Page 43 of Enchanted Shadows
Wren gave me a quick hug before continuing to scream with the others.
Sam threw the rope over the side and began sliding down. That had to strain her wrists too, but she did it without looking like she was in too much pain.
I let the girls hug before making my way over there. “I knew you could do it.” I was damn proud of her.
“I just needed your shirtless presence,” she deadpanned.
It wasn’t until then I realized I still wasn’t wearing a shirt.
“Not that I’m complaining about it at all,” she added.
I crossed my arms defensively. “I heard screaming. I thought some loyalists got past the guards at the wall again.”
“No, that was just us,” Vivian laughed.
“How long have you been out here?” I asked them, to no one in particular.
Jessina laughed. “We let her sleep for a few hours and then rolled her out of bed.”
“I got to wake her,” Pippa the Pepper added with an evil smile. As if she had thoroughly enjoyed herself.
“And I helped,” Fern giggled.
“You do know that now all of you are going to be dead tired all day and you do not get out of running just because Sam passed in the nick of time, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Wren shrugged.
“Worth it,” Zara agreed.
“Let’s get to it before the adrenaline from Sam’s epic climb fades,” Molly suggested.
They were quickly becoming the least complaining bunch I’d ever had about running. “Go. I have to go find a shirt.”
“Or you couldn’t,” Remy yelled as she headed to the starting spot.
I spun to leave and had taken three steps when I heard one of them whisper to Wren something which had the wordscarsin it.
Yeah, my back had a few lashing scars. It was not nearly as rough looking as Krew’s back was, though. Not wanting them to think I was self-conscious about them, because I wasn’t, I spun to find it was Summer, who had whispered it to Wren. “You should see the other guy.”
When she gave her head a shake in confusion I added, “He’s dead, Summer. Actually, there were two different men. Both dead.”
The scars on my back were just a part of my journey. Theywere there. If I had to actually see them, I might hate them more, but I didn’t. I only had to carry them. I’d carry them forever, but the important thing here was that Theon Valanova and his minions were taken care of. The lashings were a thing of the past.
By the time I had my shirt and was back to time their run, Emric found me.
“Owen,” he greeted.
“Em.”
“I got some information on the secret mission you gave me,” he said quietly before putting up a sound barrier around us.
“And?”
“And the address that Zara used in the paperwork to apply for the team is one in Nerede, but not someone with the same last name as her. The house is registered under the name of Amos Reyes.”
“What?” I was still barely awake.
“I don’t think she’s married. I’m not sure if it’s a family friend or what. But in the little digging I did, this man doesn’t seem to hold a job in Nerede.”
