The Cursed Key

by Miranda Brock

  “Thank you for the offer, but I would prefer to leave now.”

  Beside me, Kael nodded.

  “Very well,” Aileen said. “I will get our transportation ready.” She turned to her sisters. “Will you ensure they have everything they need?”

  Half an hour later, Kael and I stepped out of the door of the bed and breakfast with heavy packs laden with camping supplies and food. Aileen was standing with her hands on the reins of three horses. A delighted smile broke across my face. I always enjoyed riding. I had done so many times to get to ruins and digs that were too difficult to get to by vehicle or on foot.

  The horses were small but sturdy creatures with thick legs and necks and wide backs that would hold even Kael’s weight. Tightening the straps on the pack and my back and making sure my own bag was settled on my hip, I walked over to grab the reins Aileen held out to me. I gave the brown and white horse a pat under her shaggy mane and swung easily into the saddle with the ease of a practiced rider.

  Kael’s horse sidestepped away with a snort and held his ears back when he tried to grab the gray gelding’s reins. Even my horse was staring at Kael cautiously, her hooves shifting underneath like she was ready to bolt. It was as if the horses could sense the predator prowling beneath the shifter’s skin. He got awkwardly into the saddle, and our group started off. Kael complained under his breath that he could get there just as fast, if not faster, if he were to shift.

  I snorted. “Yeah, and leave me to carry all of our stuff?”

  The gray horse tossed his head, and Kael instinctively tightened his hands on the reins, making the horse stop.

  Aileen looked over her shoulder from atop her own horse. “If you’re afraid, your horse will sense it.”

  “I am not afraid.”

  I smirked. Kael looked funny on the small horse. I turned my attention away from him and to the scenery around us. The rising, mist-wreathed hills and swirling gray skies were breathtaking. Perhaps someday, when I wasn’t chasing down an evil mage bent on destruction, I would come back to spend time here.

  We picked our way around rocky outcrops and into the trees. The dark, tangled forest wrapped its way around us quickly, until there was nothing to see but trees and snippets of sky through the wind-rattled branches.

  We crossed a creek. Kael’s horse jumped over it, nearly unsaddling him. After a couple of hours, the terrain rose too steep for the horses to climb without stumbling. Aileen told us to stop. Kael climbed quickly off of his saddle, looking ready to never ride again.

  The witch gathered up the reins of our horses. “This is where I leave you.”

  “You’re not coming with us?” I asked.

  “I cannot accompany you. The journey is part of the test. Continue north east. The ruins are in a small clearing, where the owl resides.”

  “The owl?” Kael asked. “A small clearing with an owl? In all of this?” He gestured to the tangled expanse of the forest around us. “How are we supposed to find that?”

  “North east.” Aileen gave us a nod as she climbed back on her horse. She left us alone without another word.

  We stared after her for another moment before gathering our packs. I took a compass out of my bag.

  “I’ll lead the way,” I said.

  “No, I’ll take point.” Kael started to go around me.

  I took a couple of quick steps to keep in front of him. “I’m perfectly capable.”

  Kael’s brows pinched together. “I have tracking experience. I know what I’m doing.”

  I closed the distance between us and glared up at him. “I’ve spent years making my way through untouched forests and jungle. I’m not some newbie, Kael. Besides—” I held my hand up, letting the writhing energy inside of me flow just enough for my fingers to glow. “—I’m the one with the magic.”

  Kael’s face contorted, still human, but enough for his eyes to turn cat-like and his lips to peel back, revealing sharper teeth. “Yeah? Well, I’m the one with the fangs.”

  I crossed my arms. What did he expect his jaguar teeth to accomplish out here?

  “We can flip for it,” I said. I dug a quarter out of my pocket.

  “I call tails.”

  I rolled my eyes. Of course, the jaguar shifter would call tails. I flipped the coin and grinned as it landed on heads. Kael scowled.

  “Don’t be such a sore loser. It isn’t very becoming of a professional such as yourself.” I headed up the hill, thankful I had on a sturdy pair of boots as crumbling rock crunched underfoot.

