Page 19 of Taloned Heart

“They’re all the human houses,” he muttered as he scuffed his foot in the ashes left from a fire that had torn through Beauty’s childhood home. “Aren’t they?”

“Yes,” Lore whispered, tears in her eyes as she stared at their only hope. “These were the houses that the mortals used to live in. I think Margaret targeted them first to get them out of hiding. It’s much easier to round up humans when they have nowhere else to go.”

Perhaps some of the magical creatures had tried to hide their human neighbors, but as he glanced around, he thought it was unlikely. Everyone here still looked the same. Hungry. Tired. Skittering spiders of people who lingered in the shadows, eyeing the pockets of others, hoping they might steal a little comfort for the evening.

The loss of all those people who had once lived here didn’t make it easier for the magical creatures. But that hadn’t been the purpose of her hunting them down, now had it? Margaret didn’t care about the state of Tenebrous. All she cared about was how much easier it would be for her if she didn’t have to worry about the humans rebelling.

“Come on,” he said, holding out his hand for Lore to take. “We still need to find somewhere to stay.”

Lore was staring at the rubble of the once beautiful home with too much intensity. Part of him wondered if she’d bring it back to life. If there was some spell locked away in her head, that would save the home from this terrible end, but he wasn’t so certain that he wanted her to do it. Magic was scarce in a place like this.

Someone would notice.

“Lore.” He kept his words low, but added a firm snap to the word. “We have to go.”

“I have somewhere else to check first,” she replied. “Then we can find a place to stay the night.”

“Where?”

Her eyes found his, and he already knew he would hate the answer. Abraxas even stepped forward as though to stop her from speaking, as if he could ever do that.

“Do you remember the first time we met?” Her words cast a spell on him.

Abraxas was suddenly catapulted back to that moment when he had known his life was about to change forever. The moment when he’d fallen in love with her at first glance.

“You were beautiful,” he said quietly. “Standing in the moonlight like an elf walking out of a storybook legend. I should have known then what you were, but I didn’t want you to be in danger, so I told myself you were only mortal. Wild and free like you were, I should have known that the forest was too deeply ingrained in your being for you to be anything but an elf.”

“A night full of illusion. Of blue butterflies to catch on the wind for rich people to have a bit of our magic for the first and only times in their lives.” Her lips twisted in a smile that was anything but happy. “A creature with great power did all of that. And he lived near here.”

He hummed low underneath his breath. “Borovoi.”

“Indeed.”

“He won’t still be here. That monster knows how to flee from trouble at the very first sight. He’s a survivor.” Abraxas tried very hard not to let his lip curl at the thought of the beast.

“You dislike him?” Lore watched his expression with an amused one of her own.

“I’ve never liked him.” Abraxas didn’t have to explain himself, but he did anyway. “He was one of the King’s pets. I have no interest in the man, nor do I wish to have any pity for him when he very well could have caused all of this to happen.”

“He helped me. He made sure that I was safe and hidden in that party and made sure the King’s eyes were on me and no one else. In doing that, he set all of this in motion.”

Grumbling under his breath, Abraxas couldn’t help but correct, “He was probably the mastermind behind all of it.”

“Regardless, I want to see if he’s still here. If he can help us.”

Borovoi wouldn’t. The creature was as monstrous as Zander had been, at least in Abraxas’s opinion. Of course, Borovoi had been behind a lot of spells that trapped Abraxas for the King. When the Magician had left, Borovoi was the one to maintain all the old magic.

Not that there were a lot of them. But he very much remembered the man weaving more spells around the box that held his eggs safely at bay from him, and he’d never forgive the creature for that.

Lore was already moving, though. He didn’t have any choice other than to follow her.

They picked their way through the city, keeping their eye on a few thieves who trailed them because they didn’t recognize the strangers in their midst. And who better to steal from than strangers with cloaks that were a little too fine for a place like this?

One got close and Abraxas bared his teeth at the man.

“Don’t,” Lore said as the boy raced away. “They’ll guess what you are. Those teeth are hard to hide.”

His teeth weren’t changed. He was just trying to air some of this frustration.

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