Page 106 of Kingdoms of Night

If it hadn’t been like that throughout most of the day, she might have worried it meant a predator was nearby. But it seemed that this was the reality of this world.

She tapped her finger against her scalp to soothe the itch without disturbing her braids further. The wolves moved alongside her, whimpering and whining, their low plaintive voices confirming their concern.

Her eyes burned, and her body ached from head to heel. But she knelt beside him and began checking his wounds.

Numerous scratches and scrapes bloodied his body. Beyond that, long and gnarled purple and burgundy scars twisted over his back, some ripped open. They were already healing.

Her heart twinged for him. Whatever abuse he had once suffered had to have been extreme. Her throat tightened. Nothing she could do about that. What could she do to help him now?

A dark jagged scar arched across his chest, deeper at the top.

Those scars she couldn’t heal. If only she could. The cuts over his body already seemed to be mending. But he still wasn’t recovered from the poison and the wyrm; if he took a chill, that would worsen it. The fever at least had passed. He needed treatment and rest. Yes, rest more than anything. And warmth.

“I don’t know how we’re going to make it through the rest of the night,” she said, as much to herself as to him. “We’re too exposed. Who knows what else is out here? I wish I knew a safer place to make camp. Something about this place makes me uneasy too.”

Buttercup barked, then trotted toward the forest near the point where the spriggan had appeared. Hawthorn grabbed her skirt again and gave a gentle tug.

“I can’t leave him to go look for some place else.” She tugged her skirt free.

Hawthorn whined again, then caught ahold of her skirt once more.

She pressed her lips into a tight line. “All right. We need to figure out how to communicate more clearly. Two barks for yes. One bark for no. Do you understand?”

Both wolves barked twice.

All right. This could work. She set her hands on her waist as she looked in the direction they were trying to lead her. “Are you saying you found a place to spend the night?”

Two barks followed. They could scarcely stand still as they wagged their tails.

“Is it far?”

Only one bark this time.

“Are you sure it’s safe?”

Two more barks. Buttercup trotted back to the forest.

Chewing on her lip, Idalno weighed her options. Feron needed to be warmed, especially with his clothes shredded and his body still fighting off the effects of the tea and wyrm venom. “If I go with you, will one of you stand watch over him?”

They agreed, their barks growing more excited.

“And if I go with you, will you howl or make noise to let me know something is going wrong?”

Again, they barked twice. This time they were practically bounding back and forth.

“All right,” she said slowly. This wasn’t a good plan, but it was better than waiting out the night in the open. She picked up a burning branch. “Let’s go. I don’t know how long before the loop snaps us back together, but hopefully it’s close enough.”

What far meant to a wolf wasn’t really a question she’d ever planned on answering. She prayed that the loop curse wouldn’t trigger and Feron would recover.

Buttercup trotted along in front, glancing back over her shoulder a time or two to make sure Idalno still followed, her shaggy tail wagging slightly. Whatever the wolves had found, they were proud of it.

It was a little ways into the forest, not following a trail, though the trees did clear out in spaces.

A hut appeared. No warning. Just walking up a gentle slope and ducking under branches when there—there it was. A high-roofed hut.

Not the best-looking place in the world by any means.

It was rundown, the roof sagging from water damage and age. It smelled mildewy. Even the door had molded. Half of it appeared to be buried in the hill. The aging blue shingles had faded to little more than a powder blue, though the shutters remained deep indigo and the door more or less red with gray. Ivies and vines had twisted around, embedding themselves into the wooden frame and stone steps.

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