Chapter 31 Herbs

Chapter 31 Herbs


The forest closed around us like a living thing.

Bare branches clawed at the grey sky. Snow dusted the ground, not deep enough to hide tracks but enough to make every step treacherous. The warriors moved in practiced silence, spreading out, covering ground.

I stayed close to Garrick. Closer than strictly necessary, but he didn't complain. His body angled toward mine constantly, his eyes scanning trees and shadows with predator focus.

I watched the ground. Looked for crushed leaves, broken stems, anything that might indicate where Harker's men had passed. My breath fogged the air. My fingers grew numb despite my gloves.

"Talk to me," Garrick murmured. "What should we be looking for?"

"Nightshade grows low to the ground, dark leaves, small purple berries this time of year. They crush the leaves and rub them on their clothing. The scent overpowers their natural wolf smell." I kept my eyes moving. "Wolfsbane looks similar but the flowers are yellow. They might use both. The combination is stronger."

"And if they've crossed here recently?"

"We'll see broken stems, disturbed earth, maybe footprints if the snow hasn't covered them." I pointed to a cluster of vegetation near a fallen log. "Like there."

Garrick raised his fist. The patrol stopped.

I approached the log carefully, crouching to examine the plants. Broken stems, fresh enough that the sap still glistened. Footprints pressed into the frozen ground, partially obscured by fresh snow but still visible.

"Three, maybe four men." I looked up at Garrick. "Crossed within the last day. Headed east-southeast."

He crouched beside me, close enough that his thigh pressed against mine. He studied the tracks, then looked at me.

"How do you know the direction?"

"The way the stems are bent. They were moving that way when they crushed them." I pointed to the angle of the broken plants. "My grandmother taught me. Said if you can't track by sight, track by what's been touched."

Something shifted in his expression. Respect. Wonder. That heat that was always there, simmering beneath the surface.

"Your grandmother taught you well."

"She taught me everything she could before she died."

He held my gaze for a moment longer than necessary. Then he stood, pulling me up with him.

"We follow. Quiet, spread out. If they're still in the area, we find them."

The patrol moved again.

\---

The trail led deeper into unfamiliar territory.

The trees grew thicker, the light dimmer. Snow fell in fitful bursts, threatening to erase the tracks we followed. I stayed close to Garrick, pointing out signs the others might have missed. A scrap of fabric caught on a branch. The faint impression of a boot heel in frozen mud. More crushed nightshade, this time near a stream.

"They're refreshing the blocker," I murmured. "The scent fades after a few hours. They'd need to reapply."

Garrick nodded, absorbing the information. He passed hand signals to his warriors, adjusting their formation.

Calder appeared on my other side. His expression had changed. The hostility was still there, but something else had joined it. Reluctant acknowledgment.

"You're actually useful," he said quietly.

"High praise from you."

His jaw tightened, but he didn't snap back. "If this works, if we actually catch them because of what you've found, I'll owe you an apology."

"I'll hold you to that."

He almost smiled. Almost. Then he melted back into the trees.

Garrick caught my eye. The look in them said everything. Pride. Want. The promise of later.

I looked away before I did something stupid.

\---

We found them at midday.

A small camp hidden in a rocky outcropping, well sheltered from wind and view. Four men huddled around a fire, their weapons close at hand. Maps spread on a rock between them.

Garrick raised his fist. We froze.

He studied the camp for a long moment, assessing. Then he began issuing hand signals. Warriors peeled off, circling, positioning. Calder moved to cut off the eastern escape route.

Garrick pulled me behind a massive pine, pressing me against the trunk.

"Stay here. Do not move. Do not make a sound." His eyes burned into mine. "If something goes wrong, you run. Back the way we came. Don't stop for anything."

"Garrick—"

"Promise me." His voice cracked on the words. "I can't do this if I'm worried about you. I need to know you'll run."

I saw it then. The fear beneath the command. The terror of losing someone else.

"I promise."

He held my gaze for one heartbeat. Two. Then he leaned in and kissed me. Hard and fast and desperate, stealing my breath.

"Stay alive." He pulled back. "That's an order."

Then he was gone, moving through the trees like smoke.

I pressed against the pine and waited.

\---

The attack came fast.

Shouts. Snarls. The clash of metal. I pressed myself flatter against the trunk, heart pounding so loud I was sure it would give me away.

Through gaps in the undergrowth, I saw flashes of movement. Garrick's warriors engaging Harker's scouts. Bodies colliding. Blood spraying dark against the snow.

One of Harker's men broke from the fight, running straight toward my position.

I pressed my hand over my mouth. Twenty yards. Fifteen. His eyes wild, his blade red, his path taking him directly past my hiding spot.