  “At least the view is good,” Kael said.

  I started to agree with him when I caught his grin and realized he wasn’t talking about the surrounding scenery. Would it be rude if I threw a rock at his head?

  I wasn’t sure how long we climbed up through the trees and across rock that had likely been untouched for years. The forest was growing dark. We couldn’t see the sunset, but the shadows were growing deeper and the temperature was beginning to drop. We topped a narrow ridge and paused to catch our breath.

  “We should rest here for the night,” Kael said. “If we try to continue, one of us is going to break something.”

  For once, I agreed with the shifter. My muscles ached after the long ride and the tough climb. Beside me, Kael’s nostrils flared as he pulled in the surrounding scents.

  I cleared away branches and debris to make space for our fire. “What are you sniffing for?”

  “Danger.”

  “I’m fairly certain the only animals around are squirrels.” I’d seen them skittering across branches all day.

  “Not that kind of danger.” Kael’s voice was quiet, and I found myself peering into the trees.

  “Do you really think someone would follow us up here?”

  Kael shrugged and dropped his pack to the ground, then rolled his shoulders. “We really can’t be too cautious with a dark mage involved.”

  I made a point to have Chaucer at the ready as I pulled in nearby rocks to make a ring for the fire.

  My partner on this endeavor set up the single tent Aileen’s sisters had provided us. “We can take turns,” Kael said. “One of us can keep watch for a few hours while the other sleeps.”

  He kneeled next to me beside the fire and pulled out a small pot. He unfolded a tripod and set it over the flames, then hung the pot from a small hook. He emptied in two pouches of camping-style food that turned out to be pasta and meatballs.

  As he stirred the food, the light from the fire highlighted the lines of his face and warmed his tan skin. There were probably worse people I could be stuck with in the Scottish wilderness.

  We ate in silence. I was too exhausted and too caught up in my own thoughts to keep up a conversation. A breeze blew with enough of an icy bite to make me shiver. A coat would be too cumbersome if I had to move quickly, but I wished I’d had a thicker jacket.

  I set down my empty plate and scooted closer to the fire in an attempt to soak the warmth into my skin. I pulled my shoulders in and held my hands as near the flames as I dared.

  A heavy weight fell over my back and shoulders, and I blinked in surprise to find Kael’s jacket covering me.

  “You looked cold,” he said.

  Kael was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt that stretched across his wide chest and clung to his muscles.

  “Won’t you get cold?”

  The shifter grinned. “I never get cold.”

  I didn’t want to keep the jacket—it wasn’t as if I were some delicate, swooning woman—but it was warm.

  When Kael started scooping out a second helping of food, I pulled the jacket in tighter, inhaling his earthy, rainy scent, which clung to the wool-lined leather.

  Kael volunteered to take the first shift, though he looked as bone-weary as I felt.

  I shrugged out of his jacket and held it out to him. “Here.”

  He waved me off. “You’ll need it during your watch in a few hours.”

  I paused to see if he was sure. When he didn’t reach for
the jacket, I slipped it back on.

  “Thanks,” I said quietly before heading to the tent.

  The canvas tent shifted slightly in the wind as I climbed into the sleeping bag and set my knife beside the small pillow. I shivered, pulling the sleeping bag tighter around me. This was why the majority of my digs took place in jungles and rainforests. I hated the cold.

  I had so much on my mind, I figured it would be impossible to get any rest, but exhaustion and the steady crackling of the fire made my eyelids droop.

  The crackling started to grow louder, hissing and popping. Did Kael put more wood on the fire? I rolled to my back and my eyes widened. The canvas of the tent was glowing a pale yellow.

  I shimmied the sleeping bag down. My clothes clung to me with sweat. The snapping of burning wood was growing louder.

  I grabbed my knife and opened the flap of the tent.

  The forest was on fire, and Kael was nowhere in sight.

