Pieces of Eight (The Frey Saga, #2)(14)

I tried not to look at them, I really did. But I saw him touch her cheek with the back of his hand. She flushed and he grinned at her wickedly. That was the last thing I was sure of.

What happened next didn’t make any sense. I was across the camp, looking at him. But I wasn’t. I could see myself in the periphery. And my head screamed with pain. Steed moved across my line of sight as I swayed, and then blackness came as my eyes closed.

When they opened again, my head throbbed. Not the knife point, only a duller version. I tried to focus and found I was back in my spot once more, staring at Steed and the girl… but something was wrong. She had fainted? I concentrated harder and discovered Ruby staring at me accusingly.

“What?” I was on the defense again. Her eyes narrowed. She suspected I’d done something to the girl? I should. But then I looked back at them, Steed and the girl, and suddenly I knew, I had done something to her. But not what Ruby thought, not magic from where I sat. I had been in her head. Like the birds.

But ugh, the pain was horrible! Not like the birds, like the cats. Only worse. Harder, more exhausting, more painful. She was coming to now; they helped her sit up. She looked weak, tired. I lay back down and covered my head to think. Or maybe not think.

I was asleep so fast I might have blacked out. My dreams were darkness but not still. Swirling blackness surrounded me, enveloping. And then there were voices. None of them I recognized, but one of them I knew. It was familiar, though I couldn’t place exactly who it belonged to. “… they are like dumb animals… weak… she could get through to them… think of the possibilities…” I knew he was talking about me. He was talking about me and them. Was he comparing me to a dumb animal? Anger flooded me and the darkness turned to water as I struggled to reach the surface, unable to breathe.

I woke gasping and expected to find Ruby there, watching me. What I saw instead was almost as shocking as the dreams.

“There, there.” Steed was trying to comfort me, brush my bangs from my face. I jerked a little at his touch. “Rough one, was it?”

Was he teasing me? I might have glared at him. He laughed. I looked for Ruby and Chevelle. They were several yards away, watching me, pretending not to. I wanted to groan when I saw Chevelle’s tight jaw.

I sat up, wrapping my arms around my knees to bury my head. As I became fully awake, I wondered if Steed had been teasing me all along, trying to irritate me for fun. Surely he had no real interest in that human girl (curse the thought trying to surface that I was part human). I wondered how I could have such distaste for someone who was so like me. I lifted my eyes just enough to peer over my forearms. I looked for the girl and found her, sitting as far away as possible without being considered outside of the camp, with her puppy.

No, she was not like me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Steed’s grin as he watched me scrutinize her. I glared at him full force in response. All I received in reply was a light laugh as he got up and trotted across the camp to play with the puppy. I vowed not to give him the satisfaction of watching them.

But, apparently, I wasn’t one to hold to my word. Because when I saw him close to her, talking low and calling her my sunny nicknames, I found myself acting without regard to anything like dignity.

Everyone in the camp turned to stare in astonishment as the small blonde girl smacked Steed with all her might across the face. Everyone but me… because I had already been focused on them. I only had a moment to enjoy it before the pain and blackness came again.





When I woke this time, Ruby was beside me. I forced myself to sit up so I could find them. The girl was sitting alone, looking completely confused and ashamed, and rubbing her temples. Steed was standing away from both of us, talking to Grey, turned mostly with his back toward me. I could see the edge of a bright red welt on his cheek.

I smiled with satisfaction as I lay back down to recover.





Though no one could have known it was me, I was quiet the next few days. My attack seemed to have quelled the interest of the others in the human and I couldn’t have been happier about it. Silence was the easiest way to mask my contentment.

I knew they’d be getting rid of her soon, though I’d not heard any more discussion on the matter. I tried not to wonder how much longer I had before we found the council, or they us. I could see a few of them now, but I couldn’t recall their names or anything about them. Only random images had returned. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone; it seemed hardly worth the commotion it caused. Commotion made my head ache.

The grass thickened and the trees began to look more like those of the village, though not near as large. We’d stopped near a pond to camp and I was considering going in as Ruby took the girl for her evening’s privacy. The men gathered nearby, talking in hushed voices. I decided it wasn’t worth eavesdropping so I looked out over the water, watching the dragonflies bounce just above the surface.

Their discussion became heated and I absentmindedly turned toward them. My eyes caught a flicker of movement past them, in a tree line several yards away and then, suddenly, Chevelle was gone and Steed and Grey were posted in front of me protectively before I had a chance to see what it was. Or who it was. Why hadn’t we heard the wolves signal?

Panic washed through me before I could think rationally. Who had come for us? For me?

But I knew, even if it was council, that was who we were looking for. I cursed myself again for insisting I come along. The seconds dragged on as I waited. After a few eternities, I heard a voice I recognized. Junnie. She was speaking with Chevelle in a rush, her voice low. As they drew near, Steed and Anvil relaxed slightly in front of me, Anvil stepping a pace to the side. I realized I was standing, Steed’s arm so close it was almost touching my chest as he stood, still half in front of me. As I stared past him, I noticed his muscles were tensed and I wondered why he’d still be protecting me.