“You shouldn’t have brought the kid,” I snarled as I sat down.

  Nieve waved a hand. “No, no. I didn’t bring him. He brought me along. It’s because I asked him, you see. You can’t expect him to carry all the supplies he needs if he’s going to get where he needs to go. And since you clearly don’t want to help him anymore, I guess I have to do it for you.”

  I flattened my ears. “Rude. You are supposed to talk him out of stuff like this, not encourage it. I don’t want you following me.”

  The tent flap opened and Keagan walked out. “We aren’t following you. We’re just heading in the same direction and happened to stop at the same place for the night.”

  I glared at the kid. “And you expect me to believe that? I wasn’t born yesterday.”

  Nieve pulled the meat off the fur and poked it with a finger. “It’s true; he said we’re not following you. This happens to be the direct path to our destination.” She held up the meat to the kid. “Here’s some nice warm breakfast for you.”

  Keagan grabbed it with a smile on his face. “Oh, thank you. It smells delicious.” He made a show of sniffing it before taking an exaggerated bite.

  My stomach growled. This kid is infuriating. I know this is an act. He should know that I know this is all one giant act to get me to allow him to follow me.

  “You still haven’t said where it is you’re going,” I said.

  Keagan grinned behind his food. “If you want to know so badly, then you’ll just have to follow us to find out.”

  My tail flicked behind me. “I know what you’re doing, kid.”

  Keagan took another bite and licked the juice that clung to his lips. “Do you?”

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s pretty obvious.” I nodded to Nieve, who was swaying side to side with her hands folded in her lap. “You’re trying to make me jealous, using Nieve to show me that she can carry more supplies and cook food for you.”

  “Is it working?” he asked with another big bite.

  “No.”

  My stomach growled again. Stupid stomach. Why are you on his side?

  The boy puffed his cheeks out. “Well, why do you care anyway? You didn’t want to listen to me. You don’t want to be my partner. You aren’t being my friend.”

  “I said all that because you’re my partner!” I snapped. I lowered my head and tone before continuing. “It’s because I care.”

  “You have a strange way of showing it,” Nieve added. “What were you planning to do for food?”

  I turned and walked down the path again. “I’ll figure something out.”

  The longer I stay here, the further Luther can get ahead of me.

  I got half a dozen steps before Keagan called out, “Lucia, stop being so stubborn. At least eat something before you go.”

  I turned and saw a raw chunk of meat in his other hand. My wrath pulled me further down the road, but my stomach won out. I padded over and ate.

  “This doesn’t mean I’m going to follow you,” Keagan said, imitating my voice. “Don’t interfere, and don’t follow me.”

  I finished the meat and sighed. “If you’re trying to sound like me, you’re doing it all wrong. But seriously, how did you know where to find me?”

  “Oh, that’s easy. I told him.” Nieve waved her hand. “Your ice really makes you stand out though. But Keagan asked me where Luther could’ve gone. And well, I remembered all the books he was looking for and asked me to get for him. There was one map in particular that he studied very closely that was to the east of here. He made a strange comment about whether it must be fate or something.”

  Keagan tapped the dullahan’s shoulder. “That’s enough, Nieve. Lucia doesn't need to hear more than that.”

  I glared at Nieve. “You knew where he went?”

  “I never said that I didn’t,” she answered. “I don’t like the idea of you killing him. It seems so extreme. Keagan is fine, so everything worked out in the end.”

  My lips curled into a snarl. “And if things—as you put it—didn’t work out, what then? Am I justified? Does someone have to die for you or the Association to do anything? I’m not going to wait for that to happen.”

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  Keagan stepped towards me and placed a hand on my snout. “I’m on your side, Lucia. But I think you should go now. He’s still getting away.”

  “But…” Nieve stood up.

  Keagan held his other hand up to quiet her. “We have a tent to pack up and a fire to bury. Then I have to poop. It’ll be a while before we leave. Lucia isn’t in the mood to listen anymore.”

  Keagan lowered his hand from my snout, but he kept it near my cheek, hovering there for several long seconds. Part of me wanted to lean into it.

  I shouldn’t. If I do that, he won’t let me go. He probably wouldn't have to. I wouldn't let myself go.

  “I mean it, Lucia,” he said softly. “Go.”

  It shouldn’t have hurt the way it did.

  He wasn’t rejecting me. He wasn’t pushing me away. All he did was give me permission to do what I was going to do. The thoughts of betraying him and of pushing him away all burned away.

  This was my hunt, not his. But the look in his eyes… it felt like I was losing a war I never knew I was in. I was betraying someone. But it was not who I thought it was.

