Crossbows were easy enough to dodge.

  Whizz, our Goblin navigator, had gotten Vin and me a pair for Ogna, which was an Ogre holiday, but we hadn’t cared since there had been presents. The bolts had rubber tips, which served two functions. First, it was easy for one of our aquatic crew mates to find the floating white projectiles when they were shot off the side of the ship and second, they didn’t hurt when we managed to hit one another.

  Unlike bows, which could fire arrows as fast as the archer could draw, someone with a crossbow had to point it at the ground to reload it, then re-aim once they picked it back up. That left huge windows when my opponent was defenseless.

  I vaulted over the wagon and charged across the open area. Most of the fighting had happened inside the circle, but it wasn’t hard to weave around the two dead Orcs.

  “DRIAR!” Quiggly squeaked as he fumbled with his weapon.

  The Sively turned to see why his boss was yelling, but the distraction was all Nheglek needed to grab the orange man’s wing and slam his opponent face-first into the ground.

  The Ogre was on his back a moment later and the two began grappling as they rolled on the other side of the wagons. While Sively were large, their frames were very light, so it would be an even match until the Ogre was able to break a bone, then it would be Nheglek’s fight to lose.

  Quiggly threw the unloaded crossbow at me, which I swatted out of the way. The Goblin tried to lift the other crossbow, but before he could aim, I slid over the bricks and kicked him in the head.

  I landed on top of the smaller man, grabbed his left wrist to stop him from stabbing me with the dagger it held. I used the physical contact to drain him enough to knock him out.

  The pair were still tussling, so I walked over and leaned against the wagon next to them and watched. All it would take was one touch to knock one of them out, but it would be a lot easier to subdue the second one if they were both tired.

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  Glass shattered as Vin walked through the barrier. He was breathing hard and had more red on him than black, but most of the blood didn’t look like it was his. He let out a growl that stopped the struggling as both men looked up at the larger man.

  Vin used his upper arms to grab both of their heads and knock them together.

  “Were you taking bets?” My brother dropped the unconscious bodies on the ground.

  I shrugged. “ The fight was over, I was just letting them get the struggling out of their system.”

  My brother eyed me. “Which one’s the badguy?”

  “Both…” I sighed and walked over to them. A simple touch evened out their wounds, then I touched my brother.

  Cracks formed on my skin as the cuts he’d earned from alpha transferred to me.

  “Remember to-”

  “Leave the scars.” I cut him off as I started bleeding on the grass. After fourteen years of using my ability, I’d started to get used to the pain, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t still hurt. “I know. You want to be able to woo the women with tales of how you almost died.”

  My brother laughed. “You do the same thing! It’s not like you can’t keep the scars too!”

  I glanced over at Starna, who was talking to Tempest. I shook my head. “I don’t need them.” I moved my hand off my almost healed brother and put it on both men’s chests. “There’s an Arm for the Centaur Queen over in the woods.” I nodded where I’d left the tamer. “You were his main target. What did you do?”

  The smile my brother flashed me told me he knew exactly what the man-horse had been upset about. “She was old enough to be my mom!” He laughed as he took off.

  I shook my head. My brother had philandered with a member of the Centaur royal family. Probably the Queen’s sister since the princess was half our age and a cousin wouldn’t be enough of an embarrassment to get caught with a Camadt. I didn’t want to know when he’d found the time to run into a Centaur Princess, but it didn’t surprise me. He was dangerous enough to check the ‘badboy’ box and exotic enough that all he had to do was smile to make most women swoon.

  I finished transferring the wounds to the two men, then stood up and headed for Starna. It was time to see if I could get some answers.

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