Everlasting

by W. J. May

  A piece of biscuit lodged in Katerina’s throat, and she dissolved into a fit of frantic coughing. The flask was held out a moment later, and she took a giant gulp.

  “Holy hound dogs!” She cursed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, behavior that would have gotten her skinned alive back at the palace. “How can you guys drink that stuff?”

  Tanya shrugged and took another sip for herself. “After a while, you just go numb.”

  Not sure if that’s a point in its favor...

  The princess shuddered and smoothed down her dress, hyper aware that the shifter’s eyes were still on her. When she made no effort to speak, Tanya tried again.

  “So?”

  “So, what?”

  “Dylan!” Tanya laughed, forcing the flask back into Katerina’s hand and indicating for her to take another sip. “What happened the other night with Dylan? Was he pretty ticked?”

  The second sip went down a little easier than the first. The third was even easier after that.

  “He was ticked,” Katerina admitted, wiping her mouth again and passing back the flask. “But I don’t think it was at me. At least if he was, he never said.”

  “You’re lucky,” Tanya muttered, downing the top half of the bottle. Katerina shot her a curious look and she rolled her eyes. “He was certainly ticked at me, let me tell you. If Cass hadn’t finally intervened this morning, I think he’d still be yelling.”

  “Yelling?” Katerina turned to her in shock. “But for what?! You didn’t do anything—”

  “I let you out of my sight,” Tanya interrupted quietly. “He was right to yell. I shouldn’t have let the witches send you out by yourself. If I hadn’t, none of this would have happened.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” Katerina exclaimed, feeling an overwhelming surge of guilt. “I was the one who took off after the kid. It had nothing to do with you! It was completely my fault!”

  “And that’s what I told Dylan,” Tanya said cheerfully. “Not that I blame you myself, but I needed to point the finger someplace else. That man can be intense.”

  Katerina took another look at her, then burst out laughing. She could go with the flow, all right. It seemed there was nothing in the world that wouldn’t roll off the girl’s back. “Well, thanks—for blaming me.”

  Tanya passed back the flask with a bright smile. “Cheers!”

  They drank in silence for a while longer, completely ignoring the fact that it was early in the morning and they had a terribly long day ahead. Truth be told, Katerina was having trouble sorting through the events of the last twenty-four hours, and a stiff drink of whiskey could only help. That, and some gentle encouragement from her new, semi-demented friend.

  “I didn’t know he could shift.”

  Katerina almost dropped the flask right then and there. Oh, yeah. Not only had Dylan kissed her, but the man was a freakin’ WOLF! She knew one or two details had slipped her mind...

  She was quiet for a moment, then dropped her gaze to the ground. “Neither did I.”

  Tanya looked over in surprise. She had obviously been expecting the opposite. “You really didn’t know? And he just burst into the clearing all wolfed out and started eating people?”

  “He didn’t eat them,” Katerina began defensively. Then she thought back to the second guard and amended her answer. “He maybe just mauled them a little.”

  Tanya snorted with laughter, finding inexplicable humor in the words where the princess could not. “Well, everyone has their quirks, right? What did he say about it last night?”

  Katerina’s head snapped up, looking at her in surprise. “Excuse me?”

  “Last night,” Tanya said again, oblivious to her friend’s reaction. “When you were talking to him last night, what did he say about the whole wolf thing?”

  The hits just kept coming. Of all the things not to talk about. Of all the questions not to ask. The fact that he’d shifted into a giant wolf? That one had slipped her mind?

  “It didn’t...” She trailed off, the happy buzz from the whiskey faded, leaving her feeling suddenly cold. “It didn’t come up.”

  Somewhere between him kissing me and him sending me away...it didn’t come up.

  “Whiskey for breakfast?”

  The girls looked up with a start as the men marched back into the clearing. They’d obviously sensed the danger had passed, because when they saw the dirt-smothered fire neither looked surprised.

  Cassiel nudged the edge of it with his boot before shooting Tanya a roguish wink. “A girl after my own heart.”

