The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow (The Guild Codex: Unveiled #3)(21)

He arched an eyebrow and spun the steering wheel. The truck swerved toward the rushing rapids of the creek.

“Zak!” I shrieked.

The wheels bounced over the rocky shore, then we plowed into the water. The current shoved at the wheels—but we kept bouncing forward, rolling over boulders hidden just beneath the rapids.

The creek was only as wide as the truck was long, and the front tires jolted up onto dry ground. I let out a breathy exhale.

Zak cast me a smug smirk. “Now you know how it feels.”

“Asshole.”

As an innocent party in your reckless driving competition, Ríkr growled from the backseat, I would have appreciated some warning.

I pried my fingers off the handle above my seat. “How’d you know you could cross there?”

“Because I created the crossing—with some fae help. You timed your question perfectly, by the way.”

I scowled at him.

Fallen leaves covered the ground, disguising the narrow track that cut through the trees. The creek peeked through the foliage until the corridor through the forest curved away from the water. We drove for another few minutes, then the woods gave way to a small valley.

My heart lodged in my throat.

Once, the valley had probably been lush and beautiful. But as it was now, the word “wasteland” came to mind. The surrounding mountains were vibrantly green and bursting with life, but the valley was a uniform grayish brown dotted with the burnt skeletons of trees. It was as though a wildfire had swept through the valley, except even the worst fires didn’t kill everything. This was something more sinister.

Tension was radiating from Zak again. He drove the truck onto the scorched, dusty earth. The creek had come back into view, winding through the center of the valley, and on its nearer side were the remains of several buildings. They, too, had been utterly destroyed.

The truck rolled to a stop beside the collapsing remains of a farmhouse. Zak cut the engine, but he didn’t unbuckle his seatbelt. He just sat there, staring through the windshield at the vista of death.

“What happened?” I asked.

He started as though he’d forgotten I was there. With a click of his seatbelt, he pushed his door open. I clambered out too, my hiking boots crunching on the ashes that coated the ground. I nudged my toe through the thick layer, searching for green sprouts.

Can you feel it? Ríkr landed on my shoulder, the small claws of his jay form pricking my skin. The land is dead. Not even the hardiest blade of grass will take root in this earth for many seasons to come.

I closed my eyes, but all my druid senses could detect was a hollow, empty note of death. Whatever the energy here had been like before, it had been silenced.

We should not linger here. He spread his wings. I will familiarize myself with the area. Call me when you are prepared to continue onward.

I nodded, and he took flight, soaring north. Reaching back into the truck, I pulled two lightweight hiking backpacks off the rear seats. A larger camping pack for overnight treks sat on the floor, stuffed with supplies for a week in the bush. I hoped we wouldn’t need it.

Slinging my pack onto my back, I circled the truck. Zak stood near the blackened front porch of the house, gazing up at it. I crunched across the ashes and stopped beside him, closer than I would normally have stood.

I offered his backpack. He swung it over one shoulder, then resumed staring at the wreckage. I waited.

His chest rose and fell with a deep breath. “About a year ago, I pissed off a dark-arts sorceress when I picked up a mythic teen that the sorceress had planned to make her apprentice.”

I remembered what he’d said about the kidnapping charges on his MPD records—he’d been saving mythic teens from the Vancouver streets.

“The sorceress was old and powerful, with a whole network of rogue mythics to do her bidding. Making an enemy of her was stupid, but …” His hands clenched and unclenched. “No one saved me from Bane. I couldn’t let the same thing happen to that girl.”

My fingers twitched toward him, but I stopped myself. What if he didn’t want me to touch him?

“I sent the girl overseas and went into hiding. I thought the sorceress would forget about me. While I was gone, she found the valley, broke through its protections … and did this.”

“She did it to punish you?” I whispered.

“And to draw me out. She figured I’d come back to kill her. She was right.” He gazed around at the destruction. “But it didn’t change anything. It didn’t bring this place back.”

“Did the other kids you rescued live here too?” I asked softly.

“Yeah, they’d hang around for a few months, sometimes longer, then move on when they were ready. A few older ‘rescues’ managed them. I didn’t do much besides bring them here.”

I rubbed my temple, trying to puzzle it out. “Why do it? If you weren’t taking care of them yourself, why bring them here?”

His eyes turned to mine, obscured by shadows. “Morgan was the first person I brought here. I sent all the others on their way before I went into hiding, but she didn’t want to be anywhere else, so I let her stay.” He pointed at the ground a few feet in front of him. “She died right there.”

I looked at the spot. It was nothing more than a layer of ashes in front of the porch steps.

“I was selfish.” Zak stared at the ashes. “I knew she’d be safer somewhere else, but her staying meant I could keep my horses here too.”