Chapter Eleven #3
I nod my head. “Thank you for the tea.”
She grabs my hand. “You are too pretty to be in these woods, be careful.”
I look at her in return and give her a small smile. Her words almost sounding like a warning.
Draven and I walk out the door and back into the woods as she closes it behind us.
“Well, I think we just met our new grandma,” I say jokingly.
Draven scoffs in return. “I think you are right.”
“That was really nice what you did for her back there.”
“She should not be out here on her own and making trips to town through these woods. It is too much.”
I nod, agreeing. “Her signature went away very fast. How come our suspect’s stays for so long?”
“A magical signature is another way to tell how strong an incantor is. The person we are looking for can make theirs stay for days.”
My features drop. That does not sound good.
We continue walking deeper into the woods. I am not sure how long we have been out here at this point, but I think the creatures have gone to bed. Everything seems quieter.
“Why do they choose to live out here?” I ask.
“Peace. Some do not like the town life. They can practice their magic freely out here and live freely.”
“That is understandable I guess.”
“The only thing is, we do not know what all happens in these woods.”
Worry rakes over me for the woman we just met. A tree branch snaps to the left of us, making me jump.
“Didn’t you say there are werewolves out here,” I whisper.
“Yes, I did. They are not going to bother us,” he replies in a mock whisper.
I roll my eyes and continue walking.
“There is another cabin just ahead,” he says.
We keep moving as branches continue to snap around us. I keep my head forward.
We finally reach the cabin and my eyes trace over it. This one is not soft and warm like the last one we were at. It is almost falling apart, colored a dark brown with mold and vines growing up the sides. There is very little light coming from inside, but you can still see someone moving within.
It has a stench coming from it, but not the iron and burnt flower smell from the room of the missing man. It still smells like strong, dark magic.
I stop walking, scared to move any closer. Draven loops his arm around mine, pulling me closer to him and we keep walking forward.
We step onto the porch and Draven knocks.
A minute passes and no one comes to the door. Draven knocks again. No answer.
Frantic movement comes from inside, then a crash.
“Something does not feel right,” he says.
I nod quickly. “I agree.”
Draven pulls his foot up and slams it into the door, knocking it off the hinges.
He steps into the house first, then I follow.
I scan the room, but it is too dark to see anything.
Looking to my left, I see a man crouched in the corner.
When he realizes that he has been spotted, he tries to run past us and out the door.
Draven catches him by the collar of the shirt.
“Going somewhere?” Draven says in a low voice.
The tone of his voice sends a tremor throughout my entire body.
The man goes to spit on Draven, but he is not quick enough. Draven puts his hand over his mouth before he can.
Draven turns the man’s head to the side, roughly squeezing his cheeks. “Did anyone teach you that it is rude to spit?”
The man hisses in return.
Draven slams him up against the side of the house. “Show me your magical signature right now.”
The man looks at him with a sinister smile.
“Never,” he says, his voice high and scratchy.
He is a skinny, but short man. He has raggedy, thinning brown hair. His skin looks like he scratched his fingernails down it multiple times and let it scab over.
His irises are bright yellow.
Still holding the man up, Draven pulls him forward and slams him up against the house but this time, even harder. The wood cracks against the man’s body.
Well, that’s one way to do it.
Draven gets inches from his face. “Show me. NOW,” he yells.
The sound once again foreign to me. It is a yell I never want to hear again.
The man slowly turns his head to me, still smiling. His teeth are yellow and brown with multiple missing. I find the courage to meet his eye, his yellow irises piercing.
“They are coming for you,” he says in an ominous voice.
I take a slow step back.
“You are next, Solene, Queen of the Vryko Kingdom.” He starts to manically laugh. “They are coming for you and there is nowhere for you to hide. No one to save you.”
His tongue comes out of his mouth, hungrily tracing his lips. His bright yellow irises starting to glow brighter. “You want to see my signature, you say?”
He starts whispering into the night, barely legible words.
Draven drops him to the ground as he continues to whisper. His shadows come out from behind him and start to circle around us.
I look up at the front of the house, seeing lines being etched into the wood in the shape of a bleeding heart, glowing red.
Draven backs away from him. “Solene, come here.”
His voice is clipped. He reaches out his hand toward me but as soon as I go to grab it, I hear a scream coming from deep within the woods. A voice I would recognize in any lifetime, anywhere.
Gracie.