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Chapter 4
Ijostled about, banging my head on something hard, and snapped open my eyes. Iciness wrapped around me, and I rubbed the chill that had settled over my arms. The blanket over my lap did little to warm me. My breath floated in front of my face, and my pulse rang in my ears. Night filled the air. As my vision focused, I found myself inside the creepycarriage.
A dimly-lit lantern swung from above the window, revealing a figure sitting across from me. Hooded Man. Arms folded over his stomach, his posture curled forward, his chin dipped into his chest. Was heasleep?
Memories crashed through me, and my brain ached. The Golden Lock tavern, Blondie trying to pick me up, and then this man kidnapping me with a freakin’ carriage. The only people who owned one were royalty visiting Terra from Darkwoods. So did that mean I’d been kidnapped and was getting transported in the opposite direction to White Peak? The urge to scream and run pushed on mymind.
I scanned the floor and seats for my bag. Where was it? Had he pulled over when we were free from town and tied it outside to the carriage, so we had more leg room? It was a tight squeeze in here. But all my curse reversal ingredients were in the bag, and maybe I could conjure something together to keep the manasleep.
Outside, the landscape blurred, but on closer inspection, snow smothered the forest on either side of us, and we moved so fast, I jumped from every hole and rock we passed over. Why were we speeding? Wait, it never snowed in Darkwoods. That meant we headed north, into White Peak Mountains. How long had I beenout?
All right, I ought to celebrate, as we might be racing toward the family in need and maybe Hooded Man wasn’t a bandit. Elliana had said we’d meet someone to take me into the mountains. Was this theman?
He sure didn’t act like a guide. What if someone else had gotten wind of me entering their realm and that was why he’d snatched mefirst?
Hooded Man hadn’tmoved.
Sweat rolled down my nape, and the tremor in my hands began. Holding my breath, I leaned forward and reached for the doorhandle.
“I wouldn’t do that.” His dry and crackly words filled the void between us, and a shiver crept over me, numbing mybrain.
Still grasping the latch, my head battled between grilling his ass or jumping. I twisted to face him, and while the shadows concealed his expression, his eyes glistened, covering me ingoosebumps.
“Give me one good reason,” I wheezed. Dread pressed against me, ticking like a bomb under mybreastbone.
“I’ll give you three. You’ll freeze to death before you reach town. If the cold doesn’t get you, the bears will. But most likely, before any of those things happen, I’ll catch you first.” A snarl hung off his lastword.
Lowering my hand, my veins turned to ice, and nausea claimed me. “Okay.” I gripped the blanket over my legs. “Well, you make some valid points if this were a normal scenario. But are you a bear shifter? And why did you kidnap me? Are you Elliana’sfriend?”
He laughed, rough-sounding, as if he might clear his throat. “You can’t tell I’m a bear shifter?” When he leaned forward, the lantern lit up his face. Disheveled, dark hair reached his shoulders, and the uneven light made his thick stubble shine. Full lips, pressed together in an impatient expression. And lashes so long they should be illegal encased the brightest green eyes. The man wasn’t lacking in the attractive arena, but that didn’t make him any lesspsycho.
He turned his head to show me the side of his face. Three healed scratches ran down his cheek andneck.
“Shit.” I couldn’t cover mysurprise.
I’d once heard a tale that initiation for male bear shifters happened when they turned ten years old. Pitted against a wild bear, not only did they have to survive, but they had to receive a permanent scar on their faces, necks, or chests to show the world they were true warriors. Never on the back, as that declared weakness. Anyone without one were shunned and discarded by their families. Something about bear shifters only breeding the most powerful fighters. For too long, I suspected it was an exaggeration of the truth, but the healed claw mark now turned me into a believer. Yep, no way was I facing this man in a fight, and taking this assignment to reverse a curse had been a hugemistake.
“And,” he continued. “I didn’t kidnap you. I savedyou.”
“Is that what you call saving?” I pulled the blanket up to my neck because I couldn’t stop trembling. “I’d hate to see how you treat yourenemies.”
His earlier words about chasing me down circled in my mind like vultures spotting a carcass for the taking. Considering he was talking and not killing me yet, I figured I ought to keep himoccupied.
The land climbed upward, yet we hadn’t slowed. “And what do you feed thosehorses?”
“They’re dragon horses, originating from the Wildfire realm. Stronger than your average beast, they can withstand the cold and love routine. Plus, they occasionally snortfire.”
“What? Noway.”
He smirked. “They’re mostly from the horse family, but there’s also dragon in theirblood.”
I shifted in my seat, scanning the surrounding night. A long animal shape darted through the woods. I did a double take. Had I just imaginedthat?
“Dragon horses are not the smartest animals,” he continued. “But once you teach them to follow a path, that’s all they’ll know for their entire life. They’reloyal.”
Yeah, but they were still demonic-likehorses.
He stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles, studying me from head to toe, so I sat and pulled the blanket tighter aroundmyself.
