Little Red (Twisted Dark, #4)

Chapter Eight: Little Red

The air was growing colder and I knew it didn't bode well. I could almost feel the last snow storm of the season breathing down my neck. However I stayed on the course, we were patrolling and that didn't stop because I felt like it was going to storm. I couldn't be lulled into a false sense of security. If it was just me or Jaxton on the line, I would have just to see what would happen but there was no way I was risking Violet like that. I would keep patrolling, even if it got so that the snow was so thick I wouldn't be able to see. She was far too stressed as it was.

As it was, I was fairly certain someone was searching the Northern Forest. I had caught a faint scent of magick that didn't belong to the earthy and cool scents of the Forests. So whichever witchling that it was that had been looking for Violet had narrowed their search and that just made me push on that much more. No one would be allowed to harm Violet, she had dealt with enough in her short life and if I could stop anything else from harming her, I would.

As it was, I was concerned about her. She had complained about her back hurting for most of this morning while Jax had been patrolling. She said it a was more than likely the weather changing that made it ache as badly as it did but I still didn't like it and I made a mental note to talk to Jax about perhaps him taking her to the Compound a little sooner. I wasn't sure when the storm would hit but her feeling sore and achy and the prospect of being storm stayed where she wouldn't have help if she did go into labour early was not a good one. She was three weeks from her due date, roughly by her estimates, but still.

I huddled into my sheepskin jacket, scanning the area as carefully as I could as I slipped in between the giant trees, staying as unseen and silent as I possibly could. There was no reason I needed to alert whoever it was that was looking for Violet that I was out hunting or patrolling. The only good thing about it was that it was a witchling and I didn't need to cover up my scent at all. If it would have been a werewolf that would have just caused all sorts of problems so I was thankful it was just a witchling. Not saying witches weren't dangerous, they were just a lot easier to look for because one didn't need to try and hide their scent as well as everything else.

I paused, my head turning to the east, my Instinct scraped across my bones and I went even more still, straining to hear.

Hear something

It's out of place

Find them

Eradicate threat

I silently cursed my Instinct as I strained to hear whatever it was that had caught its attention and slowly but surely I could hear a faint voice on the breeze. It wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying but it definitely was out of place. I slowly and carefully started to move towards them, doing my best to keep out of sight. The last thing I needed to do was surprise the witch and get my hair singed off.

The voice was growing clearer the further east I moved and I but realized they were moving south at a very high rate of speed because their voice, while clearer, was still not any closer. I shifted my direction and followed after them, unwilling to lose the trails. I was fairly positive that this was the witchling searching for Violet. I scented the air, dragging the nearly icy air deep into my lungs. I could smell the magick lingering in the air and it mixed with a faint feminine scent that teased the inside of my nose. I quirked an eyebrow at that before slowly picking up my speed, hoping to catch up with them to hear what they were saying.

It took me a few minutes before I was able to clearly hear the distinctly feminine voice that was muttering curses of all things and not the magick kind. I crept around the trees, barely catching sight of her as she moved through the dark and cold Forest. "This is bullshit." The words were spat out and my eyebrow quirked up slightly at the slight rasp her voice had. That rasp made me think of long nights of heated passion and fire. "Been out here looking for nearly two fucking day. It's bullshit." There was a heavy amount of venom to her voice and I did my best to shake off how her voice made me feel. My Instinct rose up inside me.