"I have no idea what he wants from me, probably more gold. He hasn’t sent a list of demands yet," she explained, rubbing her forehead. William nodded to the others, and one by one they started to leave. Even Jack vanished, giving them some much needed privacy. Red's heart was pounding loudly in her chest, and she tried to ignore the heat thriving between them. She kept telling herself that last night didn't mean anything, that it was just sex—and yet her body was completely disagreeing with her mind.
"One Eye is near the mountains. I want to leave right away. Ruby will be back with you tonight," he assured her once again, but Red pulled away from him. She knew that she couldn't let him sweet-talk her again.
It was all his fault that Ruby had been kidnapped. Her gran was all alone, and One Eye was most likely keeping a close eye on her.
"No, I think you’ve done enough. Everything started going wrong the minute you showed up in Farrington. For now, stay away from me and the tavern. I’ll take care of this myself," she shouted, losing control. Maybe she was being unfair, but One Eye must have found out that the Alpha King had gotten involved and he decided to make her suffer for it. Life without a man was so much simpler in the past.
William tightened his jaw, staring at her with the mixture of anger and frustration.
"Honeycomb—"
"No, I'm not your honeycomb. This is all your fault. I'm serious, don't try to help. I should have never gone to see you in the first place," she added, then turned around and marched outside, wondering why One Eye hadn’t left her another letter. The silence was killing her and she was willing to look for her gran herself.
She was done listening to William. Maybe he was going to hate her for what she told him, but her gran was more important. She didn't need him anymore.
"You wanted me, you told me that yourself last night. Stop lying to yourself, Red. Ruby’s going to be all right. Just trust me for once for Christ sake," he shouted after her, but she wasn't listening, well aware that everyone around them had heard every word.
She ran towards the forest, knowing that William was a typical alpha and he would send someone after her, just to make sure that she made it home safely. Red could sense his people following behind and that only made her angrier. She cared about him, even when she told him to go to hell.
Two hours later, Red made it back to the tavern. To her surprise, it was busier than she expected. Jack showed up several minutes later and went straight to speak to Martha. Red wasn't planning to sit around and wait for the leader of the highwaymen to make a move. She had to act and fast. She was willing to make an offer that he couldn't refuse in exchange for Ruby.
Red kept serving customers trying to keep a straight face, pretending that Ruby had the day off, and was resting upstairs. People didn't ask many questions and in a way she was glad. She told Martha that she had a plan but refused to go into any details.
She tried not to think about William until she saw Jack leaving the tavern several minutes before ten p.m. One of the other werewolves that she recognised from earlier on showed up too, and they both left shortly after that. That triggered her suspicion. Red was sure that William was planning to invade One Eye’s camp tonight, possibly putting Ruby's life at risk yet again.
She told him straight that she didn't need his help, but obviously he wasn't planning to listen. Seconds later, she approached Martha. The town hooker looked bored and it seemed like she was ready to head back to the brothel. Red was too impatient to sit around and do nothing.
"I have a favour to ask," Red began.
"Fire away."
"Can you stay here for a bit longer, keep an eye on things and close the tavern for me at around twelve?" she asked, knowing that the cook and the other waitress were going to leave in about an hour. Red regretted that she opened the tavern tonight, but her gran wouldn't want her to sit around and worry. She needed to keep working.
Martha was again looking very sober compared to her usual standards. Red had known her for years, and she rarely saw her not intoxicated by that time of night. It seemed that the town hooker was trying to get her shit together or maybe Jack had something to do with it.
"I know what you're going to do. Seriously, girl, leave this whole rescue mission to the Alpha King. You’re only going to get yourself in more trouble than it’s worth," she stated, sounding like Jack had already shared William's plans with her.
"You don't understand. I asked him not to get involved. I shouldn't have gone to him in the first place," Red said, sounding irritated that Martha assumed that she couldn't bring Ruby back. "Are you going to help me or not? Because if not, then I’ll just close the tavern earlier."
