“What was that you told me about never saying never?” she asked sweetly.
“I mean it, Annis. You are not to come here alone,” he commanded.
“You are not my husband and cannot dictate to me,” she argued.
He had to bite his tongue. She would learn soon enough and there was time yet for all hell to break loose.
“Bliss would expect me to protect you,” he said, hoping that by mentioning her sister it would give her pause to think, which it did—in the wrong way.
Annis laughed. “Bliss sacrificed herself to save me from you. She would be telling me to run from you.”
“Not in this situation,” he argued.
He was right about that, and she admitted it. “True enough, but she would also warn me to be careful and not trust lightly.”
“You can trust me, Annis,” Brogan said.
“And what reason do I have to do that?” she asked, not at all accusingly but pragmatically, since she already trusted him but wanted to hear his reason.
“You have my word on it and while the curse has robbed me of much, it has not robbed me of my word. Trust me, Annis, it is the one thing you can be sure of.”
Strangely enough, she was confident of her trust in him.
With the mist lifted, they walked in silence along the path until they both spotted something and stopped to stare down at it.
“Is that what I think it is?” Annis asked.
“Aye,” Brogan said, his eyes focused on the ground. “It is a paw print of a wolf.”
Two days—two days—since she had last explored the path. First, it was the rain and now the mist so heavy at the base of the hills that you could not see where you stepped.
“It will have to wait,” Brogan said and gave Annis’s hand a tug to return to the village.
“She travels in the mist. This is the time to find her,” Annis argued.
“Nothing can be seen, not in front of you or beneath you. There is no telling what might happen, what might attack, what misstep might be taken. We wait and I will hear no more about it,” Brogan said with a command that rose the hairs on Annis’s neck. “I will not have you eaten by a wolf.”
Annis groaned and shook her head when the cry of a wolf echoed along the hills.
“I cannot keep delaying this,” she protested. “Bliss’s life depends on it.”
“Did this man Nolan who told you about the witch mention anything about a wolf?’ Brogan asked.
She hated to admit it. “Nay, he made no mention of a wolf at all.” She made no mention of the ravens.
“Then that says much, and you would be wise to think on it,” Brogan said and waited, keeping hold of her hand, worried she would hurry into the thick mist before he could stop her.
“I suppose you are right,” she grudgingly admitted.
“We will try again tomorrow,” Brogan assured her.
Annis nodded, but wondered if there would come a time, she would have to walk the path alone.
Reluctantly, Annis returned to the village, Brogan’s hand firm around hers. They entered the small village to find the people huddled in talk.
“Is something amiss?” Brogan asked as he and Annis approached the group.
The small group exchanged skeptical glances.
Iver was the one who spoke. “We weren’t sure if we should tell you but hearing the cry of a wolf for a second time, we thought it best we did.”
“Tell us what?’ Brogan asked.
Iver rushed to say, “The last time the wolf was heard here in the hills was just before Lady Aila cast the curse.”
A chill rushed through Annis along with curiosity. What did it mean? Why had the wolf returned? Or was it the witch who had returned? It would explain why Una never came across the witch when she ventured in that area and why Brogan and the two other cursed lords never found her—she hadn’t been there. If so, what had caused her return?
Annis wanted to discuss it with Brogan but now wasn’t a good time. Meat was needed for supper, and she was eager for the work to continue on the stone shed. With that done, they could concentrate on at least making repairs to the existing dwellings.
“I have some thoughts,” Brogan said, taking a moment to talk with her before going off to hunt.
“As do I,” Annis said excitedly. “You and the other cursed lords never found the witch because—”
“She wasn’t here,” Brogan said with the same excitement as Annis.
Annis turned a puzzled look on him. “Something has caused her to return.”
“You,” he said.
Annis shook her head. “Nay, not me. There is more to her return.”
“I need to go and get the hunting done so I can return and help get the stone shed completed. Then we can start on something else. Think on it as will I and we will talk later,” he said and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.