After another day, they finally set out for the infirmary early in the morning. Belen rode the cream-colored horse. She’d taken an instant liking to him and wouldn’t let Mom mount her. It would have been funny except Kerrick had been too impatient to appreciate the irony.

Flea and Mom rode the big black, which Flea had named Coffee. He’d also named Belen’s horse Tea, claiming the horse’s color reminded him of tea mixed with milk.

“Avry’s favorite drink,” Flea said as if that ended all discussion, which it did.

Huxley carried Mom’s sacks of cookware, food, and the teapots that she’d insisted on bringing along. Kerrick could never say no to Mom. Hux jingled when he trotted, but with Coffee and Tea pounding behind them, moving quietly was no longer an option.

Again the woods were empty of travelers. They encountered no one the first day and through the living green no intruders disturbed the forest’s peace within a few miles of them. But by midday on the second day, it was a different story. A sense of unease grew in Kerrick’s heart.

After a couple hours, Kerrick stopped Huxley and dismounted. He placed his palm on the ground, seeking the disruption. Just at the edge of his awareness, he encountered a big problem.

Soldiers. Lots of soldiers, filling the woods south and east of them. Filling the space between him and Avry.

Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER 18

“Go to hell? Is that all you can come up with?” Wynn asked me, amused. “I betrayed you and killed your boyfriend. I’d expected something...nastier.”

She believed Kerrick had died, interesting. I wondered what other misinformation she had. She’d kept her black hair buzzed short and the scar along her cheek had faded to a light pink.

“Unlike you,” I said, “I have scruples.”

“Too bad your scruples couldn’t protect you.” She gestured to the monkeys and Odd standing in the center of the infirmary. “Apparently, neither could they. But don’t be too hard on them, they were outnumbered thirty to one.”

“Where are the others?” I asked.

She sucked a breath in between her teeth. “Beyond your help, Baby Face.”

I glanced at Loren. “Lieutenant Macon?”

“We’re all that’s left,” Loren said with a mixture of anger and sorrow.

“See? I’m not all bad. I know they’re your friends.” Wynn’s expression remained smug.

Remembering my dream with Tohon, I guessed she’d planned to use them to guarantee my cooperation.

“What do you want, Wynn? You know I won’t agree to heal Tohon.”

She drew her knife and advanced on Odd. He stood his ground and glared at her with such intensity that if he were a fire mage, she’d be a pile of ashes by now.

Wynn pressed the tip to his throat. “Not even if I threaten his life?”

“No,” I said.