Ten yards.

Then Garrick was there.

He hit the man like a landslide, driving him to the ground. They rolled, grappling, and I heard the wet sound of a blade finding flesh. The scout went still.

Garrick rose, chest heaving, blood dripping from his knife. His eyes found me immediately.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

He crossed the distance and pulled me from the tree, his hands running over my arms, my shoulders, my face. Checking. Confirming. His breathing ragged.

"I'm fine," I whispered. "You stopped him."

His hands cupped my face, tilting it up to his. His eyes were wild, full of adrenaline and fear and something deeper.

"When I saw him running toward you, when I thought I wouldn't make it in time..." He couldn't finish.

I wrapped my arms around him and held on.

We stood like that for a long moment, surrounded by the sounds of the dying fight, wrapped in each other. His heart hammered against my cheek. Mine matched it beat for beat.

"Anika." His voice was rough. "If you ever insist on something like this again—"

"You'll what? Lock me in my room?"

"Don't tempt me."

I pulled back just enough to look at him. "I found them. I identified the blocker. I helped. That's why I came."

"I know." He pressed his forehead to mine. "I know. And I hate that you were right."

"Then stop fighting me and start trusting me."

He was quiet for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nodded.

"Okay."

One word. But it changed everything.

Calder appeared through the trees. "Alpha. Two prisoners. Maps, documents, the works. We hit their supply cache too. More nightshade and wolfsbane than you'd believe."

Garrick straightened but didn't release me completely. His hand found mine, fingers twining together.

"Good work. Secure the prisoners, gather everything, prepare to move." He looked at me. "Can you walk?"

"I walked here. I can walk back."

"Then stay close. We're not done yet."

\---

The return trip took four hours.

By the time the lodge appeared through the trees, I could barely feel my feet. Exhaustion dragged at every muscle. The adrenaline had long since faded, leaving only bone-deep weariness.

Garrick caught me as I stumbled.

"I've got you." His arm wrapped around my waist, supporting my weight. "Almost there."

"I'm fine."

"You're freezing and exhausted. Let me help."

I didn't have the strength to argue. I leaned into him, letting him carry me the last hundred yards.

At the lodge gates, Eira waited. She took one look at me and started issuing orders. Hot water, warm blankets, food. Garrick didn't release me until I was seated by the healing house fire, a mug in my hands.

"You need rest," Eira said. "Real rest. No patients tonight."

"I have patients."

"They can wait." Her voice brooked no argument. "You're no good to anyone if you collapse."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Garrick spoke first.

"She's right. You're done for today." He crouched before me, his eyes holding mine. "Rest. That's an order."

"Since when do you give me orders about resting?"

"Since I watched you nearly get killed and realized I couldn't breathe until I knew you were safe." His voice dropped, meant for me alone. "Please, Anika. Rest."

Please. The word undid me.

"Okay."

He nodded, stood, and left without another word. But at the door, he paused, looking back. The look in his eyes burned through the distance between us, hot and hungry and full of promises.

Then he was gone.

Eira appeared with blankets, wrapping me like a child. "That man is going to be the death of both of you."

"I know."

But as I drifted into exhausted sleep, I couldn't find it in myself to care.

\---

I woke to darkness and the weight of someone watching.

My eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the dim glow of the banked fire. A figure sat in the chair beside my cot, broad shoulders silhouetted against the embers.

Garrick.

"You're supposed to be sleeping." My voice came out rough.

"So are you."

He leaned forward, and the firelight caught his face. He looked tired, the lines deeper than before, but his eyes were soft in a way I rarely saw.

"I couldn't sleep," he admitted. "Kept seeing that scout run toward you. Kept thinking about what could have happened."

"But it didn't."

"This time."

I reached out, my hand finding his in the darkness. His fingers closed around mine, warm and strong.

"You can't protect me from everything. You can't be everywhere, every second. At some point, you have to trust me to survive."

"I know." He brought my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. "I'm working on it."

We sat in silence, holding hands across the space between us. The fire crackled softly. Somewhere in the lodge, a child cried out in sleep and was soothed.

"Stay," I whispered. "Just for tonight."

He didn't argue. Didn't question. Just rose from the chair and lay down beside me on the narrow cot, his body curving around mine, his arm wrapping around my waist.

"This is highly improper," he murmured against my hair.

"Everything about us is highly improper."

He laughed softly, the sound vibrating through my back. "True."

I felt him relax behind me, his breathing evening out, his body warming mine. Sleep pulled at me, gentle and irresistible.

"Garrick?"

"Mm?"

"I'm glad I insisted on coming."

His arm tightened around me. "So am I."

We slept.