Hair of Gold: Just Right (Urban Fairytales Book 6) (8 page)

I awoke to the feeling static in the air, like the feel of a close lightning strike that leaves the hair on your arm and the back of your neck standing on end. My brothers were lurching to their feet as I rolled to mine.

Gretel was on her feet with her dagger in one hand and that odd green magic in her other. It was pulsating with a slight uneasy black that was tainting it. She was demanding, “Who are you?”

I realized my blade was in my hand, and Andrei and Vlad were scanning the camp for threats. What did she see that we did not?

Then I followed her gaze to an overly amused Pavel as he held his hands up in a non-threatening manner, grinning like a fool as his beard trembled from his barely contained laughter.

I rolled my eyes at the man and stepped beside Gretel, laying a hand on her dagger arm and applying gentle pressure as I whispered, “That's Little Bear.”

Then I chastised my brother, “You could at least have waited until we were awake to change so that you didn't alarm our guests.” Then I narrowed my eyes at Hansel, who was stoking the fire with a grin on his face. I shook a finger at him. “And you're no better than he is you scalawag!” That got the young man laughing.

Then I turned back to my brother and said with a warning tone as Gretel caught on to what was happening, “Pavel, now apologize to her, da?”

He looked down and tried to stop grinning as he nodded and said, “I'm sorry to have startled you, Gretel, it was not my intent.” I narrowed my eyes, his grin got toothier, and he amended, “Well mostly not my intent.”

She sheathed her dagger and asked in an amazed voice, “Little Bear? It is true then, you three are human.” She shot me an apologetic glance and said in her own defense, “I thought you might be half mad.”

She gave me an apologetic grin, and I burst out in a giggle and said, “You may not be too far off in that estimation.”

Then I turned to the two giant bears who had relaxed and seemed overly amused at the situation. “Don't make me come over there boys. Now go get changed and I'll see about getting a morning meal put together.”

They trundled quickly off, grabbing their packs in their jaws so they could go change. I wiggled my eyebrows at the brunette beside me who looked thoroughly entertained by me. I shrugged. “The best way to discipline them is through their stomachs.”

She nodded sheepishly. “That is what got Hansel and me in our predicament, the promise of sweets.”

She and Hansel contributed supplies for the meal, and I had to blink at the three goose eggs that the man had in his pack. How had he not cracked them open during the fight? They made a great addition to the breakfast.

I had to shoo her away as she tried to help cook. “I have this, you can dig out the tin plates from my pack just there.”

Pavel chuckled. “She claimed our kitchen as her own as well, we can't get within five paces of the stove at home. Feisty little kitten that one is.”

They exchanged smug smiles, and I narrowed an eye at them and shook my spoon at them. He said behind his hand to her, faking stealth, “Just do not let her know that most consider it is a woman's job, or we will never eat again.”

I don't think he was prepared for the backhand to his gut from the feisty brunette nor the pebble I threw at his head as they struck simultaneously. He said in a more pronounced Russian accent than normal, “Gods above, there are two of them.”

I went back to readying the meal as I growled out absently, “For that you are cleaning the dishes the rest of this expedition dear brother.”

He deflated as my other two brothers came walking back into camp, chuckling. I pointed my spoon at them, and they shut their traps with amused looks on their faces.

Hansel, who had rarely said anything since we met the siblings said as he shook his head in disbelief, “I thought Pavel was big. You're just as huge as your bears.”

Andrei took a pinch of eggs with his fingers from the pan I had over the fire as he passed by. I slapped his shoulder with my spoon and growled. Gretel cocked her head at me and asked nobody in particular, “Is she... a bear too?”

All three brothers chimed out, “Da.”

I growled again and chided them, “I am not. You three behave and stop spreading fallacies.”

Little Bear again spoke behind his hand to her, “Well she is as fierce as a mother bear. I think that maybe, we are rubbing off on her.”

Gretel shot me a coy look then responded to him with a shrug, “Well, her roar matched yours last night.”

I blushed and pulled the pan off the coals. Now she was teasing just like my evil brothers. I said to her, “If you're quite done, breakfast is ready.” I warned off my brothers who were rushing over, and I gave my wickedest grin as I motioned to Gretel, stating, “Ladies first.” Stressing the word ladies.

Gretel raised her chin imperiously and pushed past my hulking siblings. She scrunched her head to her shoulders and gave me a cute squinty grin and stepped up with the tin plates, handing all but one back to the brute squad.

We discussed what our next course of action would be and got to know the two a little better. The always smiling brunette expounded a little upon their calling. That after the disappearance of Rapunzel and Eve after the fall of Dame Gothel, she felt they owed it to them to continue their work in defending those who could not defend themselves.

I recall hearing tales of the maiden with hair of iron as I grew up and how, after she had avenged her mother, she had seemingly vanished without a trace. There were rumors that she and her companion had retired to a village on the fringes of civilization and yet others that say she too met her demise when she killed the dark vrajitoare, Dame Gothel.

Another obscure conjecture was that she was actually the Red Hood that appeared out of nowhere at the same time the wolves began their reign of terror.

Others say that she has joined the Lady Who Sleeps, Nicole of Arad, in the Black Crypt of London. Since no one can enter without paying the toll of their own life to verify this, that is the most popular theory.

I asked Gretel, “What do you think?”

She shrugged and gave a sad smile, it was plain to see that Rapunzel had been her hero and that she was doing everything in her power to do the memory of her proud. She said in a faraway voice, “I'd like to think that she is out there somewhere, just not able to return to us. But her tower on the sea stands sentinel, awaiting her return. As long as it stands, hope will remain. The Damaschin family has made her tower off limits to the populace and defend it with a passion.”

