I felt Kull’s eyes on me. My stomach gave that annoying flutter. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, so I focused on Heidel instead. She now had the snake slung over one shoulder. She walked with a noticeable limp.
“Would you like to live here?” he asked me.
I was sure I hadn’t meant it that way, but perhaps I’d said it wrong. I thought it best to clarify. “No. I was merely stating that I like the view.”
“I believe you said that you would like to wake up every morning to this view, which would imply that you would like to live here.”
“It was a metaphor.”
He raised an eyebrow. We both turned to the window. Heidel found a footpath leading to the castle walls.
“She will use the south gate. If we hurry, we may catch her before she guts the beast. Come.” He turned.
I followed him through the tunnel and out of the library. He didn’t speak as we crossed through the hallways. Our footsteps echoed over the stone tiles, the only sound to break up the silence.
I wondered if Kull had told me everything. He’d said the Caxon were resistance fighters—but where did they come from? Did their quest have anything to do with my godson? They had more knowledge about the Dreamthief than me. If the two were connected, I needed to know everything about the Dreamthief and the Caxon I could find out.
I suspected Mr. Green could tell me, and I couldn’t forget the dream I’d had about Jeremiah creating Sissy’s face in the tiles. Two people I needed to talk to. I had to get back to Earth, but until I got that goblin’s dream catcher back, I wouldn’t be going anywhere.
We stopped at a broad stone staircase near the end of a hallway. I followed him down, holding my breath with each step and praying my rib didn’t crack open.
We stepped into a large foyer. Massive granite pillars surrounded us. Animal skins covered some of the walls, making the place feel less barren. A hide with thick, rust-colored fur covered a portion of the floor. As we crossed, the eyes of dozens of stuffed animals looked down on us. Most I recognized as Faythander species—Grimwelts, burbonskis, cissikins—though I spotted a twenty-foot crocodile amongst the rest. It stood in the corner with its mouth gaped open.
“Is this your collection?” I asked Kull.
“A portion of it.”
I pointed to the crocodile. “That’s an interesting kill.”
“I suppose so. I have no memory of it, though it must have been glorious.”
“How so?”
He raised his shirtsleeve to reveal a raised scar than ran the length of his arm. “I had this when I returned.”
We stopped at a pair of tall, wooden doors. They creaked as Kull pushed them open. The sunlight blinded me as we walked outside. We crossed a narrow bridge spanning a stream, its water gurgling with a musical sound beneath us.
When we entered the forest, the green canopy blocked out the sunlight. The murmur of fairy voices came from the trees. Their bobbing lights flitted in and out of view. Our feet crunched over dead leaves and twigs as the footpath wound toward the lake.
Heidel walked toward us. She looked feral with the snake slung over her shoulder, its blood smearing her neck and hands. She wore a long braid, though it was also matted with blood. The crazed look in her eyes gave me pause; she’d always seemed distant, but now she looked dangerous.
“Brother.”
She passed us without another word as she crossed to the stream. We followed her. She knelt on a muddy bank. Kull stalked after her, hands in his pockets, exuding casualness.
Heidel uncoiled the snake from her neck. Even in death, its body still writhed.
“You’ve managed a decent kill,” Kull said.
“It’s the best I could manage in these woods. Brodnik killed all the better game.”
With a flick of her wrist, she unsheathed her knife. She slit the beast’s belly open and then laid her knife aside. The intestines spilled out, shiny and pink in the morning sunlight. Grabbing a handful, she began the tedious chore of gutting the animal. Kull crouched beside her.
“It’s odd that you found us in Geth’s camp when you did, sister. Your timing seemed almost uncanny.”
“Did it?”
“Yes. And it is a miracle that Geth let us go so easily, as if he knew you.”
She eyed him.
“Did he know you?”
She wiped a blood-smeared hand across her cheek. “I met him once before. Briefly.”
“Are you sure?” Kull asked her. “He seemed to acknowledge you as more than just a passing acquaintance.”
“Yet that is all he is.”
“When did you meet him?”
She jerked a loop of intestine out and tossed it in the water. It hit the surface with a loud splash. “That is none of your business.”
I heard the snarl in her voice.
Kull watched her gut the snake, his eyes guarded. “Geth does not hesitate to kill. He is dangerous. If you have dealings with this man, then you should tell me. I will protect you—”
“Protect me?” she laughed. “What do you know of protecting me? Where were you when the goblins captured me? When I was chained like an animal and given no food or water? Where were you then?”
Kull looked as if she’d slapped him, but the moment was brief. He gave her a gentle smile. “I am not as skilled in the art of rescuing as you are.”
The snake coiled around her hand. With a frustrated scream, she yanked it away. She grabbed the entire carcass and flung it into the river. It landed with a splash that sent waves to the shore. Droplets pelted my face and arms.
Heidel collapsed onto the muddy bank. Kull sat beside her and rested his hand on her shoulder. She looked as if she meant to push it away. Instead, she stared into the undulating water, her eyes red
