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He was here to find Evelyn.
Kade had followed a trail of moonstones over the last six months, and he’d learned that a dark-haired woman used ten of the precious gems to pay for passage to Torren on a ship called the Oilliphéist. Kade grimaced. Not only had she run from her duty, but Evelyn had used the moonstones from her wedding dress as payment, trading and bartering them while on the run, as if the dress meant nothing. Her actions demonstrated how little she cared for their union and the prophecy.
Bleu nibbled the leathers on Kade’s shoulders, as if to say, Don’t worry about it, but all Kade could do was worry. What if she wasn’t here? What if, yet again, he was weeks behind her?
Sighing, Kade pulled Bleu along.
Compared to Sorin, Callum felt older, stuck in a time of simplicity. Squat and tall hodgepodge buildings of blues, yellows, and pinks lined the coastline, so unlike the gray stone and wood-lodge homes of Kade’s homeland. Small and quaint, the sheer size of Callum would’ve fit snug into a single base of the Vadon Mountains.
He went down street after street, the small town closing in on him. He peered at the young women as they passed, reaching out his magic to sense if they were witches, but few with magic walked through the market. None of them had the signature dark hair of the Carson coven, but what if she was disguising herself? What if she had cloaked her magic just as he had? Besides, despite the description Blair had given him, he didn’t know exactly what Evelyn looked like. He’d never actually met the woman he was supposed to marry.
It was no use.
Clenching his jaw, Kade pinched the bridge of his nose and took a calming breath. It had been the decision of the Elders, leaders of the witches, and Alphas, leaders of the werewolves, who thought it best he and Evelyn never meet until their wedding day. In Sorin, witches and werewolves traded, did business, and allied together against the vampyrs but lived separately. Werewolves inhabited the west, focusing their efforts to protect Sorin at the Void and in the Vadon Mountains. Witches maintained the east, protecting the plains, coastline, and city of Nua at the Wall. Due to the separate efforts, Evelyn and Kade never came across each other, but now more than ever, Kade struggled with the decision of the Elders and Alphas.
If they had met, perhaps Evelyn would never have left.
A group of young men walked past. Sweat and brine clung to their skin and clothes, invading Kade’s senses and roiling his stomach.
Sailors.
As they headed down the cobblestone street, an idea struck. He’d learned two ways to get people to talk while searching for Evelyn. Money and alcohol. Since his funds were running low after a year, he needed to find the busiest tavern in town. Kade followed the group of sailors.
After three blocks, Kade almost smiled.
Ahead, a three-story building sat in the heart of town, its windows glowing orange from the light inside. Laughter and song spilled out into the streets, and those going in wore grins of glee, while those leaving stumbled with even bigger grins.
The name Runaway Radish had been carved into the beam above the doorway, and a wooden carved sign painted rosy pink depicted its namesake. The sign squeaked on its hinges as the evening wind blew from the coast. Kade tied Bleu to a post amongst other horses and threw a copper coin to a stableman. Bleu grunted, displeased but happy to eat the hay laid out in bins.
Kade left him and walked into the inn’s rambunctious crowd. His boots stuck to the sticky floors, and he smelled sweet mead in the air. A few cast wary glances his way, his stature eating up the space beneath the low-hanging ceiling, but most were enraptured by the jolly jig the band played.
He reached the bar, and a familiar scent hit him. Vanilla and burning cedar sat stagnant in the area behind the bar. Old but there, nonetheless. Kade had first detected it in Evelyn’s apartment in Nua, then in remnants left in the cities and towns she’d bounced between. Her scent. Kade’s wolf howled, his beastly magic awakened, but Kade reigned in his wolf, taming it, calming it.
Did she work here? Perhaps luck was on his side and they’d cross paths. But how would he know for sure? They’d never met, and like him, she’d most likely cloaked her magic. Kade needed answers, but he had to be strategic. Calculated and patient.
An older woman with ruddy cheeks and curls the color of a wheatfield handed trays of drinks to barmaids and turned to him. “Well, I’ve never seen your handsome face before, lad,” she said. “You look like you could use a whiskey.”
Kade nodded. “Please.”
The older woman obliged and pushed over a generous pour. Kade sipped and listened to the chatter. By the time he’d downed half his whiskey, he’d heard small town gossip, business talk, and flirtatious whispers, nothing of Evelyn and no sight of her, for that matter, but he’d observed one important detail.
The captain of the Oilliphéist was at the Runaway Radish, and thanks to the defeated souls who exited the gambling room, Kade knew where to find him.
He nodded at the double doors. “Is the gambling room open to anyone?”
The older woman nodded, planting her hands on her hips. “Aye, it is. No funny business in my inn. You play fair or you don’t play at all, I don’t care how handsome you are.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Kade said, unable to hold back a small smile. It was the first in some time, and his muscles felt stiff.
“It’s Miss Patricia.” She swatted her towel at him. “I’m far too young to be a ma’am.”
Kade laughed. “Of course, Miss Patricia.” He gave her a kind nod and headed for the double doors.
He found silence on the other side. A table of seven sat huddled over cards and black dice, a game Kade had never seen before. One man cursed while another, smoking a pipe, grabbed gold coin from the center table.
“Better luck next time, Sam,” said the smoker.
As they gathered their earnings from that round, their attention fell on Kade.
