“Shaw! There you are. I’ve been waiting at your apartment for hours!”
Lux rubbed her hand down the length of her skirt before shoving it into her pocket. Then she turned to watch a blonde head bobbing toward them, too bright for this place.
As if a wall erupted before her, Aline halted. Glancing between the two of them, her mouth dropped wide, and Lux widened her stance on instinct. Ever observant, Aline’s lips met one another once more, thinning.
“I didn’t know you would be coming by.” Shaw stepped toward her, his embrace quick.
“And I didn’t know I needed to give you fair warning now.” Dark eyes snapped with irritation, and she lowered her voice, “What are you doing withher?”
Lux laughed, harsh and threatening. “I can hear you, girl.”
“I know.” Aline’s glare held no hint of fear. “Mind your business while I speak with my brother.”
“Don’t talk to her like that.”
At the admonishment, Aline pulled back, spine straightening. “Excuse me?” Rising onto the tips of her toes, she poked Shaw in the chest. “Since when do you defend her? We hate her, remember?”
“I don’t—” He glanced to Lux, his gaze revealing the same bewildered expression as the previous evening.
“Oh hell,enough already. Aline, your brother needed my help, and I’m asking him for a favor in return. When it’s finished, we will happily go back to never speaking to one another. Satisfied?” Lux didn’t look at Shaw as she spoke, sure she wouldn’t see anything worthwhile there anyway.
Aline’s eyes narrowed. “Good.” She sniffed, apparently believing she’d won at whatever match they’d fought. “What’s that for?” She pointed to the rope clutched in her brother’s hand, his fingertips blanched white around it.
“Trapping.”
“Trapping what?”
“Howlers,” Lux interjected.
Aline’s mouth fell open once more. Lux wished something would fly into it. “You’ll be eaten! You can’t do this for her!”
Shaw gripped Aline’s shoulders, pushing her back to her heels. “Calm down. It’s laying a few traps around the forest edge. It’ll be done before nightfall.”
“And what happens when you catch one?” Her glower tracked between the two of them.
Lux grinned, tongue pressed between her teeth. “Both your brother and me are familiar with the unsavory uses for a blade.”
“Youwitch. You’ll get him killed and laugh about it afterward!” Aline lunged for Lux, who did laugh then. Shaw hauled his sister backward by one ensnared wrist.
“Stop baiting her, Lux.” His glare turned her laugh into a smirk, but she humored him, not speaking further.
He released his sister. “I’m tired of the both of you. Aline, I’ll see you at dinner. Necromancer?” Turning his back on them, he marched off in the opposite direction.
Lux stared after him for a moment before she felt Aline’s eyes fixed on her like a branding iron. “If he doesn’t come back, I will personally pierce your heart.”
Lux laughed inwardly, pulling the hood of her cloak up against the icy drizzle from the overcast sky. Her face eclipsed in shadow, her gaze found Aline’s, meeting the challenge with one of her own. A last parting smile, a mocking bow, and she strode after Shaw.
The stink of rawmeat enveloped them, and Lux struggled to remember to breathe through her mouth. What she wouldn’t do for a sprig of mint.
Shaw had barely spoken to her, aside from discussing the best cuts of meat from the butcher to lure the elusive beasts, and who would be stuck with carrying the odorous load. He was adamantshe should be saddled with it given it was her idea, but Lux knew it had more to do with her treatment of Aline.
Of course, one look at her pale face and sweat-slicked palms, and he had given in. Swinging the blood-splotched sack over his shoulder, he’d turned from her. They were steps before the bridge, and he still hadn’t spoken since.
Shaw strode across the stones at the same moment Lux stilled.
A crow. A crow sat perched at its edge.
“Stop.”