I nodded slowly, hoping that for her sake, she was right. I didn't want her to be disappointed for some odd reason. Then I thought of how our current quest so mirrored Rapunzel's own, to rid the world of a darkness before more innocents could suffer. The thought made me sit a little straighter.

When we broke camp, Vladimir had broken off with Hansel as we traveled, asking about the whip. I had to grin at them as the younger man showed him the techniques that allowed him to control the weapon so well. I bit back a snort at the fact that apparently, the man could say more than one sentence before returning to silence.

One thing I can say about Gretel's brother was that it was obvious he took protecting her as his top priority, just like mine did me. Being so protective must be a big brother thing.

We overnighted in a little village, Adancata, northeast of Bucuresti in the mountainous region that the stories my bears say their father had found Narcisa in.

I fidgeted in the cellars of the blacksmith, whom we had traded a wild turkey with, for shelter for the night with his animals. My brothers paced by the iron bound oak doors as we heard wolves prowling the lanes. My hand tightened then relaxed on the hilt of my sword, over and over.

I stiffened when a warm hand rested on my arm. I looked down into concerned brown pools that had such depth to them that I could just stare into them forever, peeling back each layer of complex emotion in them. Gretel asked, with the concern I saw in her eyes coloring her voice as she spoke low, “What is it? We are safe in here Kat. And if the wolves get through the door, we are all capable of defending ourselves.”

I smiled at her and took my hand off the hilt of my blade to rest it over hers. I caught myself stroking her hand with my thumb and stopped myself before she could pull away. I chuckled under my breath and whispered. “It is not that. We should be out there, protecting the village. The strong have an obligation to protect the weak. The early days when I was young, it almost drove my brothers mad not being out on a Wolf Moon to defend our own village.”

The corner of her mouth twitched, then she turned her hand to grasp mine and give it a little squeeze. That twitch turned into a wicked smile as she looked back to her brother. He returned it and gave a half nod. She drew her little dagger, and her brother unslung his coiled whip from his shoulder, and he asked, “Then what are we all doing in here?”

My brothers looked around grinning like fools and started taking their shirts off. I slapped Andrei's shoulder, “Not now, there is a lady present.”

Hansel snorted and covered his mouth, not looking at us.

Gretel said imperiously to him, “You heard her Han, a lady.” Then she slapped the back of his head as she walked past to the cellar door. I grinned at her and stood at her side as we stood with our backs to my brothers.

A minute later we were greeted by the grunting of three oversize bears crowding the cramped space of the cellar. The chickens and four hogs in the cellar with us were making distressed sounds with predators in their midst.

Pavel stuck his muzzle between Gretel and I. His eyes eager to get to work. Gretel smiled at him and ruffled his ears, “Hello Little Bear.” I was oddly jealous.

I twapped his nose and chastised, “No need to get pushy.” Then I drew my blade and listened at the door before unbolting it and swinging open the door.

My brothers streamed out first, barely able to get through the opening. Then before Gretel and I could move, Hansel followed. I exchanged eye rolls with the brown eyed woman at our brother's behavior then followed behind shutting the door behind us.

It took a moment for our eyes to adjust to the dark. We all turned to the growling and snarling to our left, and the muted whimpering of people in a cellar maybe fifty yards away at the livery. The wolf was digging at the door, and two more came out of the dark to join it.

I tightened my grip and could feel a smile playing on my lips as I started charging, bellowing out a roar that was amplified a hundred fold as my bears joined in. It felt oddly right as I ran to battle with Gretel at my side, green energies gathering in her free hand. I snarled as the wolves turned to us, another appearing from the shadows.

It was a short-lived battle, leaving Hansel and Gretel shaking their heads at the efficient ferocity of my bears. We decided to do two shifts, Andrei and Pavel returning to the cellar while the rest of us patrolled.

She stopped us a few minutes later and stepped up to Andrei, She placed her hand on a gash on his shoulder and pulled it away, covered in blood. She said in alarm, “You're bleeding. That is a claw mark!”

I saw the alarm in her eyes that matched her tone, then I understood. It was not simply concern that he was injured. I smiled at her and shook my head, “He will not turn. The Lupus Contagion cannot affect my brothers. The magic of Perchta, which allows them to change, protects them from it.”

I examined the gash, it hadn't hit anything important then I thumped his shoulder as we started patrolling again. “He'll heal when he changes back to human. They get banged up like this all the time.”

She nodded hesitantly then she slapped the tip of Andrei's ear and said, “Idiot. Letting yourself get hurt.”

He chuffed a bear chuckle and just lumbered along. We only came across one more wolf before the boys relieved us. As Andrei started his charge, Hansel's whip shot out and wrapped around the wolf's front legs, and he yanked them out from beneath it, flesh and fur sizzling against the silver strands in the rawhide.

Gretel's hand shot forward, and a lance of that green energy slammed into the beast. It yelped, and I sprang into the air from my own charge and came down on it, my blade slamming down through its skull, bones crunching. I gave it a twist and flopped the wolf to the side as the acrid smell of transformation back to human began.

Andrei had just cocked an eyebrow at us, an extremely odd sight to see on a bear, then he shook his head and smiled, showing his fangs.

I glanced back at Gretel, who had her head tilted as she watched me. Then she asked, “Are you sure you're not bear? The strength needed to drive a blade through bone like that is incredible.”

I shrugged and teased, “Maybe I am.” Then I added, “Grr?”

She chuckled and then walked with me back to the cellar when the boys showed up to relieve us. She was leaning against me with her head on my shoulder the whole way. It was distracting, and I missed it the moment she stepped away to enter the door.

Hansel sat down on a barrel almost bonelessly. He looked weary, and he rested his head back against the stone wall and closed his eyes. He had the right idea. I stretched and worked some kinks out of my neck. Then wiped my blade with a cloth and checked it for nicks or damage before sheathing it again.