Chapter 13 Elara
ELARA
Elara woke to darkness and the sound of steady breathing below. She checked her phone. Four thirty. Still hours before dawn.
She should go back to sleep. Should stay in the warm nest of blankets and wait for morning. But her mind was already spinning, questions stacking on top of questions.
And Alaric's cabin, sparse as it was, might hold answers.
She climbed down the ladder carefully, testing each rung to keep it from creaking. At the bottom, she paused, listening. His breathing stayed steady. Deep and even from where he lay on the couch.
The wood stove still radiated warmth. She moved toward the bookshelf in the corner, using her phone's dim light to see. A handful of books. Field guides mostly. One on mountain weather patterns. Another on tracking.
And there, on the second shelf, a wooden box.
Elara glanced back at the couch. Alaric hadn't moved. She lifted the box down, setting it on the small table. The lid opened easily, no lock.
Inside, papers. Official looking ones. She pulled out the top document and angled her phone to read it.
Council insignia at the top. An elaborate design with intertwined branches and what looked like animal shapes worked into the pattern.
Below it, typed text appointing Alaric Thistlebrush as Enforcer, with duties including protection of town borders, investigation of threats, and containment of unauthorized personnel.
Containment.
Her stomach tightened. She pulled out another document. This one older, edges worn. A list of names with dates beside them. Some crossed out. Some marked with notes in tight handwriting.
"What are you doing?"
Elara spun around. Alaric stood five feet away, arms crossed. She hadn't heard him move. Hadn't heard the couch creak or his footsteps.
"I couldn't sleep," she said.
"So you decided to go through my things."
"I was curious."
"You were snooping." He crossed to the table in three strides and took the papers from her hands. "This is private."
"Then you shouldn't have left it where I could find it."
"I left it in my home. Where you're a guest." He put the documents back in the box and closed the lid. "Did it occur to you that some things aren't your business?"
"Everything's my business. That's my job."
"Your job." His jaw tightened. "Right. The story. That's all this is to you."
"What else would it be?"
He didn't answer. Just stood there holding the box, looking at her like she'd crossed a line she couldn't uncross.
"What does enforcer mean?" she asked.
"Exactly what it sounds like."
"Which is what? You enforce rules? Keep people in line?"
"Something like that."
"And containment of unauthorized personnel. That's me, isn't it? I'm unauthorized personnel."
"You're someone who wandered into a place you don't belong."
"So you contain me. Keep me from causing trouble." She gestured to the box. "Is that what those documents are? Instructions on how to deal with people like me?"
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"Then explain it to me."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because some answers are more dangerous than the questions." He set the box back on the shelf. "You should go back to bed."
"I'm not tired."
"Then sit. Read a book. Stare at the fire. I don't care. But stay out of my things."
Elara crossed her arms. "You brought me here. You insisted I stay. You don't get to be angry that I'm curious about who you are."
"I brought you here so you wouldn't freeze. Not so you could interrogate me at four in the morning."
"I wasn't interrogating. I was looking."
"Same thing with you."
They stood facing each other, the tension thick enough to cut. The fire crackled in the stove. Outside, wind rattled the windows.
"I saw names on that list," Elara said quietly. "Names with dates. Some crossed out. What does that mean?"
His expression closed off completely. "Nothing you need to worry about."
"But it's something. Something important enough to keep locked in a box."
"Important enough to keep private."
"From me specifically, or from everyone?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes. Because if you're hiding something that affects this whole town, that's a story. But if you're hiding something personal, something that hurt you, then that's different." She took a step closer. "Which is it, Alaric?"
He looked at her for a long moment. Something flickered in his eyes. Something that might have been pain or might have been regret.
"Get dressed," he said finally. "I need to do a patrol. Check that nobody got lost in the blizzard."
"It's four thirty in the morning."
"Storm's easing. Best time to check." He moved to grab his coat from the hook by the door. "You can stay here. Keep warm. I'll be back in an hour."
"Or I could come with you."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because it's cold. It's dark. And you're not equipped for it."
"I have boots. I have a coat. I can handle cold and dark."
"This isn't a nature hike. It's serious work."
"Then let me see what serious work looks like in Hollow Oak." She moved toward her bag. "You want to contain me? Fine. Contain me while I'm watching you do your job. Maybe I'll actually understand what everyone here is so afraid of."
He pulled on his coat, not looking at her. "You're not coming."
"Yes, I am."
"Elara."
"Alaric." She met his eyes. "You can stand there and argue with me for twenty minutes, or you can accept that I'm going to follow you anyway and save us both the time. Your choice."
His jaw worked. She could see him weighing options, calculating risks.
"If you slow me down, I'm leaving you behind," he said finally.
"Fair enough."
"If you get hurt, that's on you."
"Understood."
"And if I tell you to be quiet, you be quiet. No questions. No commentary. Just silence."
"I can do that."
"I doubt it." But he grabbed a second pair of gloves from the shelf and tossed them to her. "Wear these. Yours won't be warm enough."
Elara pulled on the gloves. They were too big, but they were lined with something soft and immediately warming.
Alaric shrugged into a heavier coat, one that looked like it could withstand arctic temperatures. He grabbed a pack from beside the door and slung it over his shoulder.
"Stay close," he said. "Don't wander. And if something feels wrong, you tell me immediately."
"What kind of something?"
"Any kind of something." He opened the door. Cold air rushed in, sharp and biting. "Ready?"
"Ready."
"You're going to regret this."
"Probably." She stepped past him into the pre-dawn darkness. "But I'm going anyway."