Page 182 of A Sanctuary from Shadow
I offered Andy back to him. “You keep keeping him safe for me.”
He stared at the doll, then at me. “Shorty, you don’t know what you’re asking—”
“I’m asking you to hold onto him in case I get captured by these assholes.” Why wouldn’t he retake Andy? Was he running out of room in his satchel? “If they need my doll for some weird blood curse sacrifice, then let’s separate him from me.” I shrugged, wiping my nose. “Doesn’t that make sense?”
Pete gulped, then took Andy. His thick fingers strangled my old pal’s cotton body.
“What’s amiss here?” Sedge strolled to Pete’s side, sniffing the air like something smelled odd. Pete gulped again, still choking Andy.
“Pete gave me back my totem, but I told him to keep it for now, so the other harbingers won’t get it if they catch me.”
And I presume they will.
Sedge’s brows leapt into his hairline. “And you’ve entrusted the care and safekeeping of yourtotem—to Pete?”
“Yeah.” I cringed, now afraid I’d made some major faux pas. “Something wrong with that?”
Pete coughed, stuffing Andy back in his satchel. “Not at all.” Blinking as though he meant to purge his face of all emotion, Pete faced Sedge, who lent his friend a pointed eye. “Shall we get on with it?”
“Hmph.” Sedge gestured to the wagon bed. “By all means. Stoop into the shadows together. I’ll manage the rest from here.”
Agreeing, Pete tossed Sedge his purse to pay the Ogres’ tithe, then buried his belongings—weapons, mostly—in my grassy wagon padding.
Pete chuckled, relieving his tension. “For once, Shorty, I’m happy you treat my lorry as a barn loft.”
“I’ll remember you said that,” I said as he hiked his bulk up into the wagon with me and the dogs. “So I can throw it in your face the next time you bitch about it.”
We didn’t speak after that. I laid down, spooning a cagey Sionna to my belly, and Pete did the same to me. He raised his cloak around us, trapping me in a lightless abyss where nightmares reigned unchecked.
Clenching my eyes, the dark literally blinding, I gripped Pete’s arm like my only lifeline. He gripped me back like I was his.
Sedge clicked, and Pete and I hiccupped as Kit plopped across our thighs. Sionna, at least, was able to ball up like a hedgehog to escape the pawler’s weight, but we endured Kit’s careless heft as the wagon rocked into motion, the river beneath our spy perch crashing in the offing.
When the wagon stopped, the ground shook under massive footsteps, jostling us passengers like corn kernels in a hot pan. I gripped Sionna, muffling my fearful squeal in her neck. Pete clutched me harder, swearing every time Kit resettled herself.
“Evening, lads!” So nonchalant, was Sedge in speaking to Ogres. Of course, he’d crossed their path before, a frequent flyer to the Shadow Court. “Business running smoothly tonight? Hope you haven’t flattened anyone.”
A voice like thunder vibrated through my bones, a series of booms reminiscent of God in any old biblical movie following. The words “not yet” echoed across the firth.
Good damn thing we’d stolen Howlite’s purse! Facing these goliaths with empty pockets would’ve been suicidal.
“But we’ve been tempted, Vampire,” the Ogre grumbled. “Your friends down aways—they paid but have been flitting around our necks like fleas since noontide.”
Sedge harrumphed. “They’re no friends of mine.” Another beat passed. “That should cover it, lads. Count it.”
While the first Ogre counted, a second one, softer-voiced, warned Sedge, “If you’ve seen that McKenna fella hereabouts, I’d tell him to duck out for a time. He’s who these fleas thirst for.”
“Hm.” I pictured Sedge scratching his boxy chin. “I’ll pass word along next I see him. Much obliged.”
After several more moments, the first Ogre grumbled again, making my belly quiver. “Half these seeds won’t do, Vampire. There are bone-apple seeds in here, blame you. Who needs more bone-apples at the now?”
“All right,” Sedge said. “Let me find something more to your liking.”
“Bloody chiselers,” Pete griped in my ear, making me giggle despite everything. “Shh.”
“Well—?” The voice boomed again, inciting riotous noise from nearby fauna.
“Patience,” Sedge cautioned. “You’d probably loathe becoming my supper as much as I’d loathe tasting you.”
