Piper crept deeper into the cave, searching for the illusion she’d created to conceal the alcove. Her teeth were chattering so loudly she was worried the sound would wake the others. All she wanted to do was climb under a thick woolen blanket and curl up into a ball. But first, she had to find the darn spot where the others were hopefully still asleep.

  After searching for a few minutes, she released her [Enduring Casting]. A short distance away, the cave wall shimmered to reveal the alcove. She let out a sigh of relief and tiptoed inside. Once she had passed the horse, she recast [Veil of Lies] and tied it off with [Enduring Casting].

  Then she remembered that she’d changed her appearance. The last thing she wanted was for Ethel and the others to awaken to find a stranger looming over them.

  She cast [False Face] and formed the image of her old self in her mind. After a second, the illusion took hold and molded her features into a young woman with blond hair again.

  The horse lifted its head slightly as she cast her spell. After a moment, it laid back down. She exhaled with relief and slumped against the wall. Leaning down, she groped around in the darkness until she found her blanket and the animal pelt that Ethel had given her earlier.

  Gathering the warm covers, she was about to lie down when she saw eyes glittering in the darkness. Across from her, Alfred was sitting up and watching her intently. Not knowing what to say, she stared back for a second before lying down on the hard floor. She pulled the blanket tightly around her and rolled over. But she could still feel Alfred’s gaze boring into her back.

  She lay there for a few minutes, her mind replaying the events of the night. Not only had she survived the redcaps, but she’d escaped the Crimson Guard as well. Either she had incredible luck, or someone was watching over her.

  Is the god who summoned me somehow helping?

  Before she could dwell further on that idea, she raised her hand and yawned. Pulling the blanket tighter around her body, she tried to stop the chattering of her teeth. After everything that had happened, she was exhausted. But she doubted her wet and half-frozen body would let her sleep.

  I’ll just try to rest my eyes for a second.

  Before she knew it, someone was shaking her awake. She jerked upright, her blankets falling off, and she peered blearily around the gloomy cave. Rubbing her eyes, she stretched and yawned. Thankfully, her clothing had dried during the night, and she’d warmed up nicely.

  Standing over her was Ophelia, stick in hand as usual. “Do all demons sleep in? Or is it just you?”

  “Just me,” she said with a smile. “I need my rest to recover from your attacks.”

  Ophelia giggled and swiped her stick through the air. “Imagine what class I’ll get for hunting a demon? It’s guaranteed to be epic at least.”

  Ethel paused in the act of loading the horse. “You’ll take a farming or cooking class, and that is that. I won’t have my daughter running around as an adventurer.”

  “I’m allowed to take any class I want to in the Arissian Empire.” Ophelia crossed her arms and pouted.

  “You’ll take what class we tell you to take,” Ethel continued, stuffing a blanket into one of the saddlebags. She paused with it halfway in, and her mouth dropped open as Piper rose to her feet. “What happened to your dress?”

  Piper glanced down, and the memory of the redcap raking its talons across her chest came rushing back. Her dress was torn, and she had angry red scratches underneath. It was only through sheer chance and her last-second dodge that the talons hadn’t seriously wounded her.

  Alfred walked forward and patted his wife on the shoulder. “We’re not talking about it.”

  “We’re not?” Piper asked. She had been certain that Alfred was going to give her an earful.

  “No, we’re not,” Alfred grunted, his brow descending dangerously. He looked seriously pissed off. “Because you won’t like what I have to say.”

  Ethel simply shrugged and returned to packing. On the rare occasions when Alfred grew angry, she usually gave him a wide berth. And this looked like one of those occasions.

  Piper twirled a strand of blond hair around her finger. She couldn’t remember ever seeing Alfred this angry—not even after the disaster with the ooze. But once she told him they were safe, he’d probably understand.

  “The pass is clear,” she said, stepping out of her blankets. “We can make it through now.”

  “I suspected as much,” Alfred replied, without meeting her gaze. “Will you be coming with us?”

  Piper frowned. What sort of question was that? Why wouldn’t she be going with them?

  “Of course I am,” she blurted out before shrinking back slightly. “Don’t you want me to come?”

  Alfred shrugged his broad shoulders. “Since you do whatever you want, I expected you to choose your own path.”

  “I want to stay with you,” she said, a lump forming in her throat. When she’d gone out to lead away the redcaps last night, she hadn’t thought Alfred would react like this. If anything, she thought he would be happy. “I had a plan, and it worked…”

  “I’m sure you did.”

  Ethel looked from her husband and then back to Piper. She wrung her hands in front of her, clearly not knowing how to react. After an agonizingly long minute of silence, she retrieved something from the bag. “Why don’t we all have some breakfast?”