  Chapter 18

  “Kael!” My shout was burned away by the writhing flames and sizzling air. Heat clutched at my breath as I straightened outside the tent.

  I snatched up my bag leaning against the side of the tent and threw it over my shoulder. I called for Kael again, hoping he would hear me before the smoke started to choke my lungs.

  Where had he gone?

  A loud snap drew my attention behind my shoulder. Furious flames licked their way up a nearby tree, the bottom already marred in crumbling, black bark. The tree creaked and groaned, then began to tip.

  I rushed out of the way as it fell with a crash. The top of it smashed into the tent, flattening it under its weight.

  If I hadn’t hurried out when I did I’d be dead.

  The smoke burned my eyes as I called for Kael again. I couldn’t stay in this place much longer.

  A rumbling snarl reached me, and a shape broke free of the gray smoke. It was a large jaguar, his padded feet silent as he ran straight toward me. I panicked for a second as the massive cat quickly closed the distance between us before remembering it was just Kael.

  He shifted back as he reached me. The fact that he was naked from head to toe couldn’t even elicit a reaction from me in the current situation. He snatched up his clothes from near the fire ring and began shoving his legs into his jeans.

  “What happened?” Kael asked. He pushed his feet into his boots.

  I didn’t like the suspicious scowl on his face. “I didn’t do it. Where were you?”

  “Checking the perimeter when I smelled the smoke and saw the fire.”

  Checking the perimeter, I thought, rolling my eyes. You could take the shifter away from PITO, but you couldn’t take the PITO out of the shifter, apparently.

  “Where did it come from?” he asked. “It wouldn’t have spread that far and quickly from the ring.”

  That was true. I blinked my burning eyes and studied the fire ring. There was no charred trail leading to the forest. “It had to have been set by someone.”

  The fire glowed closer. Flames dripped from the blackened branches to crawl across the ground at an alarming speed as embers swirled through the air like stars of hell.

  “Grab what you can,” Kael said. “We have to get out of here.”

  I hardly paid any mind to what I was grabbing. I just snatched what I could before Kael began to tug me up the mountain. We hadn’t gone several feet before the fire closed into an unforgiving wall of flames ahead of us. I pivoted to find the way down was the only clear way out.

  Something was trying to force us to abandon our mission.

  Kael pulled the bag he’d managed to snatch up farther onto his broad shoulders. “We have to go back down. Maybe we can find another way around.”

  Aileen’s words found me then, like a breath on a crisp breeze in hell. She’d said to head straight north east and that the journey was part of the test. I vaguely heard Kael holler my name, but I didn’t budge. Something was strange about the fire. Why would it come out of nowhere? Kael tugged on my shoulder, but I shook him off as I stared at the blaze before me.

  I drew on my magic. Energy swirled around my fingertips, begging to be let loose. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I molded the energy into a sphere and threw it at the fire. The orange and crimson flames parted around it as the magic shot through. My heart raced, and I threw some more with the same result. I whirled to Kael. Sweat was dripping down his stubbled jaw.

  “I think I can get us through the fire.”

  His gaze flicked to the fire then back to me. “If you think I’m going to let some novice mage turn me into barbeque—”

  “I have this power for a reason. Just trust me.” I waited for an argument, but Kael fell silent. “Follow closely.”

  I stalked straight toward the flames, ignoring Kael’s low swearing and questions of my sanity at my back. Magic sleeved my arms in a brilliant blend of fuchsia and silver.

  Extending my arms, I threw the energy forward. By widening my arms, I was able to extend it out. The flames moved away, parting a path directly in front of us. I hurried through it as my boots kicked up puffs of warm ash. Heat pressed in on me from the sides, making it hard to breathe. Though it had to be only seconds, it felt like minutes to get through the flames.

  As soon as we cleared the blaze, the fire vanished.

  The campsite was little more than charred grass and glowing embers. The tent was still smashed under a blackened tree, and whatever else had been left behind had been incinerated. Other than that, there was no more signs of burning. It was as if a massive breath had suddenly snuffed the fire out.

