Chapter 16
All the way back to the cottage, I stayed silent and tried to think of how to answer if and when Lochlan brought up the pixie dust in front of the others.
What would he say? I wanted to believe that he wouldn’t make me into a scapegoat like he had at the hospital, but I also knew that such wishful thinking was just that—wishes and nothing more.
“What in the seven seas?” Lochlan breathed, looking up ahead.
I followed his gaze and felt my mouth drop.
The cottage door hung crooked and battered on its hinges. Windows had been shattered, their shutters broken and lying on the ground. The small herb garden Lochlan worked on had been trampled flat.
“What happened?” I breathed. I stopped looking at the house and scanned our surroundings, searching for any attackers that might still be hanging around, but didn’t see anyone.
We edged closer, boots crunching softly over loose twigs and leaves, and Lochlan held out an arm, either to shield me or prevent my getting ahead of him, I couldn’t tell which.
Inside, a figure moved and Lochlan immediately pulled me back, but we both relaxed when Peter hung out the window, a thoroughly discouraged expression on his face.
“We wondered when you two would be coming back.”
Roderick joined Peter at the window, looking livid.
The closer Lochlan and I got to the house, the worse it looked. Glass from the smashed windows covered the ground and the doorframe was cracked in the middle.
“It must’ve been kicked in,” Lochlan said, running his hand over it as he passed.
Inside, the cottage was in complete disarray. Chairs were broken and overturned, dishes had been smashed, cabinets hung open and the table was shoved against the wall.
“The pixie dust?” Lochlan asked, screwing up his face before the words were even out.
“They took it all,” Roderick growled, pointing to the corner.
His precious crate had been split open, the packing straw strewn about, and the large bag of pixie dust was gone.
A faint golden shimmer shone up near the hearth.
I stepped closer and crouched down to brush my fingers against the few sparse specks sprinkled into cracks in the floorboards.
The last few bits of pixie dust glittered feebly, trapped in the crevices that not even my thin fingers could reach.
“Who?” I asked breathlessly, staring around. “Who did this? Did anyone see?”
“It was the Nightsworn,” Peter growled. He was leaning against the wall, arms folded, and his red hair was an absolute disaster. Roderick paced in tight circles and anytime he paused, he would punch whatever unfortunate item was closest.
“I saw them,” Peter went on. “They came and took all of it. There were too many for me to take on by myself. I’m sorry.”
Roderick viciously kicked one of the crates, sending it skidding across the floor. “That was the entire first shipment! Those—” He swore fluidly for several minutes, barely pausing for breath.
“We still have the second shipment on the way,” Lochlan calmly reminded him. “The blood’s more valuable than the dust was, anyway. We’ll manage. At least we didn’t have to pay for it.”
“Someone’s going to pay.” Roderick exchanged a dark look with Lochlan. “And I’m going to make them suffer. The question now becomes…how did they find out?”
My stomach spasmed. Had Elvin followed me back here when he suspected I had access to pixie dust then reported me to the Nightsworn? The little sneak! He was probably trying to get back for me framing him for going through the Employer’s office.
Lochlan turned to Peter. “Have you been hustling fights again?”
Peter frowned. “Not very often. If you’re suggesting that I told the Nightsworn about the dust…I’m not a fool. I’d never—”
“I’m not accusing you. I’m merely suggesting you might’ve been followed. I trust that you didn’t tell them.”
“Gil?” Roderick growled. “What about you? What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I didn’t do anything!” I squeaked, making sure my voice cracked. “Besides, I got hurt. It’s hard enough to follow Lochlan to the market.”
“Then you would’ve been easy to follow,” Roderick snarled. He took an aggressive step toward me, but Lochlan placed himself between me and his father.
“We weren’t followed,” he insisted. “Today was the first time we’ve been to town since Gil was injured, and this happened before we got back.”
“He might’ve snuck off at night,” Roderick said, trying to edge around Lochlan to get a clear path to me.
Lochlan kept himself planted firmly in front of Roderick.
“I would’ve noticed. It wasn’t Gil. Nor could he have tipped anyone off today.
He was with me the whole time at the market, and all he did was sell socks and scarves like I told him to.
He dislikes the Nightsworn just as much as the rest of us. ”
“It was someone!” Roderick slapped a bowl off the table. It went flying into the wall and shattered in a glorious explosion of pottery, but Lochlan didn’t flinch. Peter stayed quiet and tense, like he was ready to either run or fight but hadn’t decided which yet.
Lochlan and Roderick glared at each other.
Lochlan was a few inches shorter than his father and had softer, kinder features, but now that I knew they were related, I could see the resemblance between them.
They had similar eyebrows and likely had similar jawlines, but it was difficult to tell through Roderick’s beard.
“We’ll just have to move locations since they know where we are now,” Lochlan said calmly. “There are other places we can stay.”
“We’re not going anywhere until I have some answers!” Roderick thundered. He whipped his hand through the air and it caught Lochlan before he had time to duck. There was an ugly smacking sound and Lochlan put his hand up to his cheek, which immediately turned bright red.
Both Peter and I started forward, but Lochlan held out his hands to stop us. An instant defensiveness on Lochlan’s behalf was roaring in my ears. Lochlan had stood between me and his father, and now he’d been hit.
“It was an accident,” Lochlan said, then raised his eyebrows expectantly at Roderick. “Right?”
Roderick slowly looked between all three of us, as if analyzing how much pain it would cause if we all jumped him at once.
“I need answers,” Roderick snarled.
“What if…” I said hesitantly, fully aware of how all three men’s attentions snapped onto me at once.
