The next morningbegan just the way most of Evren’s morning began. With a headache. He rubbed at his eyes before peering out of the dusty curtains of his room at the inn. Nearly dawn. The tavern wouldn’t open for several hours, so he’d have to keep himself busy until then.
Outside, more snow had fallen, leaving a blanket of white across the port city. Large ships docked at the harbor, their sailors still aboard, likely dreaming of calm seas and wild women. The snowstorm quickly approaching had stalled their departure. Evren smiled then, thinking of how close he wasto boarding one of those ships himself. He decided this morning as he clasped his cloak, he would not leave Davenport until the deed was done.
He just needed one more Enchantress.
He just neededher.
His boots turned toward the forest, pulling him in the same direction he’d found those hunters. The same direction he’d found Tallu—no, he wouldn’t let himself get familiar. She was his bounty, and he would bring her in for his prize.
She spared your life,that poisonous little voice whispered. Oh, how he hated that little voice. Always chiming in when it had no business to. Even if it was right. Maybe she spared his life, but he had a duty to uphold. He swore an oath to his king and to his king, he would stay true.
He dodged his way around heavy limbs of pine and evergreen. His headache had lessened, likely due to the frigid air now filling his lungs.
A welcome distraction.
His mind drifted back to the Blackwind Tavern. Back to another pint. As it always did. To another glass of the numbing liquid he’d become too reliant on this last year. He’d never been a drinker, not when he was a boy and certainly not in the royal guard. But something about how it soothed his restless hands and wandering thoughts after his injury was all-consuming. And not easily forgotten or ignored.
He stopped, his boots skidding in the snow. He was almost to the cliffs and just beyond it would be the clearing where he’d make his way to the greenhouse. But the undeniable force drawing him back to the tavern pulled harder than any promise of coin could. The ale wasn’t a want; it was a need. A need that he knew, if left unattended, would swallow him whole.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, cursing himself for not remembering to fill his flask before he left. The air froze in his lungs just as the snow had frozen his toes. He stood there, eyes closed and saw the coin promised by King Roman slip through his fingers as he abandoned his mission for a glass of ale. It would be too easy to let her win. But deep down, he knew who the real enemy was.
The ale.
Anger replaced the ice in his chest. Hot and quick. Then he saw the Enchantress behind his eyes perched in her greenhouse. Her long, dark hair. Her tanned skin and cerulean eyes. His eyes snapped open, and fury guided his next steps. He would not let the drink take his victory. And he wouldcertainlynot let this Enchantress get away.
* * *
Evren madethe final descent out of the woods and toward the cliffs. Muffled voices carried through the wind. .
“Did you think we wouldn't come back for you, Enchantress?”
Evren knew that voice. His pace quickened and soon enough, he was face to face with the two hunters he’d dragged back to Davenport the day he met the Enchantress. And behind them on the ground, there she was. Red coated the snow. A bloodied arrow sat several feet behind the Enchantress, lodged in the ground like a tether of death. His heart slammed, pushing against his ribcage.
“Captain Fletcher,” Jasper said with widened eyes, stepping forward with a salute.
“What is going on here?” Evren asked.
It was then the Enchantress lifted her head, her eyes wide with thick silver tears streaming down her cheeks. They had gagged her mouth with a cloth, her wrists rubbed raw from the freezing temperature and the bite of iron. Her shoulder…
“I asked you a question,” Evren snarled. The men straightened, snow collecting atop their blue cloaks.
“We were just bringing her into Davenport,” Alexander said, his blonde beard tickled white from the heavily falling flakes. “Just doing our job, sir.”
The condescending tone lit a flame of annoyance in Evren that he couldn’t ignore.
“And the arrow?” Evren avoided the woman’s gaze. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t face her this way. He may hunt Enchantresses, but seeing her defenseless and bloodied in the snow didn’t sit right with him. Not after the kindness she’d shown him.
Not after she let you live.
“She raised her hands.” Jasper turned to the Enchantress and kicked snow at her face.
She winced before slamming her eyes shut.
“We had to take her down before she used her magick on us.” Jasper spat. Evren followed the trail of saliva. His eyes widened. She recoiled back, trying to turn her head, but she wasn’t quick enough. It landed right on her cheek, just below her eye. “Think you could best us you little who?—”
“Enough.” Evren stepped towards the men. “You are enlisted by King Roman to bring these women in unharmed. What do you think unharmedmeans, gentlemen?” He gestured to the Enchantress’ shoulder. To the red in the snow that matched the red covering her sweater.
She furrowed her dark brows when she caught his eye, and for whatever reason, he knew what he had to do.
