Page 64 of The Enemy to the Living
“How do you not?” he mutters, and my eyes widen, a laugh barking out of me before I can stop it.
“Grant’s been rubbing off on you, seems like.”
Vlad huffs. There’s just a slight flush of colour to his cheeks as he resettles against the wall.
“I’m glad you turned him,” I add. “I like him.”
Vlad nods tightly. We’re silent for a moment, and then he says, “I truly do not know what possessed me to do it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had finished a job. I thought I would walk back to where I was staying because it was still dark, and then I found him.”
I try to keep myself still, to hide my eagerness because I fear Vlad might stop speaking if I show any interest.
“I should not have walked that way,” he says, gaze distant. “I was heading in entirely the wrong direction. But I did not realise that until I had spoken to him and convinced him to let me turn him.”
“Convinced?”
“He was… hurt,” Vlad says. “That or death. It did not take much work on my part.”
“Do you think…” I trail off and watch as two gancanagh wander up to the troll watching the alley entrance. They all chat for a few seconds, and then the gancanagh slip into the shadows.
“Do I think what?”
“Do you think Maurice and Njáll truly bonded? Like the fae do?”
Vlad frowns. I don’t know if Maurice has told the Huntsman about this new development, but I don’t think he has. They don’t truly trust each other. Oh, the Huntsman trusts Maurice to do his job, and Maurice trusts the Huntsman to give us information we need, but…
There’s a reason only one of us was a witch, I think. A reason only one of us was a wolf.
We don’t resonate well with the fae.
“Yes,” Vlad says eventually. “And I worry about what that means for Maurice.”
“What do you mean?”
“Something Grant said,” Vlad says, with the faint softening of his eyes that happens every time he says Grant’s name. I don’t think he knows that about himself. “Maurice’s magic is tied to Njáll now. What happens if the Huntsman tries to rescind his blessing a second time?”
I growl. “He’ll kill them both.”
“Or not. The Huntsman has no power over Njáll. No blessing. No bargain.”
Huh. I let the words sink in, and when the inevitable question rises in my mind, I push it aside because I know Vlad won’t answer.
Is it the same for Grant, too?
“If it gets busy enough…” I begin, but Vlad shakes his head sharply.
“The Huntsman is not wrong about this. We were no match for the twins last time. This time, they have the advantage.”
“They don’t know we’re here.”
“No. They will be waiting for us, though. They know we do not give up so easily.”
I scowl, sulking just a little because he’s not wrong. How long can Bryn have left now? I feel a pang of guilt that I haven’t been back to check on him, but what can I do?
“The wolf,” I say.
