Page 4 of Feathers and Thorns
“Us?” Baz breathed. “What about you?”
“Woman, I thought I would never see you again,” Enara said, cupping Soren’s face.
“It’s been a hell of a time,” Soren said, sitting back on her haunches to catch her breath.
“Have you been here this whole time?” Enara asked.
“Yeah, I have been his …” She hesitated at the word prisoner because it wasn’t quite accurate. “Well, I couldn’t leave voluntarily, but I had free rein of the house.”
“Why were you taken? How did you get out?” Enara continued peppering her with questions.
“It’s a long story.”
Soren recounted the events of the last few weeks, pausing to let her friends and their strange companion take it all in. She left certain parts out, not knowing how much this guy, Jai, knew, but Baz assured her that he was all good, and she trusted his opinion. So, she shared everything she had learned while in the manor, including how the relationship between her and Rook had grown and ended with the devastating discovery that Rook had murdered her father.
“Oh, Soren …” Enara shook her head in disbelief. “Hon, I am so sorry.”
“I feel so lost,” she said solemnly. “Can we not talk about it anymore? I want to know what happened to you guys. Tell me everything.”
“What do you want to know?” Baz asked.
“Well, for starters,” Soren replied, eyeing their interlaced fingers, “you two seem more … comfortable with each other.”
Enara blushed. “Yeah, you missed a lot, too.” Her friend shared the stories of their travels and how she had saved Baz’s life.
“Maker, I am so glad you’re okay, Baz,” Soren said, her stomach twisting at the thought of anything happening to him.
“And after a few well-played hands of joker’s gambit,” Enara finished, “we bumped into Jai and hired him to track you down.” She purposely omitted the spicier details of her and Baz’s newfound relationship. She would reserve those for a later time … when they had a moment away from the guys.
They embraced again as relief filled them. The trio was finally together again.
They settled on a plan for getting home, falling into old routines, finding comfort in each other after all the craziness of the last few weeks.
Soren was doubled over, laughing at a joke Baz had said, when her chuckling was cut short.
The four of them jumped to their feet as General Corvus walked into their camp, causing them all to reach for their weapons of choice.
“Well, isn’t this cozy?” he mocked. “The master won’t be pleased to see you tried to escape. He already killed my brother for nearly letting you drown. We can’t have that now, can we?”
“You have two choices,” Soren threatened, raising one of her blades. Evelyn had given her a set of throwing knives as a parting gift, but they felt strange in her hands. They didn’t quite fit, almost as if her body was rejecting them. “Leave now,” she warned, “or we will string you up, pluck out your feathers one by one, and leave you here to rot.”
He smiled wickedly, and she resisted the urge to loose her daggers. Even unbalanced, she was confident she could have one through his skull before he flapped his wings.
“I was hoping we could do this again,” he said, smiling.
The false grin made her feel sick to her stomach as his features contorted to bare his too-white teeth.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” Enara said, standing firm beside Soren.
“Don’t be a fool, girl,” Corvus mocked. “My flock has been training; you won’t stand a chance.”
“Try me,” Enara replied, her threat laced with venom.
As if it were the response he had been waiting for, General Corvus let out a loud whistle that resembled a broken bird call. A moment later, several kestrels dropped to the ground, shaking loose snow from the evergreen branches.
“Shit,” Baz said, tightening his grip on his sword, trying to gauge which beast to attack first.
“They must have been resting in the treetops,” Jai growled in frustration. He was angry at himself for being so distracted. He had one job, and he had failed to alert them of the danger. His heart beat painfully against his ribcage. Because of him, they were all going to die.