Chapter 9
R onan grabbed the bow from Mischief’s hands as she took aim for Chrysis. “Don’t shoot the crow.” His voice was laden with aggravation and impatience.
Mischief pouted, then stamped her booted foot. “Please... it’s a moral imperative.”
Flying to the top of a post where she was partially hidden from Mischief’s range, Chrysis glared at them. “Kill the messenger crow, the High King kills you.”
Swaying in the doorway of the stable, Cadoc laughed. “Who wants to place odds on that?”
Leaning his head back, Ronan let out a deep, guttural groan. What had he done to be named the leader of these imbeciles?
Well to be fair, they were drunk.
Still...
He held Mischief’s hand-carved, dark wooden bow in his fist. “I’m confiscating this, Missy.”
“I hate when you call me that.” With her gold eyes flashing her ire, she sat down hard on the ground, then ran her hand through the straw. “Why are we in a stable? I thought we were in a brothel.”
Cadoc lifted his hand to point in Ronan’s general direction. “His fault. I think. What were we talking about? I thought I was taking bets in a card game. Or a wizard game. Or something.”
Ronan shook his head. Only for Dash would he suffer this. Otherwise, he’d have left these two to sleep off their ale in the comfort of the whorehouse he’d found them in.
Humans...
They were a special breed. Though to be fair, it took a lot of ale to knock Mischief into oblivion. Marauders didn’t normally get quite so happy . Her people were known for their sword skill, ferocity and ability to cut the throats of anyone who got in their way—even when they were knee deep in their cups. Honestly, he hadn’t seen her this drunk since they were kids, and Dove had dared her into a drinking contest that had ended with her dinner on Dove’s boots.
And it’d been a while since he’d last seen her. She was still beautiful. Even with her face paint smeared over her dark skin, and her braids tangled with straw.
Of course, it helped that for once she wasn’t stern and frowning.
Nor was she cooperating.
Ronan grabbed her before she headed back to the whorehouse he’d just dragged her out of. “No, you don’t.”
“Stop being a kill flint... joy flint... a?—”
“Fun sucker,” Cadoc supplied.
“That’s it! I paid good coin for that hard cock, and I’d like to have it.”
Losing patience, Ronan looked up to where Chrysis was still hiding. “Could you take human form and help me out, Chrys?”
“Could. Rather not.”
Why was she always so impossible? “Please?”
She shook her crow head. “You know how I feel about that.”
He glared at her and her ever insistence to remain as a crow no matter what. “We’re the same species.”
“Don’t insult me. You might be a Vairloche, but?—”
“What? Just because you choose to live solely as a crow doesn’t make you a different species. You can shape-lock all you want, but you’re still a shifter, same as me.”
That literally ruffled her feathers. With a shrill caw, she refused to turn human. “I hate you, Ronan.”
“That line forms to the left and wraps around the countryside. Now give us a hand, love.”
Grimacing, she flew toward Mischief. “Why are they drunk anyway?”
Mischief laughed as Chrysis landed in the straw next to her. “We’re celebrating. It’s my birthday.”
“It’s not your birthday.” Chrysis scowled at Ronan. “Is she so drunk she doesn’t know?”
“Probably.”
“I know.” Cadoc held up his arm. Then he lowered it and frowned. “No, I don’t. What were we talking about again?”
Chrysis let out a long, exasperated sigh. “How are we supposed to get them back to Licordia like this?”
“Put her on horseback and she’ll sober.”
Chrys gave him a look that said she thought he was as out of his mind as they were. “That’s impossible. Even if I changed into a human, I wouldn’t be able to lift her. She’s twice my size.”
Ronan wanted to beat her. Crow or not.
Flying to another post, Chrysis rolled her eyes as Mischief struggled to get into the saddle of her horse. Sadly, she kept sliding off and falling back to the ground.
Ronan let out a fierce growl. “You’re right, Chrys. You’re not helpful at all.”
He lifted Mischief from the ground, but not before he took a moment to glare at Chrys who was resting on a post near the horse. Nose to nose. Then he hoisted Mischief up into the saddle.