  “A test,” I said. “It had to have been a test.”

  Kael was still beside me for several quick breaths. “Let’s get out of here.”

  The shifter’s eyes shone in the light of the magic still caressing my fingers. I held my palm up and let the glow illuminate our way through the dark trees. I was just as eager as he was to get away from the flame-ravaged campsite.

  We trekked upward in silence until we were far enough away that I could no longer catch the scent of acrid smoke in the cool air. When the light of my magic fell on an area that was somewhat flat and seemed to be less peppered in rock than the surrounding area, we stopped.

  Kael dropped the pack he saved heavily to the ground. I’d barely managed to grab my bag and a canteen that felt as if it were only half full of water.

  I squeezed my middle with one arm in an attempt to ward off the brisk breeze. My other hand still held onto my magic. Though my mind could still recall the terrible heat of the sudden flames, my skin pebbled with the cold.

  Kael sank to the ground and leaned against a wide tree. My legs were shaky as I lowered myself down beside him. I thought we should perhaps make some sort of temporary shelter, but exhaustion kept me on the cold ground.

  “Your jacket was in the tent.” Puffs of mist feathered my words up in front of my face. “Sorry.”

  “It’s just a jacket.” Kael’s voice was soft. His hair still stuck to his forehead in messy swirls. His head rested against the rough bark of the tree.

  I stared at the magic wrapping my hand. It was dimmer now, and I could tell I was beginning to run low on energy. The darkness closed in as I let the magic go with a weary sigh. Though my magic had been providing me no warmth, the chill in the air now seemed to shiver straight to my bones.

  Kael slipped an arm around my shoulders, and I tensed.

  “It won’t do any good if you freeze to death. Try to get some sleep, Livvie. I’ll keep watch.”

  Livvie, again. I wanted to argue, but exhaustion was already beckoning me to sleep. I closed my eyes and inched slowly closer to Kael’s warm side, wondering if he would notice.

  There was a steady thumping in my ear, and something soft and warm beneath my cheek. I opened my eyes to the pale morning and realized with a shock that my head was laying against the side of a jaguar. The heartbeat faded away as I sat up slowly.

  This was the closest I had ever been to a large cat, eve
n if it was Kael. I admired the pattern of his dark spots against his golden coat and felt a ridiculous urge to pet him. I studied his face. He was making a slight huffing noise. The edges of his mouth lifted up and down, and his left ear twitched. I smiled. Was he dreaming?

  Slowly, I reached down and touched the spot between his nose and his eyes. The fur there was incredibly soft and I ran my fingers up between his ears.

  Kael’s golden eyes flew open.

  I jerked my hand back and opened my mouth, but no words came. What do you say to a guy that just caught you petting him?

  The cat regarded me for a long moment before getting to his feet. He stretched, claws digging into the ground and mouth opening in a wide yawn. He shook his head before walking toward his pile of clothes. I turned around to give him privacy. He’d already caught me petting him. I didn’t want him accusing me of ogling him, too.

  Breakfast was a non-existent affair. With nothing around us but stark, gray trees and cold rock, our stomachs would just have to keep rumbling until we were able to make the trek back down the mountain. With little chance of finding any sort of stream this far up, the pair of us took measured swallows from the canteen before we started again.

  I studied the compass and pointed toward the north-east. Kael took point this time, and I was still too tired to argue.

  It seemed as if we had walked for hours, and still there was no sign of any sort of clearing or of the owl Aileen had mentioned.

  “We have to be getting close,” I said hopefully.

  Kael let out a short laugh. He bent down to help me up a particularly steep section of rock jutting out of the cold ground. “That’s what you said twenty minutes ago.”

  “Thanks.” I came to stand next to Kael. I peered into the branches, half-expecting to see an owl watching us. “I wonder if the owl is a shifter.”

  “Who knows?”

  “Can you tell a shifter in their animal form when you see one?”

  Kael shrugged a shoulder. “Sometimes you can smell the human on them and be able to tell. Other times, it’s difficult to know.”