camp, magically bind and interrogate Sky Heart, and then possibly let a murder happen.
As if reading my mind, Not Afraid spoke, “The lion and tiger have crossed the boundary. They hunt for you.”
Them being out of camp would make things easier. If they didn’t find me.
“Can you lead them away? Keep them busy until I can get back?” I asked. “Without hurting them,” I added.
“Yes.” Not Afraid flashed me a smile and for a moment looked as young as he had been when he died the first time. “I am good at being the deer.”
“All right,” I said. “You’ll have to point me in the right direction to get back.” I was going to do this. The killing had to end. As Not Afraid had said, justice needed doing, and it looked like it was up to me to see it done.
With grim thoughts and dangerous plans swirling through my head, I got to my feet and followed Not Afraid back into the woods.
I wasn’t as far from the ranch as I’d thought. The darkness had made the going very slow and it took me less time to return. The sun rose, cresting the trees, and I judged something like two or three hours had passed by the time I encountered the boundary stone I’d passed on my way out.
It was enough time for cold certainty to fight off my doubts. Enough time for me to come up with the basics of a plan. Three months before, a warlock had tried to turn some of my friends into living batteries. He’d been able to incapacitate shifters and trap them in their animal bodies. I had stopped him and eaten his heart, taking his power so I could free my friends.
I didn’t like going into Bernie’s memories, tapping into his knowledge. He hadn’t been a very sane or very nice man. I felt like it should have bothered me more to kill him, but every time I touched his power or accessed his knowledge I remembered why I wasn’t bothered at all.
I stopped at the stone and placed a small rock I’d picked up in the woods an hour before on top of it. I had filled the pebble with my power until I felt it wouldn’t hold more without blowing apart. Which it would, as soon as I told it to, in a blast designed to at least score if not break the boundary stone. The explosion would disrupt the ward.
If Sky Heart was guilty. I was sure he was, my mind going over and over the things Not Afraid had shown me and going over my own gut feelings about this place, about my grandfather.
But I would do what was right. I would cast my version of a circle of truth and I would hear his guilt from his own lips. I was sure this was the only way I could live with myself later. The murders had to stop but justice needed to be done, as well.
I looked around the gravel circle and saw a few people gathered in a group near one of the cabins, talking. The doors of one of the pole barns was wide open and there were sounds of people using tools inside. Further on I saw two women throwing pottery on wheels under the awning of another barn. The scene was more normal than it had been, domestic even.
As I stepped into the camp and walked toward the big house, I wished for a fleeting moment that Alek wasn’t off on a wild goose chase. I wanted to ask him what he thought, tell him about what I had discovered. I hesitated at the steps of the house. I was acting alone again, the way I was used to doing things. My whole life since Samir had killed my true family, the family of my heart, I’d been alone. I wasn’t used to having friends who I could trust with difficult things, friends who could handle themselves in the magical world. The real world.
Alek wasn’t here. I shook my head. This was my choice. My decision. I would learn the truth and I would stop these murders. Alek would understand that.
My thoughts felt like lies and I shoved them away. If he saw the bones. If he knew.
The door opened and Sky Heart stepped out onto the porch, taking away my last moments to think.
“You will leave,” he said, leveling the shotgun at me. “Now.”
No more hesitation.
As if reading my mind, Not Afraid spoke, “The lion and tiger have crossed the boundary. They hunt for you.”
Them being out of camp would make things easier. If they didn’t find me.
“Can you lead them away? Keep them busy until I can get back?” I asked. “Without hurting them,” I added.
“Yes.” Not Afraid flashed me a smile and for a moment looked as young as he had been when he died the first time. “I am good at being the deer.”
“All right,” I said. “You’ll have to point me in the right direction to get back.” I was going to do this. The killing had to end. As Not Afraid had said, justice needed doing, and it looked like it was up to me to see it done.
With grim thoughts and dangerous plans swirling through my head, I got to my feet and followed Not Afraid back into the woods.
I wasn’t as far from the ranch as I’d thought. The darkness had made the going very slow and it took me less time to return. The sun rose, cresting the trees, and I judged something like two or three hours had passed by the time I encountered the boundary stone I’d passed on my way out.
It was enough time for cold certainty to fight off my doubts. Enough time for me to come up with the basics of a plan. Three months before, a warlock had tried to turn some of my friends into living batteries. He’d been able to incapacitate shifters and trap them in their animal bodies. I had stopped him and eaten his heart, taking his power so I could free my friends.
I didn’t like going into Bernie’s memories, tapping into his knowledge. He hadn’t been a very sane or very nice man. I felt like it should have bothered me more to kill him, but every time I touched his power or accessed his knowledge I remembered why I wasn’t bothered at all.
I stopped at the stone and placed a small rock I’d picked up in the woods an hour before on top of it. I had filled the pebble with my power until I felt it wouldn’t hold more without blowing apart. Which it would, as soon as I told it to, in a blast designed to at least score if not break the boundary stone. The explosion would disrupt the ward.
If Sky Heart was guilty. I was sure he was, my mind going over and over the things Not Afraid had shown me and going over my own gut feelings about this place, about my grandfather.
But I would do what was right. I would cast my version of a circle of truth and I would hear his guilt from his own lips. I was sure this was the only way I could live with myself later. The murders had to stop but justice needed to be done, as well.
I looked around the gravel circle and saw a few people gathered in a group near one of the cabins, talking. The doors of one of the pole barns was wide open and there were sounds of people using tools inside. Further on I saw two women throwing pottery on wheels under the awning of another barn. The scene was more normal than it had been, domestic even.
As I stepped into the camp and walked toward the big house, I wished for a fleeting moment that Alek wasn’t off on a wild goose chase. I wanted to ask him what he thought, tell him about what I had discovered. I hesitated at the steps of the house. I was acting alone again, the way I was used to doing things. My whole life since Samir had killed my true family, the family of my heart, I’d been alone. I wasn’t used to having friends who I could trust with difficult things, friends who could handle themselves in the magical world. The real world.
Alek wasn’t here. I shook my head. This was my choice. My decision. I would learn the truth and I would stop these murders. Alek would understand that.
My thoughts felt like lies and I shoved them away. If he saw the bones. If he knew.
The door opened and Sky Heart stepped out onto the porch, taking away my last moments to think.
“You will leave,” he said, leveling the shotgun at me. “Now.”
No more hesitation.
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