hid a dagger in his hand.

“They’re here to see me, of course,” a woman said in a songlike voice.

Sven shut his eyes and exhaled.

Behind him, an airy vampyr stood barefoot in the snow. Copper hair blew in the breeze. Her eyes, entrancingly too large for her face, unnerved Eldrick’s wolf.

Tovi’s jade eyes popped, her mouth going slack. “Opal?”