Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) by Jessie Eaker (best novels in english TXT) 📕

into my throat, and I prayed it wasn’t so. “Was the woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat?”

The little girl nodded. “And they have swords too.”

“Creator!” I ran my hand through my hair, trying to get my thoughts together. It was Lilith and Wort.

And we’d led them right to my family.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Hidden Ruins

 

I went to Zofie and pulled her up, hurriedly jerking on her cloak.

“What is it, Coren?” asked Docila.

“It’s Zofie’s cousin. She’s trying to kill her.” I pulled Zofie toward the steep stairs hoping I’d be able to get her up quickly.

Docila’s eyes went wide. “You involved us in their royalty games!”

After a couple faltering steps, I managed to get Zofie climbing up them. I glanced at Docila and shook my head. “Not now. You can beat me up later. We have to get to the others and find somewhere to hide.”

Docila cocked her jaw like she wanted to say more, but instead grabbed Floria and followed right behind us.

We headed out the loft door and toward the barn. We were fortunate it was located on the back of the hill and not visible from the path leading to the house. It would give us a few more precious minutes.

Docila and Floria trotted ahead since all that poor Zofie could manage was a fast walk. Fumiko met me at the door, and I quickly explained about our unexpected guests. She took Zofie while I went to close the barn’s double doors. They would be no barrier to what was coming—they didn’t even have a bolt. But it might buy us a few more seconds. I turned toward the group huddled in the middle of the barn. Fumiko stood with Zofie, and we exchanged a glance. This was not good. My family made excellent hostages, and all it would take would be capturing one to stop me in my tracks.

“Should we fight them?” I asked.

Fumiko looked pained. “I can’t beat both of them, and if you try to take one of them, you will die.”

“But my new skills...”

Fumiko shook her head. “It’s too soon. You need much more to be effective, especially against her.”

I glanced at each of the ones in my group. Cabrina nearly bubbled with excitement, and Spraggel was digging in his pocket again. I prayed he didn’t find his sword. In sharp contrast, Docila and Floria clung to each other looking horrified.

And of course, there was Mother. She pulled out her crossbow and stomped toward the door. “I’ll get rid of them.”

I grabbed her arm. “No, you won’t. Those people won’t hesitate to kill you if they even suspect you might know where Zofie is.”

“I’m not afraid of them.”

“You should be,” I shot back. “Risten’s a sword-master. You’ll be dead before you can feel the cut.”

Fumiko quickly scanned the interior. The barn was completely enclosed with the door at the front as the only exit. With the doors shut, little light reached us from outside, coming mainly from gaps around the frame and the places in the side walls where the boards didn’t completely meet. At the back of the barn was a loft used for storing hay and other items they didn’t want the goats to sample. A simple ladder was used to climb up to it. On the barn’s right side were two fenced pens, which ran the length of the barn. About a dozen goats were in the back pen staring at us hopefully. Normally, they would be out foraging, but with the cold and predators, they were being kept mostly inside. I sighed, seeing how few my family had remaining. Usually, there were several times that number, and I couldn’t help but wonder how many would survive until spring.

Fumiko shook her head. “We’ll never get Zofie up the ladder.” Then she spied the blankets hanging on the wall just high enough not to attract the attention of the goats. She strode over to them and pulled them down. “Quickly,” she said. “Over here.” She climbed into the empty pen and moved to the side closest to the door.

We followed.

“Shouldn’t we go to the back?” I asked, pointing to the rear of the barn.

“No,” she said. “They’ll be less likely to search close to the front.”

Fumiko shook out the blankets. “Everyone get down here in the corner as close to each other as you can. And don’t say a word when the door opens—we should be in its shadow.”

My head jerked in her direction, suddenly understanding what she intended. She was going to use her myst to hide us. This would also risk revealing her ability to others, something she had been trying to avoid. Her gaze caught mine, but she dismissed me with a simple shake of her head. I guess she deemed the risk necessary, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the gift she was giving to protect my family.

We did as she instructed, and I took my place on one end with Zofie between Cabrina and me. Fumiko quickly covered us with the blankets and took her place on the other end. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated.

No sooner had Fumiko started when we heard steps outside. The barn doors flew open, and Lilith strode inside with Wort just behind. She wordlessly pointed to the loft, and Wort stepped to the ladder, quickly climbing up. He was out of my line of vision, but I could hear his steps on the boards above us.

Lilith came further into the barn and looked closely at everything. She even lifted the feed bin to make sure it was empty.

Behind Lilith, Mischief sauntered through the door. As cats do, he walked along the wall, uncaring of human affairs.

A moment later, Wort came down the ladder. “No one,” he said.

Lilith shook her head.