A man appears out of nowhere, stumbling in the snow only twenty feet from us.
My skin crawls just looking at him.
He's dressed as if he's homeless, with bare feet, dirty skin, and matted hair. If we were in the middle of a city somewhere, I wouldn't think twice over his existence. Here?
It's strange.
Where's he from? How is he surviving this cold in his threadbare clothing? Why no shoes? And how did he just appear in front of us?
Eleanor makes a soft sound. "He looks cold," she says, and I stick my arm out in silent warning for her to stay back.
Vester growls, and my bodyguards come between us. "Who are you?" he demands of the man.
He catches me staring and throws his head back, cackling with a laugh that splits the air like a blade. It's high-pitched, manic, bouncing off the snow around us.
"Don't you recognize me, little wolf?" He points at me, fingers dirty and nails blackened.