  “Run fast and far,” Dylan teased, ruffling Tanya’s hair as he walked past. She grinned back and tossed him the remainder of the flask. The two had obviously gotten past whatever trouble they’d had that morning.

  Katerina could only hope she could say the same.

  “Good morning,” she ventured tentatively, hardly daring to glance up as Dylan slipped off his pack and tossed it beside the tent.

  There was a split-second pause before he flashed her a quick smile. “Morning.” Another incriminating pause. “How did you sleep?”

  Katerina felt like she was choking on the biscuit again. Only this time, there was no biscuit. “...I dreamt I was making stew for a duck.”

  This time, the pause was much more pronounced. Dylan’s eyebrows lifted slowly into his hair before his face lit with the makings of a genuine smile. “Me, too. What are the odds?”

  Katerina snorted, and hopped down off the rock. “You’re an exceptionally terrible liar, you know that?” She hesitated a moment, then added, “Especially for a shifter.”

  He’d been in the process of taking down the tent, but the second she said the word his hands froze above the rope. There was an almost imperceptible stiffening in his shoulders, and although he’d clearly heard what she’d said he didn’t turn back around.

  A second later, he continued with the rope.

  “Oh yeah?” There was a note of caution to his voice, despite how hard he was trying to keep it light. “And how do you feel about that?”

  Well, if he won’t come to me, I’ll just have to go to him.

  Katerina dropped her pack and circled around to the back of the tent to help him. Her fingers wrapped around the loop of the rope he was unable to reach, and with a little tug the entire thing came free. His eyes flickered to hers as the canopy fell, just in time to see her flash a little grin. “I think I preferred the theory of the travelling circus thief.”

  THE NEXT FEW HOURS passed by in a sort of blur. Yes, the hike was brutal. Yes, the air was getting thinner and cooler the higher up they climbed. But, unlike the previous day, there was no layer of tension weighing them down. Things felt lighter. Conversation was funny and free. By the time they’d reached their designated stopping point for lunch, spirits were at an all-time high.

  Of course, that’s when the banter faded, and the bickering began.

  “—which is why I warned you,” Tanya was gesticulating wildly, trying to make the two much taller men standing on either side see reason, “I’m a heavy sleeper.”

  “Yes, you said you were a heavy sleeper,” Cassiel retorted. “You didn’t say that you were an inconvenient one. Never in my life would I imagine such a small girl could take up so much space.”

  Katerina stifled a grin as Dylan splintered away from them to join her. Last night might have been a blur, but she had vague recollections of what they were talking about. A vague memory of Tanya sprawling out in the tiny tent like some deranged starfish, either kicking or punching everyone who lay in her path. Cassiel, the poor man, had awoken with a black eye.

  “It’s not my fault!” she cried. “I’m used to having space. And I don’t see why you should have more than me, just because you’re about nine feet tall!”

  The fae glared down at her like he was just inches away from showing her what that powerful frame of his could do. To make things even, Tanya shifted into him on the spot.

  “Don’t do that!” Cassiel sho
uted, leaping back in alarm while gawking at his life-size reflection. “I thought we took a vote and agreed you can’t do that!”

  “Do what?” Tanya asked, in a voice much deeper than her own. Cassiel’s lovely features twisted into Tanya’s signature smirk. “I’m just evening the playing field.”

  Katerina and Dylan started snickering as one Cassiel began mimicking the other’s furious gestures. It wasn’t long before said gestures turned violent, and one grabbed the other by the throat.

  “Dylan, make her shift back!”

  “I can’t breathe, you lunatic! Let me go!”

  “What do you think?” Katerina stretched up onto her tiptoes, whispering into the ranger’s ear. “Should we give them a few minutes, or pull them apart?”

  Dylan grinned, watching as the two of them struggled. “Oh, I think we can give it a few minutes. This is way too much fun.”

