Blood Red (80 page)

Vivi Anna

practicing. They would need some if they were to pass the castle gates without the notice of the sorcerer and his wicked sister.

It was also the entrance to the castle that was a problem, for they did not know where it was. Rumor had it that the entrance was cloaked in magic. Few had the knowledge to enter. He was sure that Red was one of them. If she did not return, they would have to enter the way they had escaped, through the water canals. But it would be almost impossible. They would have to swim upstream, and if the hole they had escaped out of were covered, how would they know where to stop?

Wolf lowered his sword and stared down at it. A shadow passed over him. He looked up at Rapunzel.

“We are not defeated, Wolf.”

“No, not yet.”

“Do not talk as if it is already over.”

“You talk as if six against a hundred is a reasonable request.”

“We are more than just six. You fight as if you are ten men. The Bears as if they are twenty. Goldilocks would have to have her black heart ripped out before she would quit, and Iron Hans has nine lives, seven of which he still has left. We are more than just six.”

He looked up at her, studying her. “And you?”

“Me?” She flexed her hands, “I can not wield a sword like a warrior, but I seem to have some other power that just might help.” A green glow emanated from her fingers. “A power that seems to swell as time grows short.”

“Without the one, we will lose.”

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Blood Red

“She will come. You know as well as I do, she would never walk away from a fight.” She smiled and touched his hands. “Your love for her is strong, but do not let it get in the way of what must be done.”

Wolf pulled away from her touch and raised his sword. He swung it through the air. “I won’t.”

Hans came through the dark passageway. “The message has been passed. The people are prepared for war, if it comes to that.”

Rapunzel stood and straightened her skirts. “Let us not fail, then.”

“We won’t.”

They all turned. Red stepped out of the shadow of the dark passageway and into the dim light.

Wolf looked at her, but she did not meet his gaze.

“But know this. I fight for myself, not for some godforsaken bullshit prophecy. I will kill the Brothers, but not for the peoples of Germania. I’ll do it because they pissed me off.”

“Sounds fair to me,” Junior said as he wrapped his knife sheath around his leg. He was strapped and ready to go. A large double shot crossbow in his powerful arms.

The others outfitted themselves with their own weapons of choice.

Wolf moved toward Red. “Here.” He handed her the sword. “It is sharp and ready for battle.”

She took it. She swung it around, getting a feel for the weight. She nodded. “'Tis a good sword.” She lowered it and looked up into his face. She saw the hurt and the hope in his eyes. “I—.”

“You do not have to say anything to me.”

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