Page 43 of The Iron Hex

“Alright.” She nodded, a wry smile tugging at her full lips.

“We do not talk toanyone,okay?” Hugo pressed.

“Understood.” Eira held out her hand for Hugo’s.

He took it, the soft skin on her hands a contrast to his rough and calloused ones. He feared what those soft fingers could do to break him, magical or otherwise. Despite all of his fear about her capabilities, he still wanted to touch her—and her hands were not enough.

“We have a deal,” he said, tying his fate to hers once more.

24

Eira

Hugo and Eira hadn’t stayed in the previous town for long, opting to ride hard for the two days it took to get back to Cilirien. They had arrived at the outskirts of Eira’s home and hid in the forest for a few hours, waiting until sundown.

Hugo had disappeared from their camp for nearly an hour before coming back on foot and letting Eira know that the guards stationed around town looked to be the standard city guard. He seemed hopeful that the ones who had barreled into the Honeyed Horn had left town in their search for him. Maybe they were the ones they’d killed on the road just a few days ago... but Eira worried that there were too many people looking for Hugo for them to have gotten that lucky.

Eira stepped out from behind the dense trees where she’d changed into the riding pants Hugo had insisted she put on, feeling naked and nervous.

“Okay, I’m ready,” she said as she patted Pennyroyal’s head. “You had better stay right here, or I’ll never forgive you.”

The rabbit tittered and stomped her back legs. Eira felt fairly confident that that was a “Sure, I’ll stay here” from the creature.

Hugo turned to her as he tied Arthur to a nearby tree and Eira watched as his eyes raked down her entire body before returning to her eyes, a predator watching his prey. “You look wonderful,” he said, voice thick.

“I look like a boy,” she retorted, hip cocked and her eyebrow raised.

“You could not look like a boy if you tried, and trust me, I thought about trying that this evening so you weren’t recognized.”

Her face flushed, and Eira glanced down to try to hide it as they headed out on their mission. She supposed he was right; there wasn’t much that could disguise her ample, and undoubtedly womanly, curves in most outfits. They’d have to put her in a potato sack, and even that probably wouldn’t work very well.

A while later they found themselves at the edge of the city limits, the sun completely gone from the sky. Hugo directed them around the farmhouses and onto the more densely packed roads, grabbing Eira’s hand as they got into the town proper. They walked past people going about their evening and kept their heads down, Eira’s auburn hair hidden in the cape of Hugo’s cloak, which smelled like pepper and freshly chopped wood and something undoubtedly masculine that made her pulse jump a little.

They wove through alleyways for what felt like forever, Eira passing storefronts and houses she’d been to before, a pang of sadness rippling through her as she realized she’d probably never be coming back here.

Finally, they arrived at the Potions Patisserie, the door hanging off its hinges.

“Oh no,” Eira gasped, hand flying to her mouth.

Hugo pushed the door open, the lights spilling from the homes outside illuminating the interior of the store just enough that she could see. The entire shop had been ransacked. Her spells had been smashed; her herbs had been crushed and scattered. Every drawer had been opened and emptied.

“I was worried about this.” Hugo shook his head.

“It’s fine, there wasn’t anything here anyway. Nothing but my magic,” Eira said, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, before turning around and running across the street to her house. It was not fine, but it had to be fine.

The door was ajar. Her home was in an even worse state; her furniture had all been broken, her kitchen destroyed.

“Eira,” Hugo said as he placed a hand on her arm. “I’m so sorry.”

Ignoring Hugo and shaking his hand off, Eira walked up the flight of stairs to the bedroom, trying to think of somewhere the previous version of her would have hidden something that could help them. She needed to pull the emotion out of this; this wasn’t her home. It had never truly been her home. It had felt like it, though, at least for a while.

They’d even shredded her mattress. Feathers flew around her room, encouraged by wind from the window she’d left cracked slightly open the night she’d had to flee with Hugo.

“They were looking for something in here,” Eira said, picking up a few pieces of undamaged clothing they’d thrown on the floor and stuffing them into her bag.

“I suspect it was to determine if you’d left any sign of where we were going to go,” Hugo responded, leaning against the room’s doorframe behind her.

Eira closed her eyes, trying to turn her brain off. Where would Eira have hidden things before she lost her memory? Her eyes snapped open as she realized what she had that the Iron Retinue didn’t.Beatrice.