  “I’m not hungry,” Alfred grunted, walking out of the alcove. Without slowing, he stepped through the illusion into the cave beyond. His footsteps echoed against the walls and then faded away.

  Before Piper could say anything [Ambush Detection] blared a warning in her mind. Almost by instinct, her hand shot out and wrenched the stick from Ophelia’s grasp.

  “Hey!” the girl protested. “That’s not fair.”

  She handed the stick back as Ethel scolded her daughter. Had she ruined things between her and Alfred? Why couldn’t he see that she’d done this to save them? Was he just upset that it hadn’t been him? Was he jealous?

  Piper couldn’t believe that someone like Alfred would be jealous of her power. He’d saved her life in the past—why couldn’t she do the same for him?

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  I have to talk to him.

  Lifting her blanket from the floor, she wrapped it around her shoulders and stalked after the big man. She passed the deeply grooved walls and quickly reached the mouth of the cave. Glancing around, she spotted him standing on a stump and gazing down the hill.

  She walked over to him, but he didn’t even acknowledge her presence. “I had to do it,” she said, preparing herself for an argument. “You know that.”

  “Do you really want to have this conversation?”

  “Yes!” she said, crossing her arms.

  “Fine. How many people have you killed?”

  Piper was taken aback by his question. What did it even have to do with anything? “I… don’t know.”

  “How many redcaps did you kill last night?”

  “Just one,” she said, staring at her feet. “Why does it matter?”

  Alfred climbed down from the stump and let out a deep sigh. He suddenly looked very tired. “How old are you, Piper?”

  “I’m 13 and a half.”

  “Do you know how old Ophelia is?” When Piper didn’t respond, he continued. “She’s almost 13. And do you know how many people she’s killed?”

  “Zero,” Piper said softly.

  “Exactly.”

  “So what?” Piper shot back, feeling her anger begin to rise. “Are you jealous of my power? It’s not my fault you took a farming class.”

  Alfred gave her a pitying look, which made her even angrier. “Do you honestly think so little of me?”

  “Then what’s your problem?”

  “I’m afraid of you losing your humanity.” He tugged on his beard. “You may have been human once, but you’re a demon now. And you carry around a cursed bow on your back. Are you absolutely certain that you’re not losing yourself to your demon side?”

  She opened her mouth for a retort but then stopped. What if Alfred was right? The old Piper never would have gone off alone to fight Redcaps. And she barely felt bad about the men she’d killed on the farm. She thought it was because she’d convinced herself that they’d deserved their fate. But what if it were something else?

  “I love you like a daughter,” Alfred continued. “You may be in a demon’s body, but you’re still just a girl. No girl should have to do what you’ve been doing. I want to keep you safe. I want to protect your humanity. Do you understand?”

  Piper nodded her head, the lump returning in her throat. How could she have thought that Alfred was jealous of her power? He’d just been worried about her going off to fight the creatures alone.

  “I don’t really remember killing them,” she said softly. “It’s all just a blur in my mind.”

  “Who? The redcaps?”

  “No, the men on the farm. I used a new skill, and it sort of took over. Afterward… I didn’t like what I’d done. But the redcaps deserved it. They were talking about turning me into a slave. And they would have raided the village if they hadn’t been stopped!”

  The big man stomped over to her side and drew her into a hug. He wrapped his big arms around her and squeezed her tight. “Promise me you won’t do anything so dangerous again without talking to me first.”

  “I promise,” she sniffled. “I thought I was helping.”

  “We would have figured something out,” he said gruffly. “However, I don’t want you to think that you’re in this alone. Understood? I’ll always stand by your side when it’s needed. If we’re going to get across those mountains, I’m going to need your help anyway. There are dangerous beasts prowling the valleys.”

  She nodded again.

  “Come on,” he said, patting her back. “Let’s get some breakfast. This is going to be a long day.”

  Together, they returned to the cave. When they neared the alcove, Alfred frowned as he patted the wall. “Where is that cursed opening?”

  Piper dropped the illusion to reveal the hidden space. She slipped past Alfred and headed toward Ethel, who was handing a hunk of bread to her daughter.

  “Is everything all right?” Ethel asked, looking up. When both of them nodded, she returned to slicing the bread. She then handed pieces to both of them.

  Piper bit into the bread ravenously, never having felt so hungry before. There must be some sort of link between mana usage and food. Every time she used a large portion of her mana, she felt starved the next day. She’d have to ask Ethel and Alfred about that later, though she didn’t think either of them needed mana for their classes.

