Streamfield Shifters: Hide & Seek

Chapter Fifteen

Less than an hour later, we hustled downstairs with our backpacks—and found the bottom of the stairs guarded by two men in silver armor.

Rachael looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "Can we go down there?" she whispered.

I paused at the top of the stairs, one hand on the railing. "I don't know ..." Were they some sort of guard for the crown prince?

One of the two men turned around and saw us standing on the landing between the first floor and foyer. He was broad-shouldered, biceps straining against a long-sleeved maroon shirt that lay beneath a silver chest plate, shoulder pauldrons, and vambraces. Short black hair curled against his forehead and at the tips of his pointed ears. Brown eyes so dark that they were nearly black stared at us with an unreadable expression. The leather-wrapped hilts of two large swords poked over his shoulders.

"Uh, hi," I said, waving meekly at the coolly-menacing man. "May we go through?"

The man's eyes flicked over us in cool judgment. "Go ahead," he said, stepping aside.

"Hurry," I hissed to Rachael, "before he changes his mind."

We hustled down the stairs and found a semi-circular couch to sit and wait for Leihalani. There was little activity in the inn, but I still directed Rachael to keep her hood low over her eyes.

The fact that we hadn't found any sign of Jimmy in this village left my morale pretty low. There was just too much open ground, the villages too far apart. I might as well try and track someone from Boston to Pittsfield.

God. I rubbed at my face. I was so out of my league here.

Someone nudged me in the ribs. I lifted my eyes to see Rachael peering at me with concern. "You okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah—well, no," I corrected. Rachael deserved to be told my honest thoughts. "I think we're in over our heads."

She took a deep breath, then loosed it slowly. "Yeah, we probably are. But we're not giving up, are we? I mean, it's only been, what—two days?"

"True."

Rachael cheerfully bumped shoulders. "Cheer up, cuz. Once we find the trail, we're good."

I chuckled. "Glad you're so optimistic."

She laughed. "It's hard not to be optimistic when you're surrounded by hot men day in and day out." She jerked her chin in the direction of the bodyguards. "I mean—look at those guys. They could bench press me any day!"

I had looked at those men—and several others—and no, she wasn't wrong. So I left my dark thoughts on the back burner and joined my cousin in objectifying elven men.

Kesio and Leihalani finally joined us a half an hour later. Leihalani wore a scowl, but her brother had a smile of triumph on his face. Apparently he was coming with us.

As they descended, the pair of bodyguards came to attention, feet together, closed fists at their sides. As I'd been unabashedly staring at them, their general look and posture reminded me of someone, but I couldn't quite place it. Only when did they react to Kesio's presence that the connection finally snapped into place—they reminded me of Marines.

That wasn't a bad thing; my father was a Marine veteran.

"Garin, Arun," Kesio said, addressing the bodyguards, "we'll be accompanying my sister and her guests to Everfell."

"Understood, sir," the one who stopped us on the stairs replied.

"Leaving so soon ... my lord and lady?"