Unhappily Ever After

Chapter 2 - Touch and Go

I got perhaps a mile before I caught their scents. Oh, Eira had been clever — staying downwind, getting her Shadowcat companion to turn his scent off, then using him as cover. She knew how to hunt, and on that rainy night, I was the prey.

But I could hunt too. I had been scouring the wind for tell-tale smells, and I had been expecting her to follow. It was just the Eira thing to do. So I found a gorge, left a trail of footprints right to its entrance, turned off my scent, squatted down and waited.

The rain hadn't relented. It still poured down, soaking anything I had previously managed to keep dry. Even my so-called 'waterproof' rucksack of equipment wasn't spared. Lighting a fire with wet kindling would be fun later.

It didn't take them long to find me. Eira, thinking she was being so very sneaky, crept down the treacherous slope. My father slipped and slid behind her, muttering complaints about the weather. When they were both at the bottom and truly cornered, I stood slowly. Dad's eyes widened and he smiled crazily, but he stayed mercifully silent.

Eira must have heard the slight rustle of clothing. She turned to find her big brother glaring at her, arms folded across his chest. And she swore at me.

I let the words wash over me as easily as the rain, then said a few of my own. "Go home."

"I'm already home," she murmured, so quietly I could barely hear. The weather seemed to have dampened her temper. "You and Dad are here. That's good enough for me."

"Gwen's on the island. She needs you more than I do."

Eira rolled her eyes. "She needs you too. You're still leaving."

As I couldn't reply to that without revealing my real motives, I pressed my lips together. She read every unspoken word on my face, though.

"I'm in the Guard. You think I didn't hear the whispers? I get what you're doing. And I'm here because I wish I was that selfless."

I narrowed my eyes, yet some part of me thawed at the last word. Of course she knew. She'd always had a nose for secrets. "And your patrol?"

"They'll survive without me. Peyton can take charge — he's sensible enough."

We both stared at each other, testing our willpower. The two of us could fight all day and night if we had a mind to. We were both equally stubborn. But if I provoked her today, Gwen might have time to catch up. And that was the last thing I wanted, because wasn't sure I could look her in the eye and then walk away.

"Fine. You can come."

She tucked a stray lock of light-brown hair into her hood. "I wasn't ever asking your permission. Just glad we both understand each other now. All the better for an adventure. We can explore the mainland, kick back, have some fun, and you never know, Ric ... we might finally get that stick out of your arse."

I suppressed a grin and shook my head. "I don't know, Eira. It's really wedged up there."

"You can say that again. When was the last time you smiled? Do you even know?"

That was an easy one. "Of course I do. It was last year, at the winter festival. You got tipsy and fell on your face in front of everyone."

"Ah, good times," Eira said happily. "That was before you got all serious and boring."

"You'd be all serious and boring too, if Mum hadn't spoilt you rotten. The precious runt of the litter. Unthinkable that you could ever be given any sort of responsibility," I muttered.

A blow caught the back of my skull, knocking me sideways. It wasn't particularly forceful, just unexpected. I narrowly avoided planting my backside in a muddy puddle and span to identify my father. He wrinkled up his nose. "Bickering. They bickering again. Stupid children. Less talk, more walk, yesh?"