  Piper wolfed down the bread and then accepted some cheese and finally a piece of dried meat. More than anything, she wanted to ask for another helping. But she didn’t want to be selfish and take more than the others.

  Though apparently, she didn’t need to ask, as Ethel must have seen the longing in her gaze, and handed her another thick slice of bread. She quickly gobbled it down before sucking the crumbs off of her fingers.

  While they ate, Ethel finished packing up their camp. Then she took the horse's reins, and with her daughter, guided it outside.

  Once Ophelia had left, Alfred turned back to Piper. “Is there anything else I should know about last night?”

  “Umm… I ran into the Crimson Guard…”

  Alfred raised his brow.

  She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “It wasn’t on purpose.”

  “I’m sure,” Alfred muttered.

  “But they were really nice. The woman saved me from the redcaps that were chasing me.”

  “What exactly was your plan last night?”

  “I was going to lead the redcaps to the Crimson Guard camp. You should have seen it. I even made myself look like the vampire woman. Once they were fighting, I was going to disappear and come back here.”

  “Not a terrible plan,” Alfred grunted. “Still too dangerous for my taste. In the future, you need to trust me.”

  “I will,” she said quickly. “I promise.”

  “What happened to the vampires?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe they went back to their camp? The last I saw them, they were pretty badly beaten up. I’m not even sure if the woman survived.” As she spoke those words, she felt a sense of guilt wash over her. She had left Justina to face the redcaps alone after the vampire had saved her life. But she’d had no other choice.

  “No redcap could take down a Crimson Guard,” he said. “We need to get moving before they recover. We’ll have a day, possibly two, before they’re on our trail again.”

  Piper wasn’t sure if Alfred was right. She didn’t see any reason why the Crimson Guard would come after them. But she wasn’t about to say anything. Right now, she was just happy that Alfred was talking to her again.

  “I don’t understand how you lost the girl,” Justina said, wincing slightly as pain radiated down her jaw. The redcap’s arrow had pierced her cheek and knocked out a few of her teeth. While [Crimson Renewal] sped along her healing, it had cost her most of the blood supply she’d brought. And regrowing teeth always took longer than any other sort of injury.

  “The damn girl just disappeared,” Augustus said. “I’m telling you; she was there one second and gone the next.”

  “How is that possible? Are you not a highly trained Crimson Guard?”

  “She must have been an illusionist.”

  “I used [Identify] on her…” Justina trailed off and held up a hand to her cheek as the pain flared once more. If she encountered the survivors of the raiding party, she would make them pay for all the injuries they’d inflicted on her. At least half of them had fled after she’d decimated their numbers with [Crucible of Frost]. However, the village should be safe now that the foul creatures knew it was protected by a Crimson Guard patrol.

  “I did, too.” Augustus said. “She showed as a level 10 farmhand to me. What did you see?”

  “I saw the same thing.” While she wanted to reprimand Augustus for losing the girl, he was a highly skilled member of the Crimson Guard. Even in the driving rain, a normal girl shouldn’t have been able to elude him. She pounded her fist down against her palm. “We need that girl!”

  “Should we send for Virgil?”

  Justina tapped her foot against the ground. Virgil was the tracker of the party and the only one with a high Perception attribute. If she wanted to get the girl’s testimony against Ransford, then she would need a tracker.

  However, Ransford had ordered her to only return once she had the demon’s head. She couldn’t disobey a direct order. “We continue into the mountains,” she said. “Once we’re both healed, we’ll pick up the girl’s trail. I know these mountains well, and there are only a few places where she could go.”

  “As you command.” Augustus reached up and massaged his neck. Then he slumped down onto the chair across from her. “Did you notice how much the girl looked like you? Do you have cousins in this area?”

  Justina was briefly taken aback. She hadn’t noticed any resemblance of the girl to herself. Though now that Augustus mentioned it, she had looked like she was from Urkalla, the ancient vampire kingdom across the ocean. “I doubt either of us have any relatives here. Did any come over on the invasion fleet with you?”

  Augustus shook his head. “I was the last of my line by the time we decided to leave the Doom.”

  “I only had my father left by the end,” she said softly. “I wonder why she looked Urkallan?”

  “Let’s find her and learn why.” Augustus rose to his feet. “Would you mind taking first watch?”

  Justina nodded. Her companion hadn’t had any sleep, and his injuries were far worse than her own. He deserved to sleep for the rest of the day. Assuming he could get any rest inside a tent with the sun beating down on it. Almost no vampires could.

  She watched the big man depart her tent and returned to mulling over the puzzle of the girl they’d encountered. There was something off about the entire thing, but she didn’t know what. Hopefully, she’d figure it out before she caught up with Piper.