Curse Breaker (2)

22

His eye darts between Killian and I, as if dissecting the space. "Freya Raune," he repeats, his voice merely a whisper. His eyes dart over my shoulder, to Lei, Cas and Cadence waiting in the trees. "You are Freya Raune."

I swallow. Nod.

"What are you doing with a shifter?"

If Killian is surprised that Myers knows what he is, he doesn't show it. I try to mask my own, lifting my chin and stepping closer to Killian. "Because I... I know the truth. About my mother."

Slowly, the door creaks open, leaving a large enough gap for the daylight to break through the darkness inside. Myers hobbles behind the door, his small frame barely visible as he eyes me and Killian.

His eyes draw over my shoulder, to Casimir who has moved to stand only inches behind me. "You have a deserter with you."

Killian nods. "He can be trusted."

"No deserter can be trusted."

A tense silence falls over the clearing. There was a time when I wondered if Myers himself was a deserter; rumours certainly said as much. But just as Killian wasn't, Casimir doesn't appear unsettled that Myers knows what he is. It unnerves me. For an erratic old man labelled a lunatic, it seems he knows more than all of us combined.

Lei nudges Casimir in the ribs, earning a scowl. "Show me where we can get a horse. We'll need one to get back to base."

Casimir opens his mouth to protest, but I speak first. "Look after Cadence." I squeeze his hand. "I'll see you soon." He glances at Killian over my shoulder, eyes mistrusting. "Trust me."

His eyes soften, and he nods, turning around to follow Lei. Taking Cadence's hand, he leads her numbly through the forest. I try not to let it affect me, the way she moves in a zombie-like fashion.

Turning back around, Killian meets my gaze. Myers has gone inside, leaving the cabin door swinging open.

"Ready?" Killian asks.

The word is so simple but holds so much. Ready for my life to shift further on its axis, to find out more information that dislodges my entire identity? I don't know if that's something one can ever truly be ready for.

"Let's go."

He catches my wrist, gaze holding mine. My stomach somersaults, his touch sending electricity up my arm. "If it's too much, if you want to leave, just say the words."

He releases me before I get a chance to respond, stepping ahead of me into the dingy cabin. Taking a shaky breath, I follow into the darkness. Inside, the hall is narrowed by clutter lining the walls, stacked so high it reaches the ceiling. A singular oil lantern lights the way through the obstacle of clutter till the hall widens into what appears to be some sort of dining room. I gaze around, shifting from foot to foot. It looks different than I remember it, just as cluttered and dark, but as if his belongings have been moved from one pile to the next to reveal a different patch of floor.

Myers sits perched on a small wooden stool in the middle. "Why have you come, child?" he asks, eyes bulging as he rocks side to side. "You are not safe here."

A warning or a threat. I'm not sure.

I swallow the lump in my throat. "How did you know my father?"

"What leads you to believe that?"

"He took me here, more than once. I remember coming when I was a child. And... and recently I remember coming last year, the night before the Red Moon when he was murdered and the shifters took my brother. Why?"