I swallowed and tried again. “The wagon train robbery was sure to be reported. I could see Peter’s red hair from my window at the hospital and there aren’t many people with red hair around here.
Marco probably had them start following us after that. ”
“Who’s Marco?” Roderick asked.
“He was the merchant in charge of the shipment of pixie dust. About six feet tall and had curly brown hair. I’d assume he filed a report and launched an investigation.”
Roderick’s eyebrows contracted even more, and I realized I might’ve sounded too mature for a supposedly young boy.
I cleared my throat and went on. “I mean, wouldn’t his boss get mad if he found out?
He’d lose his job so he’s gonna try to pin it on someone else.
None of us would ever sell each other out to the Nightsworn. Why would we?”
Lochlan nodded. “Gil’s right. None of us would throw away that much profit. Peter or another of us must have been noticed and followed, simple as that. It’s not anyone’s fault.”
Roderick threw a very ugly look at each of us in turn, finally settling on Peter, who matched his gaze with a scorching defiance.
“The best thing to do,” Lochlan went on, “is to move to a new location and get the second shipment. Here, I have information on it.” He withdrew the sealed envelope he’d been given at the market and tossed it to Roderick, but Peter snatched it from him first. Within a few seconds, he pulled off the large seal and dug his nails into the wax, picking it apart until a tightly folded paper fell out from where it had been concealed within the wax.
He carefully flattened out the note and his eyes scanned back and forth, reading rapidly.
“There’s a problem,” Peter said, straightening and handing the paper over to Lochlan. “The slavers from Ebora intercepted the second shipment. They have it at one of their facilities over near Banebridge.”
Roderick let out a roar of fury and punched straight through the wall closest to him. I jumped slightly, but Lochlan remained wholly unfazed by his father’s childlike tantrum and leaned over to read the paper as well.
“Then we’ll need to go over to their facility and take it back before it’s resold. The note says they only received it yesterday. If we move fast, we can still make it.”
“I’ll kill them all,” Roderick fumed. “Nobody steals from me.”
“I’m sure you will,” Lochlan went on calmly. “But until we have the actual pixie blood in hand, let’s not be bothered with more injuries, all right?”
I knew it. I knew the second shipment had been pixie blood. I was right. And now, I might be able to collect the bounty and stop Roderick before he did whatever he was planning with the pixie blood. But even the thought of taking the blood made my stomach churn.
“How did they get the blood in the first place?” I asked nervously.
Peter looked up. “There are pixies who donate their blood. They know it’s helpful to humans. You saw how that one pixie I showed you is the same size as a human. It’s a way they can earn an income without having to work a typical job or start a business, and it helps humans.”
That didn’t sound right to me, but I didn’t press. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
Lochlan glanced down at where my shirt concealed my injury. “Word is that pixie blood can heal any wound instantly.”
“That’s true,” Peter piped up. “Well, almost any wound on a human. It can heal cuts and injuries, but it can’t grow a hand back or anything if it’s cut off, and it won’t heal a siren.”
“I’d never help a siren anyway,” Roderick snarled.
I balled the hem of my shirt into my fist then released it. “So if the first was pixie dust and the second is pixie blood, what’s in the third?”
“Don’t tell him a single word,” Roderick barked. “I’m still not convinced that there wasn’t some inside plan that led to the robbery.”
Peter’s eyes sparkled. “Trust me, Gil, it’s something better than either of the first two. We have plans.”
Better than either of the first two? I couldn’t imagine anything better than that.
Lochlan had quietly begun gathering up the few items in the kitchen that hadn’t broken and gone outside to load them into the cart along with all the knitting supplies.
Without a single word to anyone, he went back inside and began collecting more things from the other rooms. Two of the items he brought out the next time were the women’s dresses Peter and I had worn to the graveyard, and I realized with a pang that those might be all Lochlan had left of his mother.
Silently, I went to go help him empty every drawer and closet he wanted and neatly organized everything in the cart outside.
He looked so upset that part of me wanted to fold him into a hug, but the larger part of me paled at the thought.
“Are you okay?” I finally asked him while we crammed the last few items in. Peter was doing a final sweep of the house inside to make sure we hadn’t left anything, and Roderick had gone ahead. “How bad did he hurt you?”
“Not bad. Nothing compared to you.” He glanced at my concealed side again. “I was hoping we could use some of the blood to—”
“No,” I said immediately. “You already helped.” My cheeks grew warm again and I added, “I might need you to check on it tomorrow though.”
He nodded. “Good plan. It will take all night to make it to the new place. I can check it when we get there.”
“So what is the new place like?”
Lochlan shrugged. “Similar to this one—abandoned but a good place for a hideout. The roof leaks a bit. There are only three beds, so Roderick will try to make you sleep on the floor again, but you can have my bed.”
“I won’t take your bed. I’ll sleep in the hammock again.”
Peter bounded down the front steps and I hastily stepped away from Lochlan before he could answer.
“All good,” Peter said. “Now let’s get out of here. We have some pixie blood to steal.”
Lochlan leaned into the handles of the cart and followed Roderick stumping through the woods. I kept my distance from Lochlan and couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I’d been too bold. Somehow, I’d gotten much too close to him…probably in more ways than one.
Trust gets people killed, I reminded myself silently. I couldn’t trust Lochlan, no matter how attractive he was.
I needed to find my family, no matter the cost. I couldn’t afford to get distracted. Once I intercepted the pixie blood and gave it to Ambrose, I would have enough to bribe Lochlan into telling me where Roderick’s vault was, or else hire mercenaries to beat their location out of Roderick.