Page 95 of Blood & Claw

Of course, they weren’t entirely alone. Kayla was out here too. And soon they’d find her.

The back of Ailsa’s neck prickled then. The same instinct that had warned her before a fight … or before something lunged from the dark.

Stiffening, she glanced over her shoulder, surveying the press of blue-green firs behind her. She couldn’t see anything, although her senses sharpened.

Fern?

She might be hiding in the trees, or something else might be.

Fern hadn’t appeared to mean them harm, yet it paid to be cautious.

Slowly, Ailsa reached down and drew the blade from the back of her boot. She was still staring into the trees, wondering at her next move, when Dale returned.

“I found tracks … heading north now.” He saw that she was clutching her blade and checked his stride. “What’s wrong?”

“Not sure.” She stepped closer to him. “I can’t see anything, but it feels as if something is watching me … in the trees.”

Dale’s eyebrows drew together as he peered into the line of firs as well. “I don’t see anything …” A beat passed, and his hand slid to the hilt of his dagger. “But that doesn’t mean you’re wrong.”

With that, he swung onto Rùn’s back and reached down and pulled her up after him. Then, without another word, he urged the stallion on.

They leaped across the burn and thundered west.

Still holding onto her dagger with her right hand, Ailsa clung to his waist with her left. “How fresh were the tracks?”

“I’d say they passed this way during the afternoon.”

Ailsa’s heart kicked. “So close.”

23: WHAT ELSE ARE YOU HIDING?

“WHAT WERE YOU and Fern whispering about this morning?”

Ailsa glanced up from where she was plucking the grouse he’d caught. They’d camped upon a hillside. Fog rolled in like porridge now, narrowing their world. The Goatfells reared to the north—Ailsa had caught glimpses of them through the trees earlier in the day—but the mist shrouded them. The world ended just beyond the glow of their fire.

She thought about brushing off his question, about telling him it was nothing of importance. However, the suspicious glint in Dale’s eyes gave her pause.

Relations were so strained between them now, yet the things Fern had said had been gnawing at her all day.

“Fern thinks there’s something wrong with you.” Warmth rolled over her then. Coward. Fern’s observations hadn’t been confined to him, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit such. No, it was best if they made this all about him.

Dale pulled a face and dropped to a crouch before the fire, putting down the branches and twigs he’d just collected. Enough fuel to see them through the night.

“She says you smell feral,” Ailsa went on.

She let silence fall then, let her words sink in.

To her surprise, Dale’s face paled. A nerve flickered under one eye.

Ailsa’s gaze narrowed. She’d thought her news would vex rather than rattle him. The man looked as if he’d just seen his own shade. “I’m sure it’s all nonsense,” she added quickly.

Dale made a sound in the back of his throat and closed his eyes.

Her breathing caught. Now, he really did have her worried. “Dale?”

His eyes opened, and he met her gaze across the fire.

She stiffened at the bleakness in the depths of them. “What’s wrong?”