The Wolf Witch (The Ingenious Mechanical Devices Book 6) by Kara Jorgensen

Author:Kara Jorgensen [Jorgensen, Kara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fox Collie Publishing
Published: 2019-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The Nature of the Beast

“Get off the trail!” Emmeline hissed, shaking Nadir’s arm off her. “Someone’s coming.”

“Shouldn’t we warn them about…?”

Emmeline’s jaw clenched as she whispered, “You of all people should understand the importance of not getting caught standing over a body.”

Go! she mouthed. Nadir cast her a concerned glance over his shoulder before climbing into the brush. Twigs caught at the bottom of Emmeline’s skirts and in her scarf as she wove through the frozen vines and gnarled, naked foliage. The voices diverged into two young men as they sang a bawdy song Emmeline didn’t recognize, but from the words, they had probably learned it at a pub. Brittle twigs snapped under Emmeline and Nadir’s boots and the icy ground crunched with each step, but she hoped the men’s off-key singing would hide the noise. By the time she and Nadir stood on the far side of the hill, the men sounded close to reaching the clearing where the body lay. As their voices tapered off, Emmeline pulled Nadir between two bent trees where the men shouldn’t have been able to see them. She held her breath, not daring to look at her companion as they squeezed behind the band of bark and crouched low enough that they had to hold each other for balance. The crunching of feet stopped, and they waited.

“Verdun did a number on this one, didn’t he?” The man whistled and clucked his tongue. “I wish I had been here to see it.”

Bourgot, Nadir mouthed, the outline of the word whispering across Emmeline’s cheek.

“I— I don’t like this. There are too many crows. That has to mean something,” his companion said, his voice tremulous and high.

It had to be Gernier. No one else would sound like an overgrown child.

“It means you better get his body onto the sheet before they peck out our eyes, too. Now get moving.”

“Why does it have to be me?” Gernier paused and then sighed. “Fine, give me your gloves.”

Emmeline closed her eyes at the man’s grunts and the sluice of the body against the snow. The wet suck of flesh being pulled made the bile rise in her throat, but she focused on the slight sway of her body as she balanced against Nadir and the damp from the tree soaking through her glove.

“Do we have to pick up all the pieces?”

“He said no evidence. What do you think?”

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

Nadir’s body tensed as Gernier stumbled into the trees and wretched. From their hiding place, Emmeline could see his chest heaving and the sweat glistening on his brow. If he turned to the side, he would see them. For a moment, neither Emmeline nor Nadir breathed.

“Gernie, pull yourself together. How do you expect to do it next if you faint at a little blood.”

“That’s more than a little blood! And I didn’t faint!” he cried, storming back into the clearing. “Why aren’t the servants doing this instead of us?”

Emmeline’s hips and knees burned from staying in a crouch, and her legs were so numb she feared she would topple over if they had to run.

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