Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) Jessie Eaker (best reads txt) 📖

can’t take that risk with my family.” I glanced at Zofie. “Besides, I need to get my princess back to normal.”

She nodded. Clearly not liking it, but understanding.

And so, I retrieved the Griffin’s Key from Docila and gave it to Spraggel to store in his ever deep pocket. Then we said good-bye to my family. They gave us each a hug and especially thanked Fumiko for saving them. I couldn’t help but smile at her embarrassment.

And of course, I kept my word to Docila and promised my mother I would visit her in the spring. My mother teared up, Floria bounced, and Docila gave me a sly smile. I guess they weren’t perfect, but then again, they were mine.

So with Spraggel, Fumiko, Cabrina, and Zofie in tow, we headed back. Gray clouds obscured the sky as we entered the vicinity of the house. We were also losing our daylight, which would make this even more difficult. We used the barn for cover as we paused and carefully surveyed the area for signs of Lilith and Wort. Although we saw no trace of them, there were a thousand places between us and the road that they could be hiding.

With little choice, I motioned us forward but abruptly stopped when my bracelet suddenly flashed hot. I stepped back.

“Coren,” whispered Zofie unexpectedly. “They’re close and will chase you as soon as you show yourselves.”

I glanced at my party. That was exactly what we wanted, but we also needed a way to outrun them.

Zofie continued, “However, the princess has an idea.”

There must be enough danger that Zofie and Abe were able to talk to me again. I couldn’t decide if I was relieved or not.

I leaned closer and whispered, “What is it?”

“The princess says...” There was a pause and then some mumbling. There seemed to be another conversation going on in the background. “...that won’t work, I tell you... Anyway, she says... Hey! Don’t mess with that... Ouch! ...You’re going to hurt yourself...” A pause. “See, I told you you’d get hurt. Serves you right.” There was a longer pause. “Well, I guess that might work... Ouch!”

“What is she doing?”

“Your damn woman is once again messing with my insides. And I’m not liking this one bit. Creator blasted myst seers don’t think the universe’s rules apply to them. Hey! Don’t touch that!”

I nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, that is Zofie.”

“Will you stop...” A pause. “All right! I’ll tell him. The princess says, go to the road. And don’t be surprised at what happens.”

I rolled my eyes. Oh no, what was she up to now.

And sure enough, the sky opened up, and it began to snow.

Hard.

A chill breeze stirred the air making the snow swirl around us. I pulled my cloak tighter and checked to make sure that Zofie’s was bundled tight. I wasn’t sure this was a good idea. The ground was already cold, so the snow immediately began to accumulate. Which meant it would be easy for them to track us. Then I realized Zofie’s reasoning. That was the whole purpose. So they could track us. Lilith would see our trail and know we weren’t there anymore. She didn’t care about my family, so she’d come after us.

I motioned the others to follow me and headed down the hill toward the path leading to the road.

We hurried as fast as we could through the snow. I couldn’t believe how fast it was piling up. Cabrina got so distracted staring at the white covering that she slipped, and would have fallen, had Spraggel not caught her.

And sure enough, just as we reached the bottom of the hill, we saw two figures coming after us. Only the snow seemed to be hindering their progress. I saw Wort slip and fall. Lilith didn’t even pause, intent on leaving him, but she too fell.

The wind suddenly rose, grabbing at our cloaks and pelting us in the face. My first thought was that my luck had suddenly shifted, but then I realized it had helped clear the path ahead, and at the same time, push it toward our pursuers.

But the snow wasn’t the only surprise. When we came to the road, a large carriage, completely enclosed and crafted of highly polished wood, sat there with the horses still harnessed to it. Definitely not the shabby one we had used to get here. It seemed to be waiting.

I trotted up to the driver who was checking his horses. “Hello,” I called. “Why are you just sitting here on the road.”

The man frowned. “I’s won’t be fer long. It’s almost even’n, and I needs to be get’n back.” He turned toward me. “I carried a pair here’s earlier, but they said they’d gives me double if I waited. But I’s haven’t seens hide nor hair of them since.”

I smiled. “Would you be willing to take us instead? That couple decided to stay. You might say, we had a bit of a falling out.”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “They still owes me at least two silver. Ones for the trip and ones for the wait.”

I reached into my coin purse and pulled out four. That was going to seriously hurt my travel funds.

I put two of them in his hand. “This is to take my friends and me to Oddfrid Vandobarre’s place.” I then placed the other two with them. “And this is to not stop for anything.”

He glanced over my shoulder and saw our pursuers in the distance. “Anyth’n?”

“Not even the Creator himself.”

He smiled. “I thinks I can do that. She t’was a bit of a bitch anyways.”

While the driver climbed up on top of the carriage, we hurriedly piled inside. He started forward before I could even get the door shut.

Like the outside, the interior of the carriage was much plusher than the one that brought us.