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“No. I heard you were here.”
Of course. “You spoke to Matilda.”
“We ran into each other at a funeral. She told me how to find you.”
I’d be sure to thank her later. “Listen, I appreciate that you came to check on me, but why don’t you leave this one to me?”
She recoiled, affronted. “I have dibs. He was killed by one of mine.”
I frowned. “One of yours?”
“A gwiber is a beast of Wales.”
The ‘big snake’ was a gwiber. Of course. “Then how did it get here?”
“No idea, cariad. Possibly the same way I did, the crossroads.”
I debated my options. I didn’t want to insult Gwen, but I couldn’t let her abuse the dying werewolf. “I’d consider it a very great favor if you let me handle this one.”
She peered past me, as though she could glimpse her target from here. “Did you know him?”
“Not really, but I live here now. I want to get along with people.”
“He’s not a person. He’s a werewolf.”
“Fine. I want to get along with everyone. Is that better?”
She squinted, skeptical. “You don’t normally like to mix with others. What’s changed, cariad?”
“Nothing. I don’t want to mix with them. I only want to stay in one place, and that requires not making trouble for myself.” A concept the Welsh spirit wouldn’t understand.
Gwen’s gaze slid past me. “Very well then. He’s all yours.”
“Thank you.”
“When am I permitted to visit?”
“We’ll put something on the calendar once my house is ready for company.” In about five more years.
Appeased, she raised her arms and spread her wings in preparation for a dramatic exit.
“You don’t have to do that with me. I know you.”
Gwen paused, leaving her bony arms outstretched. “It’s part of my routine. It won’t feel right if I don’t do it.”
“You do you then, boo.”
Her wings flapped in the breeze and smacked against the surrounding tree trunks. “Ugh,” she groaned; her arms collapsed at her sides. “This forest is too dense to fly.”
“Tell that to the birds.”
The harbinger raised her arms again and disappeared behind a cloud of black smoke. Coughing, I waved my hand in front of my face to disperse the debris she’d stirred. I heard the crunch of her footsteps as she ran through the forest in the opposite direction.
Once the air settled, I noticed Arthur in an upright position. He stared at me with soulful brown eyes.
“Thank you for not letting the spirit defile my body,” he said.
“A gwiber did this to you?”
