Vivienne Von Vexx's Arc

Chapter 20 of 21

The snap of the branch hung in the air between them. Vivienne pressed her hand to the hunter's chest and held him still. The deer lay forgotten at her feet. She listened past the red trees and heard quick steps moving away through dead leaves. Whoever had stood there was running now. She told the hunter to go back across the river and not to look behind him. He started to argue. She shook her head once, and he went. She followed the sound. At the edge of the clearing, behind the trunks, she found a burned old stump split down the middle. The moss around it was crushed flat in the shape of two boots. Someone had stood there a long time. On top of the stump lay a folded square of cloth. She picked it up. It was a fine handkerchief, edged in thread, marked with her own family crest. Dried blood stained one corner. She knew the stitching. It came from the castle. Vivienne turned the cloth over in her fingers. Only three people in the grove carried these. Her brothers each kept one. The third belonged to the woman Alastair had married. Vivienne closed her hand around it. If Alastair or Montague had watched her feed beside a mortal, the hunter would be dead before sunrise. They would not wait. They would not ask. She followed the trail. Crushed fern, a snapped branch hanging by its bark, a long boot print pressed deep into wet ground. The steps were short and even. Not a man's stride. The trail led toward the castle, then turned sharp at a fallen log and cut toward the side path that ran to Wisteria's chamber. Vivienne ran. She caught up at the door of the hidden passage. Wisteria was already inside, brushing leaves from the hem of her dress. She did not look surprised when Vivienne stepped in behind her. "You dropped this," Vivienne said, and held out the handkerchief. Wisteria looked at it, then at Vivienne. "I did," she said. "I wondered if you would find it before I came to you." Vivienne waited. Wisteria folded her hands. "I have not told them. I will not. You spared me once, when Alastair brought me here and I could not eat. I owe you a silence." She paused, choosing the next words. "But you should know that I am not the only one who walks at night. If I found you, another can. Bring him across the river less often, or stop bringing him at all." Vivienne nodded. She put the bloodied cloth into her pocket beside the silver ring. The watcher had a name now, and the hunter would live to see another night.