Page 22 of A Tempest of Shadows

I dared to take my eyes off the woods to glance at the door and the tree. How long has he been here, watching me?

Adjusting my hold on my bow, I edged away from the tree and deeper into the woods. The Scourge of the Ghouls is hunting me.

I’d never been so petrified in my life, not even when I robbed my first carriage. My legs hadn’t shaken then, but my knees practically knocked together as my mind raced while I contemplated my escape.

I had to get into the trees. He was bigger, better trained, and stronger, but I knew these woods and the things residing here better than anyone. I was a part of the Revenant Woods in a way he never could be.

I nocked my other arrow against the string and held it there while I waited for something to move again. Killing him wasn’t an option; I could never live with myself if I killed him because he was searching for the immortal who had stolen from him.

Stealing his money was one thing, and I could rationalize it by helping others, but I could never live with myself if I killed someone to keep my secret hidden. No, killing him wasn’t an option, but I could use my arrows to get away, and I would.

A flicker of movement came from ten feet to my left. I had no idea how he’d gotten there so fast, but I spun and fired.

I didn’t have to see where the arrow landed; my aim was never off. I wouldn’t hit him because a tree still protected him, but the shot would keep him from poking his head out until I fled.

Swinging my bow onto my back, I sprinted for a tree, grabbed a low-hanging branch, and swung myself onto it. As I climbed, a poltergeist flew around my head, yelling, “Boo!”

I ignored it; that was the best thing I could do for the annoying creature as it brushed my skin and tried to encircle my head. Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself faster as I rose, ran across one tree branch, and launched onto another tree.

Leaping from limb to limb, I easily traveled from one tree to another. I picked up another poltergeist that twisted around my arm while wiggling its fingers in my face.

I didn’t pay any attention to either of the chilly creatures as I remained focused on evading the man hunting me. Shit!

Robbing his carriage had been my biggest mistake, and I might be about to pay for it with my head. Tree branches slapped and battered me as I sprinted through the woods.

I stayed away from the conifers as they were a lot tougher to travel through. Glancing down, I spotted Ryker flashing through the leaves below.

I didn’t want to harm him; he didn’t deserve it. I was the one who’d brought this down on my head, but I couldn’t let him catch me. He might kill me if he did, and if not, then he’d surely hand me over to the prince, who would definitely kill me.

My heart hammered, and my breath sounded loud in my ears, which wouldn’t help me escape the Scourge. I had to get control of this situation, but I had no idea how to do it.

What did I do? Why did I have to rob that carriage?

It didn’t matter. That was the past, and now I was trapped in the present with Ryker hunting me… and he would be ruthless.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Ryker

Whoever the Hooded Robber was, they were fast and moved through the trees like they were one of the ghosts drifting around me. I swatted at one of the poltergeists; when my hand passed through its icy, misty body, it laughed.

Something howled deeper in the woods as a creature crept through the trees. After spending a year in Doomed Valley, a jungle full of monsters that would gladly tear the flesh from any living thing, the lethal creatures of these woods didn’t bother me.

When a piglike beast erupted out of a grove of brambles, I pulled my sword from its sheath and carved the creature down before it could take out my legs with its six-inch tusks. Blood spurted from the hole I’d created in its head as it faceplanted into the ground.

One of the poltergeists screeched and whizzed behind a tree before recalling it was already dead. It flitted back out from behind the tree and came back toward me.

Above me, the Hooded Robber raced from one limb to another as they sought to evade capture. I kept waiting for arrows to fly, but so far, the thief wasn’t unleashing any more of their projectiles.

Thin and limber, the thief moved with unrelenting grace from tree to tree. He was small but quick; his black clothes didn’t snag on any branches while he moved.

I didn’t understand why this asshole wasn’t firing more arrows at me, but I would use their hesitation against them. I was tired of them hiding in the trees and not about to climb up there after them.

Gathering the power of the air and the electricity around me, I lifted a hand to the sky. The air crackled with electricity as thunder rumbled and a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky.

The Robber was in midleap from one tree to another when lightning hit the branch he was about to land on, causing it to explode. As bark sprayed the bastard’s face and sparks erupted into the air, the Robber fell away from the still-smoldering end of the branch.

He bounced off a few branches, his hands flailing for purchase as he plunged toward the ground. I smiled grimly and planted my feet as I waited for the fucker to hit the ground, but his upper body wrapped around a tree branch, and his arms hooked over it.