When the Wolves Are Silent (Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery #21)
Chapter 1
Where the bloody hell am I?
The Right Honorable Bayard Wilcox, Thirteenth Lord Wilcox, blinked up at the storm-churned night sky, its full moon little more than a ghostly aura obscured by roiling clouds. Then his stomach gave a sick lurch and he squeezed his eyes shut again with a groan.
Swiping one gloved fist across his runny nose, Bayard sucked in a deep breath and realized he was lying flat on his back on the bloody ground with the dried stalks of some bloody plant tickling his bloody ear.
He was so cold his teeth were chattering, and he smelled of blue ruin, woodsmoke, and piss.
Bloody Marcus Toole and his bloody cork-brained ideas.
Cautiously opening first one eye, then the other, Bayard rolled onto his side and stumbled to his feet.
He stood swaying for a moment, aware that his flap was undone and the front of his pantaloons was soaked with urine.
He had a vague memory of leaving the fire to take a piss and Toole laughing at him, telling him to look for some more scraps of wood while he was at it.
Bloody Marcus Toole.
Clumsily buttoning his flap, Bayard staggered back toward the golden, crackling glow of the fire, now blazing up hot and bright.
Toole must’ve found his own bloody firewood, Bayard thought as he caught the scent of roasting meat hanging heavily in the frosty country air. But where the hell was Toole?
“Toole?” Bayard roared. “Are you cooking a bloody rabbit or something? And where the devil did you find that tree trunk?”
The sight of the long black log engulfed by the fire struck Bayard as ridiculously funny, and he doubled over in a gale of laughter that brought tears to his eyes.
Except that when he straightened, wiping away his tears, he realized the thick, charred mass feeding those leaping flames was no log, and the pungent scent of roasting meat had nothing to do with a rabbit.
“Marcus?” whispered Bayard. Then he staggered back with a scream as the spreading flames ignited the smoking soles of his friend’s fire-scorched boots.