Page 74 of Blood & Claw

18: HER MEASURE

The village of Ardroth,

Northwest of Duncrag, The Borderlands

Three days later …

“YOU’RE A PRETTY one.”

“Aye, and out here all alone.”

The rough voices, appearing from nowhere, made Ailsa startle.

Turning, she made out three figures emerging from the shadows.

Ardroth hadn’t felt right from the start. On the way in, the village looked too quiet and shut up, the streets deserted. Watchful. However, she and Dale were exhausted. They weren’t going any farther today.

Her bodyguard had only been gone a short while, entering the village’s ale-hall to ask if they had any lodgings available. Meanwhile, Ailsa had wandered across the market ground, surveying the low-slung roundhouses.

But trouble had found her.

Ailsa slowly reached for the knife in her boot with her right hand. She flexed her fingers around its bone handle.

The men closed in. Their breathing steamed in the sharp air, their boots crunching on the silvery frost that settled over the ground.

Ailsa glanced around. She stood at the edge of a dirt market ground at the heart of the village. Only a couple of torches burned nearby, casting long shadows.

These three wore grimy fighting leathers, iron daggers tucked into their belts. They weren’t the men she was after though.

These individuals were smaller, leaner. Outlaws rather than warriors.

Opportunists.

Her gaze narrowed. She wasn’t in the mood to be messed with.

Three days of chasing shadows—and still Kayla was out of reach. Dale had pushed Rùn even harder after Gateway. They’d traveled late into the evening, with only starlight lighting their way.

But their quarry always outpaced them.

One of the outlaws gave a low chuckle. “Spirited too. We’ll have to tie this one down, lads.”

Ailsa cut a glance to the doorway of the ale-hall. The rumble of voices, punctuated by odd bursts of laughter, drifted out into the darkness.

“Shout for help, and we’ll cut your throat,” another of the outlaws, whip-thin with a wispy beard, warned.

Ailsa stared back at him for a heartbeat before she sucked in a deep breath. “Dale!” The cry tore from her, slicing through the wind.

The bearded outlaw lunged.

The instant he did, something broke free inside Ailsa.

It was shocking, just how quickly it surfaced. Over the past days, ever since Gateway, the darkness had withdrawn. She’d tried to fool herself, to tell herself it might never return. Their journey from Rhu, although frustrating, had been largely uneventful. They had passed a scattering of villages along the way, learning that Kayla was indeed still ahead of them, but no danger had crossed their path.

Until now.

One heartbeat, she’d been looking for an escape route, and the next, she was studying the thin bearded man’s throat—and calculating how deep she’d have to cut to bring him down.

She ducked his blade, the suddenness of her movement causing Rùn to snort and leap aside.