True to his words, Mischief came out of her stupor, grabbed the leather reins and placed her feet into the stirrups. “Is there a battle?”
“Not yet,” Ronan said.
Chrysis gaped in awe. Completely stunned, she watched as he went to Cadoc and repeated the process.
As with Mischief, Cadoc sobered almost instantly.
“How is that possible?”
Ronan shrugged. “They’re still not completely sober. It’s a holdover from our shitty youths. Put them on a horse and they fall in line.”
Chrysis hated to admit it, but she was impressed. When they’d first arrived to find them drunk and sprawling in the middle of an orgy, she’d been ready to go home and forget this stupid errand.
At least Ronan had been alone when she’d found him hunting in the woods. But to be honest, she’d forgotten just how massive he was in size and how attractive she’d always found him. No wonder Ryper had wanted him for this venture.
He stood head and shoulders over almost all human males. With long, dark brown hair that held golden highlights and stormy gray eyes, he was a fearsome beast, even for a shifter.
And Cadoc. Even though she normally didn’t find humans or particularly red-headed humans attractive, she made an exception for him. Ruggedly handsome and as dangerous as Dash or Ryper, Cadoc was lethally charismatic with a sharp sense of humor that could be registered as a weapon in most kingdoms. He didn’t need a sword. His tongue could cut to the bone.
Worse?
The more biting his comments, the funnier they usually were. As Dash liked to say, Cadoc was akin to someone bumping their head. It was hilarious so long as it wasn’t happening to you.
As much she hated to admit it, she’d missed them.
Ronan began saddling a black stallion.
“Are we stealing a horse?”
He didn’t pause. “I can’t fly with them drunk. Someone has to lead them. Otherwise, they’ll end up who knows where. Our luck, inside Meara’s palace with a battle axe aimed at her throat.”
Chrysis scowled at the restrained fury in his tone. “All of you hate her, don’t you?”
“You have no idea. Be grateful for that.”
She was. From the handful of stories she’d overheard over the years, she was more than delighted to have been spared the nightmare they’d endured. She had her own demons to battle, but they were paltry compared to the ones that gave the Outlaws no rest.
Ronan left a stack of sovereigns in the stall to cover the cost of the horse before he swung himself up into the saddle. He took Cadoc’s and Mischief’s reins. “We’ll head to Licordia to get Aderyn, then wait for you and the others to join us at the lodge.”
“What about Xaydin?”
Ronan paused to think before he answered. “He’s off on his own quest. Best we leave him to it. Besides, we can handle this without him.”
That was probably true. Xaydin was an irritable one, and he had a price on his head that was staggering. Granted not as staggering as the one currently on Dash’s head, but impressive, nonetheless.
When Ryper and Dash had proclaimed their group Outlaws, it’d been in the unicorn sense of the word. Someone who wouldn’t be broken or tamed.
Xaydin had taken the word as a personal challenge. Out of their entire clan of miscreants and malcontents, he was the one who’d actually gone off and decided laws would no longer apply to him. He’d become a vigilante who made Ryper’s body count insignificant.
Yeah, they should leave him out of this.
“Be careful.” She watched as they left.
Chrysis had no real idea where Ryper had gone, but if he was after Dove, they’d most likely be in Alarium. While Dove had a lot of hard feelings for his elfin brethren, he still tended to stay in their lands.
Maybe I should be a wolf.
It’d be a lot easier to track them that way. But unlike others of her kind, she didn’t like moving from one form to another. She much preferred to stick to one shape.
Shape-lock. Their people considered it an unforgivable sin to remain in one form. So much so that she’d been banished from her home because she refused to leave her crow body.
Yet King Dash had never minded or thought less of her for it. He’d welcomed her into his service and had built her an unbelievable nest.
For that, she’d always be loyal to him. Others could insult him if they wanted, but she knew the truth. He was a good unicorn with a kind heart. He took care of those who were under his protection.
And she would do whatever she could to keep him safe. She just hoped they weren’t too late to save him.