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She gives me a long look as if I’m trying to trick her. “No arguments?”
“I’m a smart man, Evelyn, despite recent evidence to the contrary. Arguing for the sake of arguing is silly in this situation. We need me at full health to face our next steps.”
“Uh-huh.” She shakes her head. “Hurry up and eat, and let’s get moving.”
It’s not quite as quick as all that. Before we leave, we take the extra effort to ensure the safe house is exactly as we found it. I find a rack of wood tucked against the back of the building. There isn’t much in the way of trees on First Sister, so they have to haul the wood in with the other supplies. More indication of care and planning going into keeping this place ready for unexpected travelers. I bring some in to replenish the stack by the fire. It’s time that we could spend traveling, but it feels important to do this.
I find Evelyn sitting on the bed, holding the book again. “Do you want to write an entry of your own?”
“No.” She sets the book back in the drawer and replaces the false bottom. “This is for people going home. We’re going to be the ones helping those people. It’s better that there’s no evidence of us here.”
She’s right. That doesn’t mean I like the bittersweet look on her face. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She rises and brushes off her pants. “I’m not going to pretend that I won’t miss things about my realm. But ultimately, it’s like yours—in my past. Threshold. You. This rebellion, or whatever the fuck it is. That’s my future.”
I do her the courtesy of not commenting on the bruised look in her green eyes when she speaks. This, at least, I understand. We’ve both lost quite a bit to get to this point. Having a direction to head, a place to dig in and fight … it doesn’t make that loss go away.
Instead, I hold out my hand. “Let’s go.”
“Lead on, Captain.”
It takes longer than I would like to hike to Kanghri. After some debate, we decided not to take the most direct route. The location of the safe house isn’t exactly hard to find if someone is searching for it, but there’s no reason to advertise its presence—or that it’s in active use. Most of First Sister is deserted cliffside, with the majority of the population of Three Sisters residing on Second Sister. The sole exception is Kanghri, but it exists only because Mairi essentially overflowed its banks and needed somewhere to shove all the people who couldn’t afford to live on Second Sister. As a result, Kanghri is filled with tradespeople, rather than what passes for nobility in this part of Threshold.
Personally, I prefer Kanghri to Mairi for that very reason. It’s less pretentious for the sake of appearances. A waste of time and resources in my opinion.
We follow the coast to the south and then west toward the strait that runs between First and Second Sister. The sun is just starting its descent as we reach the edges of town. I reach out and grab Evelyn’s elbow. “Stay close to me.”
She raises her brows. “Is this place more dangerous than the ones we’ve been to so far?”
“In some ways.” For all that I prefer Kanghri to Mairi, I am not oblivious to its faults. Most of the tradespeople who work in Mairi live in this town, but there are a number of less than reputable businesses that run here as well. Each community in Threshold is technically self-governed, but the local authority in Kanghri is mostly for show. The true power runs behind the scenes and prefers to deal in the shadows. As Cwn Annwn, it was not my domain to worry about local crime lords, but it still makes my skin prickle to walk down the streets of Kanghri. Today is no exception.
The sensation has nothing to do with the eclectic group of beings already out and about currently. The population of Kanghri is more diverse than anywhere else on Threshold. It’s not just people who are local to the realm on the other side of the island’s portal who reside here. They’re tall and gaunt to the point of being eerie, their skin various shades of gray that match the rocks that create most of the island of First Sister. Their fingers have several more digits than humans and their joints bend both ways, the better to climb with.
Intermixed with them are people who look human enough that they could have come from half a dozen different realms. There are also small populations of minotaurs, satyrs, and Aadi’s people. The name for the latter is a series of clicks and whistles that is incredibly difficult to replicate without a beak.
No, what makes my instincts spring to alert is the feeling of being watched that plagues me from the moment I pass into the town limits. I’ve never actually seen someone watching me—and I certainly don’t today—but the sensation is there, pressing uncomfortably against my skin. “Just stay near me and don’t steal anything.”
“Okay, look, I know I stole from you the moment we met, and yes, I did lift a few things off Hedd when we were on his ship, but …”
I take several steps, only to realize that she’s not at my side. I curse. “Evelyn—”
“Oh fuck.”
I spin around, responding to the fear in her voice. She’s not looking at me. She’s not even looking in the direction we are headed. She’s half turned to where we can see the docks. This late in the day, the space is filled with people coming back from work in Mairi. The crowds are quiet and orderly, no one pushing or shoving. There’s nothing there that should put that tone in her voice. Except … On my second look, I realize what caused her fear. Or, rather, who.
Lizzie.
As if she can hear my very thoughts, the dark-haired vampire pivots in our direction. She’s wearing different clothing than the last time we saw her—her fitted pants and shirt obviously sourced from somewhere on Threshold—but she still has that damned rifle over her shoulder. I can’t see her eyes clearly at this distance, but there’s no mistaking the way the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. She’s seen us. Fuck. “If we go into town—”
“It won’t work. We can’t be sure she won’t cause a scene. And if she does, other people will get hurt.” Evelyn takes several steps back, heading toward the cliffs we just came from. “We have to eliminate the possibility of collateral damage. Which means we have to run. Now.”
There’s no time to argue. Not when Lizzie is heading in our direction, her long legs eating up the distance. Even the crowd isn’t enough to slow her down. People scatter in front of her, minnows before a shark.
I’m right on Evelyn’s heels as we race out of town. This feels like a mistake, but she’s right. We can’t afford a massacre. Both for the loss of life, and for the attention it would attract from both local authorities and the Cwn Annwn. The problem is that I am nowhere near full strength; not magically, and sure as fuck not physically.
Lizzie almost killed me last time. As much as I would like to blame that fight on a similar level of exhaustion, the truth is that the more I think about it, the more I am certain that she could take me even at full strength. Her concentration is too good, and her powers are too fearsome.
If she can take me, then she will certainly kill Evelyn.