  “For bloody sake, woman!” Cassiel gritted his teeth, catching ‘himself’ in a headlock and kicking out his own legs with one swift blow. “Do you have any idea what kind of therapy I’m going to need to get past this?!”

  “It’s your own flippin’ fault! No one likes a sore loser!” Tanya fell to the ground, reaching up at the same time to feel her new pointed ears. “...this is weird.”

  Katerina laughed along with Dylan, until something fluttering along the edge of the little clearing caught her eye. Curious, she left the others behind, walking slowly across the tall grass.

  It was a paper, she realized. A flyer that had been nailed into the tree.

  A faint frown flitted across her face as she instinctively glanced around. They were tens of miles away from the nearest settlement. They had put actual mountains between themselves and the nearest road. But the flyer looked brand new. Where could it have come from?

  “Kat?”

  She glanced behind her, to see Dylan jogging swiftly across the field. Behind him, one Cassiel was slowly choking the other to death. A look of concern flashed across his face as he examined her. He had not yet seen the poster.

  “What happened? What’s wrong?”

  She didn’t say anything. She merely pointed to the tree.

  His eyes found it at once, latching on as a similar look of wonder flashed across his face. A guarded wariness was soon to follow, and it was with great caution that he approached the tree. The princess hung back as he ripped the paper from off the tree, taking a second to read it.

  This can’t be good.

  Every ounce of color drained from his face, leaving a pale statue standing there. He opened his mouth once to speak, then closed it. He opened it again but thought better of it each time. Instead, he pulled in a deep breath, crumpled up the paper, and stuffed it deep inside his pocket.

  In a flash, Katerina sprang back to life.

  “What is it? What did it say?”

  By now, the others were behind her. Tanya had returned to her normal form, looking a little worse for wear, and she and Cassiel were standing side by side with matching looks of worry.

  Dylan glanced at them once before shaking his head with an almost believable air of nonchalance. “Nothing. It was old. About some festival that’s already done.”

  Not one of them was fooled. Not one.

  “That’s funny,” Katerina took a step forward, folding her arms across her chest with an accusatory glare, “I thought we just established that you’re a terrible liar. What does it say, Dylan? Tell me!”

  He hesitated briefly, shared a quick glance with Cassiel, then seemed to realize it was inevitable. With a soft sigh, he pulled the paper out of his pocket and tossed it her way. She caught it with trembling hands. Hands that went dead still when she unfolded it and saw what it had to say.

  The first thing that caught her attention was the royal seal. The next thing was the headline.

  Katerina Damaris

  Accused of High Treason for the Murder of the King

  Reward for Immediate Capture

  She read the words in a daze, staring blankly at her picture below. The paper had all but fallen from her hands before she saw the last words. Soon to be burned forever into her mind.

  Dead or Alive

  Chapter 3

  The paper slipped noiselessly from Katerina’s hands, but she felt as if there should have been a deafening boom as it landed inaudibly on the tall grass. There had been a silent aftershock as her friends absorbed the information, but already a frantic, murmured conversation was getting underway. Not that she really heard it. She couldn’t hear anything past the dull ringing in her ears.

  Kailas is blaming me. He’s saying I did it.

  It shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise. In hindsight, she probably should have seen it coming. If her brother would go so far as to murder their father then, surely, he wouldn’t hesitate to shift the blame. But no matter how logical it all sounded, the princess found herself completely unable to come to terms. In a bizarre way, it was almost harder to believe that he would publicly blame her than it was to comprehend the murder itself. Her own brother. Her own brother did this.

  He’s blaming me. He’s saying I did it.

  “—doesn’t change a thing.”

  “Like hell it doesn’t! It changes everything!”

  “Just calm down for a second, and let me—”

  “No, I’m not going to calm down,” Tanya hissed. Her hazel eyes flickered around the little clearing, as if the world had shrunk dramatically since the last time she looked. “They put it up here, Dylan. You found it right here on this tree. In the heart of the Black Forest. An entire mountain range away from the nearest signs of life. They were here.”

