“The king... wants... her,” Hedran chokes out, blood trickling from his mouth. His eyes rise and meet mine. “Everyone is... looking for her.”
“As long as my lungs draw breath, I will never allow that to happen,” Gabriel says solemnly.
Hedran takes in a stuttering breath, and a pained noise leaves him. His hand crawls towards the sword at his side, but Gabriel kicks it away. Hedran lets out a moan, a terrible sound that will forever haunt me. Even though Hedran wanted to hurt me and kill Gabriel, he’s still a person. And this is... awful.
“I’m sorry,” Gabriel says.
And then, despite his own injuries, he drives the blade back into Hedran’s heart. The healer in me screams, but the rational part of me recognizes that this only happened because the man wouldn’t leave.
Hunter Erlet convulses twice, and then he stops. His eyes are wide, and his mouth is gaping.
The entire forest comes to a standstill—not even the wind blows. Everything is silent until a wolf’s howl fills the night. The mournful sound stretches on and on, and goosebumps erupt on my flesh in its wake.
Padding paws come from my left. The wolf and Mist had been entangled nearby, but now they both approach. Mist stays back, her tail low and ears pressed against her head, but the wolf draws near. Up close, it’s even bigger than I originally thought.
My Mark is still burning, but the creature seems only to have eyes for its fallen master. It sniffs Hedran’s body, licking his cheek before sitting back on its haunches. Raising its snout to the sky, the grey beast lets out a bone-chilling melancholic howl. As if the Hunter were more than just its owner. As if they were deeply connected.
Thrice, the wolf howls. Each is deeper and more unsettling than the last. By the third, my forehead has cooled.
There is no doubt about it, Hedran is well and truly dead.
Another canine cry rents the air, and then the wolf looks at Gabriel and growls. The menacing sound echoes through the night, and I suck in a breath. Gabriel is staring back at the wolf,a vein pulsing in his jaw. Several beats pass, and it’s almost as if they’re wordlessly communicating.
The wolf turns and bolts into the forest. There’s another howl, and then silence falls upon us once more. It’s gone, and Hedran is dead, which leaves me and Gabriel.
Alone.
And that . . .
That doesn’t bother me.
I shift my attention back to Gabriel. “You killed him.” The words are a hushed whisper.
He peers up at me, a frown tugging at his lips. “I did.”
I look at the body—another dead body, another person who has lost their life around me—then back to Gabriel.
“A Hunter. You killed another Hunter.” It appears I’m stuck on this point.
“Yes.” Gabriel’s gaze is unwavering as he wipes the dagger on the ground, cleaning it. “I did.”
He rips off a piece of his tunic, wrapping it around his arm and tying it with his teeth before he slowly rises to his feet. Slides his weapon into its sheath. Steps towards me.
I lick my lips, staring into the green eyes that have haunted me from the very first moment they locked on to mine. “Why did you do it, Gabriel?”
Why put himself at risk like that, for me?
Everyone knows there’s a code among the king’s soldiers. A brotherhood, of sorts. One does not simply go and kill their fellow soldier without repercussions.
And yet, he did just that.
Now the Hunter will be hunted, like me.
He steps over the body, extending a hand towards me. At first, I think he’s going to lace his fingers through mine, but then he pries my dagger out of my trembling hand. Our fingers graze, the touch fleeting, but those familiar sparks race through me.
I inhale sharply, taking a few steps back.
Gabriel follows suit. He’s so close, but I don’t tell him to get away. I can’t. I’m as captivated by his presence as the day we first met. More, in fact.
