Unhappily Ever After

Chapter 71 - Narrowing

Ebony flew just below the clouds. I could feel the wind buffeting at her wings and see nothing but a blanket of white above us. When I finally planted the idea that she should sweep into a dive, it came in the form of a sudden bank. She tucked her wings in tight and let gravity do its work.

We dipped below the canopy. Ebony slipped into a gentle glide, tipping from side to side to avoid the tree trunks. She flew a wide circle around the meadow and then ranged further out for another loop.

Her eyes were difficult to make sense of because she saw more colours than I did, and there was the otherworldly glow of UV light which coated every single leaf in the forest and let me pick them out as individuals. Her eyes were drawn to movement but struggled in the dimmer light. I had to ask her to circle back on several occasions to be sure I hadn't missed anything.

I could have taken control of her body completely, but it was a drain on my strength which I couldn't afford. I already could feel my mind starting to slip whenever she ventured a little too far from camp. My sister was not here to pull me back, and I knew that falling into the empty space between my mind and Ebony's would be a death sentence.

On the third pass, I found what I was looking for. A man sat in a tree with a rifle and a pair of binoculars. He had them trained on the castle in the distance, and I could see from Ebony's perch on a yew branch that he had a clear line of sight to the gates.

Ebony was encroaching on someone else's territory. A group of four magpies come out of a bush to mob her until she was forced to take off again, but I'd already gotten what I'd needed. I withdrew from her mind and opened my eyes.

"East side, thirty metres in. He's in a birch tree," I told Jaz. "I want him alive."

She laced her fingers together and sighed. "I'm sure you do, but how am I supposed to take him alive when he's got a gun?"

I got to my feet. "Use your imagination."

After only the barest hesitation, she left. No one seemed to want to test my patience at the moment, and I wasn't sure I blamed them. I had snapped at someone for sneezing not twenty minutes ago.

As soon as she was gone, I turned to Maggie, who was sat in the corner wringing her hands. "Are you coming?"

"Of course I'm coming, you idiot," she exclaimed. "What are you waiting for?"

If there was anyone whose temper was shorter than mine, it was my mother-in-law. I eyed her with a special sort of wariness and eased a hand into my pocket, being so very careful not to cause any clanking.

"I need you to take a look at this map for me," I told her. "Point out exactly where your bungalow is on the territory."

Maggie stood up abruptly and stalked over. "Are you daft, boy? How many times have you been there?"

There was cold metal coiled in my palm. I turned to one side to let her lean over the map, and in doing so I got a clear shot at her wrist. The cuff closed around her skin, and I yanked it sideways to attach the other end to a metal ring in the wall before she could even process what had happened.

And then I had to practically throw myself out of her reach before she could throttle me. She gave it a good try anyway, landing a backhanded smack to the side of my head as I retreated. I rubbed at my numb ear ruefully.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "Unlock it. Now."

I shook my head. "Jess will want you safe."

"She's my daughter, and I'm not just going to sit here—"

"Then it's lucky you don't have any choice, isn't it?" I asked, heading for the entrance before I could change my mind. She spat and cursed at my retreating back, but there wasn't much else she could do.