  “The girl is right.” Cassiel might look the same age as the rest of them, but in times of trouble it was suddenly easy to remember he’d been alive for almost a century. “This changes things. We’re going to have to double our pace. Make for the safe house with all speed.”

  Tanya had been nodding along but stopped abruptly when he got to the end.

  “What—no! That’s not what I’m saying at all!” She may have been about half his size, but she more than made up for it with intensity. “We need to forget about Brookfield and find someplace closer to hide. We stay out in the open, we’re dead.”

  He’s blaming me. He’s saying I did it.

  “Why do you think we’re going to Brookfield?” Cassiel countered sharply. “There isn’t a better place in this world to hide.”

  “Yes, but it’s at least another week’s journey. Maybe more.” Tanya shook her head quickly, her cinnamon hair swishing against the tops of her shoulders. “At least one troop of guards was up here to post that banner. Maybe more. We’re not going to last another week.”

  Dylan looked between them. Unwilling to commit either way.

  “None of us is safe. Anywhere. Brookfield is our best option.” Cassiel crossed his arms over his chest.

  It was a good sign that neither one of them had talked about jumping ship. After all, the banner mentioned only the princess, none of her accomplices. But they were both making valid arguments, and at the moment Dylan looked unsure which way to decide. His eyes flickered once or twice to Katerina, but she was still lost in her own world.

  High treason. He’s saying I killed Father.

  “—not a matter of experience,” Tanya was shouting. “This is basic common sense!”

  “It’s a knee-jerk reaction,” Cassiel replied with increasingly strained patience. “One based in panic instead of clear thought. We are going where they cannot follow. That’s the entire point—”

  “Kailas said I did it.”

  The heated argument came to a sudden halt as all three of them turned around slowly to look at the princess. She was standing exactly where she’d been when she’d read the poster. She hadn’t blinked, breathed, or moved an inch. A strange ashen tinge was spreading its way over her fair skin, as if she had blown into a cloud of chalk, and despite the sun having come out and it being very warm she was trembling.


  “He said I killed my father.”

  The words were disjointed and clipped. Looping endlessly through her mind. Like the worst sort of dream—one from which she was unable to wake.

  The others shared a nervous glance while Dylan stepped cautiously forward. Moving with exaggerated slowness, as if at any moment she might bolt and run away.

  “Yes, he did,” he said quietly. “Kailas said that.” Another step closer, his eyes never left her face. “But Kat, this isn’t—”

  But whatever he was going to say, she didn’t hear him. The next second, she was gone.

  “KAT!”

  The two of them tore through the trees. One chasing after another. The world flew past in a beautiful sea of green, but neither one noticed. They were looking straight ahead.

  “Kat, slow down!”

  It was ridiculous that a ranger would make such a request. But between the whiskey, the wanted poster, and her blind adrenaline, she was storming straight through things he was taking care to avoid. Brambles. Boulders. Frigid mountain streams. By the time he finally caught up with her, she looked as though she’d been dropped from a cliff in the middle of a temperate rain storm.

  “Katerina.”

  He caught her by the wrist, easing her to a gentle stop. Just as gently, he turned her towards him. Taking only a moment to examine her wide, vacant eyes, before pulling her into his chest.

  “I’m sorry,” he breathed, bringing up one hand to stroke the back of her hair. “Your own brother, I can’t even...I’m so sorry, Kat.”

  She stood there and let herself be held. Only half-registering the contact. The other half was still frozen back in the clearing. Staring down at those three fateful words.

  Dead or Alive

  “He killed my ladies, you know?”

  Dylan stiffened, then looked down at her in surprise. She hadn’t said the words with any particular inflection, but they were shocking nonetheless.

  “...I didn’t know.”

  Of course, he didn’t. No one did. But she was too far gone to realize that now.

  “I sent them away from me,” she continued in that hollow, vacant voice. “Ordered them to stay in the palace. Protect their families and submit to the new rule.”