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She opened her mouth to bite back at me but I raised a hand sharply, whipping the air from her lungs.
“Nope,” I snapped as her eyes widened in shock and she grabbed at her throat. “Out.”
Letting her breathe again, I pointed at the door before striding towards the stairs, trusting the guys to ensure she left.
“Sweetheart…” Noah called after me, and I shot him a reassuring smile.
“I’m grabbing a quick shower. Liam can fill you in, but we need to go and see Ulf when I’m done.”
“Ulf?” Liam called, making me pause and turn, my eyes catching on Zeke as he ushered Harlow out with a firm hand.
Quirking a brow at Liam, I shrugged. “I figure if anyone is going to know anything about it, he will.”
“I’m afraid I know nothing about it. The stories are just silly superstitions. It’s a rock.”
I sighed at Ulf’s apologetic expression, sipping my tea as we all sat squeezed knee-to-knee around his small, wooden table.
“There are several of them dotted around the Emerald Wood, you know,” he continued as he busied himself around the space. “It’s not unique.”
“There are?” Noah asked, echoing what we were all clearly thinking.
Ulf nodded, making a triumphant sound as he tugged a long scroll from a pile of papers. “Absolutely, though I’m not surprised you’ve not noticed them. Most are in witch territory.”
Leaning between Zeke and Noah, Ulf spread the yellowing scroll open across the surface between us. A map of the forest covered the space, including a stunning amount of detail of witch territory. The Queen’s castle lay in the centre, surrounded by the main witch settlements and leading up to the mountainous northern ports. Leaning forward, I traced a finger over the delicate lettering which labelled the map.
“How do you have this much detail?” I murmured. “You even have the names of the farms on here.”
Ulf smiled at me. “It’s old, but I doubt much has changed.”
He placed a gnarled finger on the Pack Lands beside a tiny circular symbol. “This is the one you know, the Mage Stone as you young ones call it. The others are here.”
I watched as he tapped his finger several times over the map, pointing out other identical markings. There was nothing unremarkable about them at all – no rune marks or any reason for them to stand out. Something niggled at me though, and I frowned down at the map in frustration.
Ulf patted my shoulder. “They’re just ancient monuments, Cordelia, from a time long past. There’s no pattern, no relevance to us. Believe me, I’ve spent many hours with this map.”
I bit my lip as I shrugged, trying to ignore my doubts. “Thanks anyway. We should probably get back to where we’re needed.”
Ulf rolled up the scroll as we drained the rest of our tea, thanking him on our way out of the hut. Noah tucked me under his arm as we headed into the village, chatting with the guys as they let me stew in my thoughts. When we reached the main clearing, Noah walked us over to his woodworking station as the others were tugged away by needy pack members. Sitting me gently on a stool, he tucked loose strands of hair behind my ear.
“Hey,” he murmured down at me with a soft smirk. His blonde hair fell forward across his forehead as I glanced up, my breath catching a little as he caught my attention.
“No fair,” I grumbled, giving him a mock frown. “You’re using your hotness to distract me.”
His grin widened as he pushed to stand between my legs. “Oh yeh?”
“Stop being gross!” Saffy called as she strolled into the space, holding up a hand in front of her eyes dramatically.
I chuckled as Noah rolled his eyes, rounding on his sister as she waggled her eyebrows at us with a grin.
“Can we help you, Sapphire?” he asked flatly.
Her jaw dropped. “You did not just call me that.”
He stepped closer to her, forcing her to look up at him as he shot her a challenging wink. “Oh, I did.”
Sliding off my seat, I held up my hands. “And I’m not getting involved in sibling drama, so I’ll see you both later, ok?”
“Nope,” Saffy answered, her hand snapping out to grab my arm as I passed. “I’m stealing my bestie away because I have hardly seen you since you’ve been back. It’smyturn for some lovin’.”
