Page 2 of Gilded Curses

“What are those things?” Elsa whispered.

No one answered her. Whatever they were, they didn’t appear dangerous, as they hadn’t rushed out to attack. But they were in those homes, working as one strange unit and keeping an eye on them.

A shiver ran down Sahira’s back as they edged past the second set of buildings and moved deeper into the town. Around the bend, the road was still hardpacked dirt, and the buildings remained turned, so the front doors and windows all angled toward the street, allowing for more windows to look down on them.

In every building, all the curtains were open, and a dim glow filled the windows, but no lamps or light fixtures showed through them. Most buildings were wood and painted different shades of pale yellow, blue, red, and green—a few brick buildings mixed with the others, but not many.

In this section of town, side roads branched off from the main one. They led through more houses angled so she could see the front doors and into their windows.

Although they didn’t discuss it, no one ventured down any of those side roads. They stayed on the main street but would traverse those roads when they finished here… if they didn’t discover anything.

It was only a matter of time before they entered one of the homes to discover what the shadowy figures were, but no one suggested doing so… yet.

When they slid into the windows again, Sahira couldn’t stop herself from jumping again. She cursed herself for being an idiot. She’d faced far worse in the Barren Lands and Belda’s town; she should be used to those awful things by now, but these still surprised her.

Probably because there was no rhyme or reason to their movements, they were there and gone. This time, she counted the seconds until they vanished again; fifteen passed.

From the time they disappeared, she counted again. She was up to ninety when the entities reemerged; they stuck around for thirty seconds before retreating.

“I didn’t think it was possible to hate anything more than those spiders, but this place is starting to vie for first,” Zeth growled.

Sahira didn’t look at the demon as she counted while searching the windows. She was up to over two minutes when they reemerged. No, there wasn’t any rhyme or reason to these… other than making life miserable.

When they vanished again, Orin’s fingers squeezed hers before releasing her hand. “Fuck this. Stay here.”

Before she knew what he intended, he stormed away. Sahira lurched forward to stop him, but he was already too far gone, and her hands encountered only air while he stalked toward one of the homes.

Elsa grasped her arm, holding her in place as Pip readied her spear while Orin grabbed the knob and twisted. When the door swung open with a creak, it didn’t astonish Sahira to learn it wasn’t locked.

“Orin, wait!” Sahira called.

But Orin pulled his sword from his sheath and charged inside.

CHAPTER THREE

Determined to stop Orin from killing himself, Sahira started after him, but Zeth’s large, claw-tipped hand encircled her forearm. She tipped her head back to take in the man who, at seven feet tall, was over a foot and a half taller than her five-foot-five frame.

“I’ll go,” Zeth said.

Sahira started to protest, but the demon squeezed her arm as his yellow eyes held hers. Handsome, with a broad nose, deep black skin, strong cheekbones, and a solid jaw, Zeth had two red horns protruding from each side of his skull; they curved toward the middle of his bald head. Two sharp, bony hooks jutted from the tops of his shoulders.

“The four of you should stay out here to let us know if something changes or comes our way. But let me do this. I owe him for saving me from the spiders.”

When Sahira nodded and relaxed in his grasp, Zeth released her arm and stomped toward the house with his spear at the ready. Heart hammering and throat dry, Sahira stepped closer to Elsa as she waited for something to explode out of the house, someone to scream, or the whole thing to collapse.

She was certain something bad was coming as she searched the outside of the house, but it remained calm. Which only made it worse.

Elsa’s fingers brushed her arm, and Sahira looked away long enough to return her friend’s fleeting smile before focusing on the home again. She’d give anything to see past the pale yellow wall.

A second later, movement from within caused her to jump as the figures emerged in the windows again. They didn’t look any different from before, but she couldn’t help feeling like an air of menace now radiated from them.

This time, when those things vanished again, she was certain it was because they were finally coming for them.

* * *

With his sword at the ready, Orin stalked into the living room as he prepared for an attack. He was desperate to destroy something and looked forward to them coming at him.

It had already been an extremely shitty day, and these unknown creatures only made it worse. They would pay for that.