AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Killian
As if on instinct, I reached for Ainsley—although she would hate it—given that the territory we had waltzed into with this woman was dangerous, whether she would admit it or not.
“In the Hall of Knowledge, I have seen—”
A gust of wind whipped toward Ainsley, hitting me full force as well, and there was no mistaking the warning behind it.
“Not here,” the woman hissed.
This time, I did not allow the fear of Ainsley’s reaction to my gut instincts halt me. I grasped her arm gently, pulling her closer to me. “You asked,” I muttered.
The narrowed eyes, wise beyond her years, glaring at me had me closing my mouth and not saying more of what I wished to.
Shouting in the distance could be heard, only this time, it wasn’t that of fearful villagers in a fire.
It was one of orders.
“You revealed your magic, child,” the woman said, leaning into us. “It is not safe here, and if we linger, we shall be caught. Run. With me.”
She spun around, her head swiveling side to side before she shot off toward an alleyway. Ainsley spared me only the briefest of glances before running after the woman, and I continued on in line with her every step.
I could say with absolute certainty I knew Ainsley well enough by now to realize that whomever this was, she needed answers. Perhaps this woman was the reason we were in this dreadful place. She unquestionably had something that Ainsley knew of.
Blasted magic,I cringed. I loathed being out of my element. I did not enjoy change, either, especially when I had no control over the situation.
Call it a protection mechanism of sorts, if you will.
Whipping in and out of smoked-out buildings through Highvein, of all places, was certainly far beyond the slightest bit of change, and it left me uncomfortable in my own skin.How was I to protect Ainsley if unknown danger lurked around every corner?
That nagging bit inside me, however, the one that had kept me alive so far in this life, cried out to Ainsley and whatever hellish journey we were on now.
“She’s bloody fast,” I quipped to my beautiful companion.
Ainsley’s breathing had picked up as we raced through side streets, passing very few people along the way. “Another secret I’m confident many wouldn’t presume of her.”
We veered right, right, left. Left, right. “We’re going in circles,” I said finally.
Ainsley nodded, although there was no hint of fear in her eyes.
Nearly as soon as I’d uttered the words, we finally slowed, and the odd woman halted at the end of an alley.
“To keep from being followed in case your girlfriend’s magic signaled the entire Royal Navy of where to go.”
Ainsley snorted. “I am not—”
My gaze snapped to her, and I dared her to continue that thought. Although that word seemed ridiculous for what I wanted of Lady Lilstrum, I knew Ainsley’s focus would be on her label of “girlfriend,” as opposed to the more important part of the stranger’s concern: the Royal Navy being here searching for magic.
“Silence. A few paces further,” the woman said, glancing left and then right before darting across the street and opening the door to the measly-looking hut before us.
I gently ushered Ainsley forward. “Looks like when we have a moment, love, we need to talk.”
She huffed, not bothering to respond to my teasing.
We entered the small home. It was meager but shockingly warm and inviting. Immediately inside the door and to the left was a sturdy wooden table. A stone fireplace took up nearly the entire side of the wall behind the table, with its copper kettle silently waiting to be filled. There was a door cracked beyond the fireplace, and I could just make out the post of what appeared to be a bed.
A small kitchen and another door, this one closed, rounded out the home. Fresh flowers sat on a counter in the kitchen, and although the rest of the room was dark, the bright yellow made everything feel slightly less, somber.
The woman lit a lantern hanging by the wooden counter before moving to light another near the wall of the kitchen. She set the book down—the one she’d desperately saved from the fire—before shuffling to the pile of logs near the fireplace.
