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“Okay, well I need you to tell me where Jack’s room is. He’s supposed to be training me.”
The guard shook his head.
“I can’t tell you where the White Knight’s chambers are.”
So help me...this guard was twice my size, but I was about ready to bludgeon him with my practice sword.
“You can’t tell me? Or youwon’ttell me?”
“Nobody knows where the White Knight’s chambers are. Not even Her Majesty knows.”
I rolled my eyes and started to walk away when the guard added, “The White Knight won’t be in his chambers at this hour, anyway.”
Suddenly he had my full attention. My scowl melted into a curious grin.
“Oh really? Where would he be?”
“Hunting.”
I lifted a skeptical brow.
“Hunting? Like...out in the woods?”
The guard scoffed.
“Yes, out in the woods! It’s forbidden for him to feed within the castle walls. Everyone knows that.”
I decided not to inform him that special rules for where and when monsters were allowed to eat wasn’t exactly common knowledge. At least, not for me.
Even so...
I had a brooding, Jack Ass vampire to find.
Leaving the castle through the giant front doors, I stood at the top of the steps and took a moment to admire the view. Twilight had given way to a starry sky splashed with the arctic palette of an intense aurora borealis. The snowy mountains surrounding the horizon were lit up in lime green, bright aqua, and brilliant purple.
A forest of pine trees topped in fresh snow stretched far and wide, interrupted only by jagged mountains of snow and ice. If Jack was hunting out in this wilderness, it would take me all night to find him.
I closed my eyes and conjured a thick parka, wool gloves, and tall, warm boots. I didn’t know anything about tracking people or animals besides what I’d seen on reruns of Alone, but I knew that while Jack could jump far and high, he sure as hell couldn’t fly. Maybe I’d be lucky enough to find some of his footprints.
I started walking around the perimeter of the castle, my eyes darting around, searching for anything that looked like a footprint. There was a shadow in the snow that led into the forest, and I headed in that direction.
Peering down at the tracks in front of me, I had no idea what had made them.
Was it from feet pushing through the snow?
Maybe it was from a small animal?
Or was it made by feet following a small animal?
Darkness swallowed me like sleep as I ventured deeper into the dense forest. My boots crunched in the snow, leaving a trail of prints behind me. The air was cold and crisp, scented with sharp pine and ozone-infused ice. Shadows flickered at the edge of my vision, stealthy shapes that vanished when I turned my head.
The feeling of being watched crept over my skin. I shook it off, gripping my sword tighter, and quickened my pace.
Branches snapped and rustled around me, drawing closer with each step. The trail I’d been following had disappeared, leaving me stumbling between trees in the pale moonlight. Icy claws of panic closed around my chest, and I peered frantically into the darkness.
Something wasdefinitelyhunting me.
I prayed that the Red Queen hadn’t sent assassins to kill me.