"I might be a drunken waste of space whore, but I take care of people that have always been good to me. Ruby’s been trying to get me sobered up for years," she explained and Red couldn't believe it. She knew that her gran often talked to Martha on the streets, but she never asked her about it. She just assumed that Ruby liked gossiping about Martha's clients. Moments later the hooker took something out of her pocket and placed it in Red's hand. "Here take my special fairy dust. It’ll give you the ability to call for help if you get into trouble."
"What? How do you—"
"It doesn't matter where I got it from, what matters is that I'm giving it to you. Just don't waste it on nonsense. I thought Cindy was your friend. She should have told you that I was blessed with magical powers. Besides, if it wasn't for you I might still be getting wasted every night. Instead, a hot werewolf is seriously interested in me."
"So, you and him are an item now? What if he moves away? You know that Will and his pack are only passing through Farrington. They won't be staying here permanently," she said, not wanting to be a negative Nancy, but she’d hate to see Martha with a broken heart. The hooker looked like she was tough on the outside, but on the inside she was fragile.
Martha frowned.
"He's not going to leave me, Red. You're wrong about them. I heard that William is planning to wait for the return of King Caspian," Martha stated, but her voice was uneven. Now Red felt bad that she assumed that Jack would simply leave her when the time came. She never believed that the hooker was relationship material. After all, she slept with men for money, but maybe she was truly transforming her life.
"All right, forget what I said. I just know that William isn't going to stick around after that."
"And that is where you are wrong, darling, William is ready to move mountains for you. He wants you, so maybe it's time to get over this fear—or whatever this is and give him a chance," Martha suggested, but Red was already putting her cloak on, and heading towards the door.
Lately, too many people were willing to give her relationship advice. She wasn't sure what was holding her back, but right then she couldn't think about her issues.
"I appreciate your advice," she said, smiling at Martha, then shutting the door behind her. It was much colder in Farrington tonight than it had been the past few days. Red suspected that winter was on its way, although it was still only October.
She put her hood up and headed towards the horse she’d left tied to the fence. Red didn't want to waste her time walking, so earlier on she borrowed the animal from a local stable boy named, Tom. Her hands were shaking a little, and it felt like stones were falling down into the pit of her stomach when she approached it. Red needed to get to One Eye before William complicated things for her. Red had ridden horses before, so she jumped on Stick and started galloping through the forest, not even knowing if her plan would work, but she thought that there was no way One Eye could turn down her offering him her tavern for gran.
Strong wind ruffled her hair and soon enough her hood was blown off of her head. Red felt incredible, ready to stand in front of the leader of the highwaymen and beg him to let Ruby go. The problem was that since little Milly had been brought back to her mother, no one in town knew what the highwaymen were planning to do next.
Red was galloping between the trees, encouraging Stick to run
faster. The trees were blending together in the darkness until the horse jolted, stopping abruptly. Red's heart jumped in her chest when the horse rose, lifting his front legs up, at the same time throwing her off her saddle.
She slammed onto the ground landing on her back, losing consciousness.
When she managed to open her eyes again, she realised that someone was leaning over her.
"Hello, pretty girl, you have gold on you. I can smell it," the ugly creature said, revealing huge, long claws, and staring at her with large blue eyes. Red had never before believed in supernatural beings, but since meeting William her perceptions had started to shift. A lot.
The creature grabbed her arms, and sat on her stomach, squashing her with his weight. He was about half her size, but his body was much wider and heavier. Red figured out that she was standing face to face with a real troll—well, being squashed by one. She remembered its detailed description from a book that she’d read a few years ago. A troll's main characteristics were small warts that were normally scattered all over their face, and the one in front of her had a lot of them.
Her back was throbbing with pain and she had no idea what the hell happened to her horse.
"Get off me," she snarled, trying to shake him off, but the troll wasn't planning to move. Seconds later she had a knife under her throat, and the troll's face was inches away from hers.
"I want your gold. Give it to me or I’ll slash your throat," he hissed at her, his narrow pupils dilating slightly.