  “I don’t like this idea,” she murmured.

  “No one asked,” I growled.

  That earned me a sharp stab from my own conscience, but my wrath was too loud for me to apologize. Besides, she was the reason I hadn’t found Luther sooner. I didn’t trust myself to talk to her without losing more control.

  I only kept my mind around Lily because she eventually confessed. My actions, my fury, and even my mind are all ugly. After three lives, you’d think I’d be better than this. I’m not. My vice still has as strong a hold as ever.

  So I turned and stormed off down the path.

  I got ten paces before Nieve called out, “Lucia?”

  “Lucia, wait!” she repeated.

  My hackles rose. “What now?”

  Her metal boots clanked as she jogged to catch up.

  “You’re not going to get very far without supplies,” she said, voice wobbling but determined. “Or rest. Or water. You didn’t take anything.”

  “I don’t need…”

  “You do,” she interrupted firmly. “I’m not stupid. You’re not either. Do you want to know why I’m here?”

  I snorted. “The kid talked you into it. He probably said he was going whether you wanted him to or not. Then, out of obligation, you followed.”

  She shook her head. “No. He didn’t say that. He asked if I wanted to know why Luther lied to me. I do. There’s only one person who has that answer: Luther. So I’m out here for me, not you. I’m going to ask him, ‘Why?’ You can still have your vengeance or whatever this is. I don’t know enough to stop someone who wants to die from killing themselves.”

  I hated that someone other than Keagan talked sense directly into me. “Nieve, I don’t want you two involved.”

  “But we already are. And…” She shifted on her feet as her mist leaked from her pauldrons in sad little puffs. “And I… owe him too.”

  That stopped me.

  Her voice cracked. “If Luther did what you said, then I—I helped him. I didn’t know, but I still helped. So, if you want to know where to find Luther, you can follow us; I won't stop you anymore. I’m sorry it took me this long to realize, but I’m in no place to judge what is wrong and what is right.”

  She’s not lying. She can’t lie. Now she’s done it.

  “You’re never going to tell me where he went, are you?”

  She tapped her fingertips together and made herself smaller. “Keagan told me I have to keep it to myself.”

  Yeah, I thought so.

  I sat down, tilted my head back, and shouted, “You win!”

  Behind her, Keagan shuffled out of the tent, holding a roll of toilet paper.

  “You’re still here,” he said cheerfully. “I thought you were going to run off again.”

  My ear twitched. “I will follow you. Not because I want you involved, but because I can't stop you. Running around trying to figure out where he went on my own will only take longer.”

  Nieve made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a cough. She backed off towards the tent.

  Keagan smiled at me. “Lucia, even if you walk ahead of us, even if you won’t talk to us, even if you pretend we’re not right behind you… it’s fine. Just don’t disappear.”

  I flattened my ears and slumped my shoulders. “You deserve better than me.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.” He held up the paper. “I was serious about having to go.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” I lay down. “Just don’t go too far, but don’t be too close either. I don’t want to smell it.”

  The boy laughed as he headed over to a tree. I could hear him whisper, “I’m glad you’re back, Lucia.”

  He whispered that on purpose. Is this what it's like dealing with my stubbornness? It's awful. I thought Lexia was bad.

  Nieve worked efficiently packing and rolling up the tent into a neat little pack. After the boy came back, he grabbed a pack, which was the size of his torso. Nieve automatically plucked it from him and slung it over her shoulder like it weighed nothing.

  “I hate this,” I muttered.

  “I never asked if you did like it,” Keagan said.

  I narrowed my eyes. “Okay, wise guy. Just get on my back already.”

  He did. As he ran his fingers through my fur, he whispered, “You’re not meant to do things alone.”

  My throat tightened.

  He added softly, “You think you have to. But we’re partners. From the beginning, I said I would help you, and that’s exactly what I will do.”

  Something stung behind my ribs.

  Before I could snap something defensive—or worse, honest—Nieve clapped her gauntlets together.

  “We should get moving! Our destination is that way.” She pointed eastward.

  I bared my fangs in a frustrated sigh. “Yes. Standing here is wasting time.”

  Keagan patted my shoulder like he’d planned this exact outcome, which he probably had. “Together.”

  I flicked my tail, stood up, turned, and started walking.

  I told myself Nieve's footsteps and Keagan’s weight on my back didn’t make my chest hurt in some stupidly hopeful way. I tried to tell myself that this was for efficiency, that as soon as I could, I would bolt ahead and finish things before they got too close.

  But I’m a terrible liar. Especially to myself.

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