Red was angry, furious actually and she was wasting her time arguing over gold. She decided to take matters into her own hands, and kicked the troll with her knee as hard as she could, then knocked him off, barreling him over to one side. She had no idea how she managed to do that, and yet her own strength surprised her. Everything happened fast, too fast. The troll tried to stab her in the gut, but she grabbed his knife at the same time, twisting her body around and somehow the knife ended up in the centre of his chest.
Red stared, horrified at how his tiny eyes rolled into the back of his head. Then he slammed to the ground, holding the knife in his chest. Blood gushed out of him. Red couldn’t even understand how she managed to stab him. Either way, it was too late to fix her mistake.
"Bitch," he whispered and then drifted off. Red knew that he was dead a second later.
Chapter Thirteen
"Don't worry, he would have killed you if you hadn't stabbed him. Trolls are annoying, vicious little shits," the familiar voice echoed through the forest. Red jumped, startled and looked around, completely disorientated.
She didn't expect to see a half-naked William appear between the trees. She was still too high on adrenaline to be furious with him, but at least tonight he decided to wear pants. Red wiped the sweat from her forehead, smelling blood everywhere. Her stomach heaved, but she didn't have time to be sick.
First she wanted to give William a hard time about following her all the way out there.
"You shouldn't be here. I told you that I didn't need your help," she said, then checked to see if she still had her knives. The troll looked much uglier dead, and a few seconds later an incredible feeling of guilt washed over her. She didn't want to kill it; she was only trying to defend herself. "Have you been following me all this time?"
Maybe William was right, maybe she would have been dead if she hadn't reacted, but still, Red wasn't a murderer.
He smiled at her and ruffled his dark hair.
"We had a frisky time together, honeycomb, so now I can detect your scent from miles away," he responded and Red wanted to scream with frustration. This wasn't her plan, and she hated herself for being weak.
"I killed him, I … I didn't mean it—
She broke apart and started sobbing uncontrollably, hiding her face in the palms of her hands. Something snapped inside of her and she didn't know why she couldn't stop crying. Maybe the fact that One Eye had her grandmother or the fact that William wasn't planning to let her go or maybe because she accidentally killed a real troll. Either way, she felt dizzy, and her knees gave out.
William caught her before she slammed on the ground. It was suddenly so much better to be in his arms. Red felt like the alpha king drew her scent in before his lips moved down to sensitive skin on her neck. She kept sobbing, unable to control herself. This wasn't supposed to happen and she hated showing that underneath her thick skin, she was still only a woman.
"Stop crying, honeycomb. I can't take seeing you like this. That little, now-dead shit would have ripped your heart out. Trolls rob only dead humans, and you were lucky. Come on, look at my handsome face and tell me to shut up. That should make you feel better," he whispered into her ear, and Red glanced at him.
Indeed, that cheeky grin lifted her spirits up a bit, but she knew that it was going to be a while before the smell of the troll's corpse would stop following her around.
"My gran must be petrified. I know that she’s always so tough and strong, but who knows what One Eye’s planning to do with her," she said, wiping her tears away.
"She's going to be all right, and we’re going to get her back. Stop worrying and doing silly things," he said, sounding annoyed. "My pack is already putting my plan in motion. Unfortunately, I didn't bring enough men with me. I was supposed to only be passing through this kingdom, but then I met you and everything changed."
"Oh, isn't that sweet and pathetic. The Alpha King is fucking a human girl. It's such a shame that I'll play with her too, right before she watches you die," a strange voice echoed through the forest, sending an icy shiver down her spine. A split second later, something or someone hit Red on the back of her head. She felt excruciating pain, and all her limbs went numb. Then darkness swallowed her.
"Wake up. Hey, honeycomb, wake up."
Red liked that voice. It was smooth, sexy and turned her insides into mush, but she really didn't want to open her eyes. She felt weak, and nauseous. Her stomach kept turning, and her head was throbbing with extreme pain. She tried to move, but her muscles failed to obey her. Something was very wrong and she smelled like she’d been lying in her own vomit for hours on end.
"Come on, Red, I need you fully conscious and alert. Stop being stubborn," the same voice repeated, and she finally opened her heavy lids.
Moments later, she realised that she was staring directly at William, and he didn't look so well. His skin didn't have its usual glow, and he had dark circles under his eyes. It took her a moment to realise that they were in some kind of cage in the middle of the forest.
"What's happening? Where are we?" she asked, swallowing hard. She had an unusual taste in her mouth, bloody and tangy. She could see fire torches burning all around them. In the distance there were mountains. Red suspected that they were no longer in Farrington, but she was too isolated to tell where they’d been moved to exactly.
William held her in his arms, but that terrible smell wasn't going away. Red didn't want to be sick, but her head hurt like hell. She figured out that she must have been unconscious for a long while. Her eyes widened when she noticed more trolls walking around them. There were dozens of them and Red shivered with cold chills.
"We were caught by Ryll and his trolls," he explained, his voice muffled slightly. Red lifted herself up, and for a moment she felt dizzy with pain. She gritted her teeth, telling herself that she needed to keep it together. The cages were tall, and she was glad that they hadn’t been separated.
William was touching her face, but she noticed uncertainty in his eyes. Red didn't know him very well, but this was the first time she’d ever seen him genuinely concerned.
"Ryll's trolls? Who are they, and what do they want from us?" she asked, as another cold shiver rolled over her spine. Her stomach suddenly filled with heavy bricks when William grabbed her face.
"They are dangerous creatures and they’ve been after me since I became an alpha. Right now I need you to listen to me very carefully, Red," William said, looking directly into her eyes. It was the first time that he
used her proper nickname. He wasn't teasing her this time, and Red didn’t know what to expect or if she even liked it. He was the Alpha King, and Red wanted to believe that he could get them out of there. William just needed to shift back into a wolf or use his magic. She wanted to believe that this whole thing was very simple. "In a moment, Ryll and his buddies are going to drag me away from the cage and they’re going to torture me. And there will be nothing that you’ll be able to do about it. I want you to stay calm, screaming and shouting won't change a thing. When things get ugly, I want you to close your eyes for me. Please, Red, this is very important. You have to be strong now. My people are away and no one is going to come to our aid."
Red was staring at him, wanting to kiss him badly, but the timing was bad. She didn't understand what was happening and how things had gotten so screwed up all of a sudden.
"What about One Eye? I don't get it, what are they going to do—"
"One Eye must have made some kind of agreement with Ryll and his people, but right now that's irrelevant. Just make sure you stay strong and resilient. They’ll hurt me badly, and they’re going to torture me, and you won't be able to take it, Red. Ryll won't even touch you as long as he’s busy with me. Do you understand what I'm saying?" he asked her again, but Red was already shaking her head. She couldn't agree with him. She didn't want to believe that he would allow this to happen to himself. Her chest was cracking open with panic. She couldn't let him leave her alone. She loved him—she thought. It was too soon, and yet she couldn't deny what she was feeling right then. William barged into her life with his giant heart and swept her off her feet.
"No, you mustn't let them touch you. Just shift into a wolf and use your magical abilities, Will. They’re just trolls," she was saying, and her stomach was flipping over with horror, regret and fear of what was about to happen.
"No, I’m unable to shift, Red. They fed me with something, some magic mushrooms, they rubbed them over my chest to prevent me from using my abilities. It's an old school method that paralyses werewolves’ senses. Trolls weren't even supposed to know that I was in Farrington. They were away, in another kingdom. One Eye must have sent for them. They’ve been waiting for this moment since I became an Alpha, to trap me knowing well enough that my wolves won't come to my rescue, that I left most of them behind. This is going to be difficult for you to watch, but you must be quiet, Red. I’m fucking begging you not to say a word, because I won't be able to protect you once they drag you out of this cage." He shook her, raising his voice. She saw that trolls were staring at them now, gathering around the cage. They were all about half of the size of any human, but Red could tell that Ryll was the one who approached far to her right. He was bigger than most of them. His chest was covered with silver armour, and something was hanging from his neck. It was some sort of necklace made from human teeth. Red couldn't be sure. It wasn't easy to see in the darkness, but she also noticed his pointed claws and sharp teeth.