A current of heat passed through Corbin as Luna's cat-like eyes remained on him. The walls in the studio pulsed with a low hum that crawled through his ears. Her lips moved but he couldn't hear what she was saying, and it wasn't until his knees swayed that sound returned to him.

"What gift do you see?" Jasper asked.

"The gift of water," she replied and thudded into Jasper's chest as she stepped back, causing the dark emerald color of her eyes to morph back to light green. "Let's go. We need to go."

"What? What about the gems?"

"He's not the man we're looking for. He's something else." She grabbed Jasper's hand, pulling him. "Let's go."

"Wait, what about him?"

"We leave him alone," Luna replied and yanked Jasper through the door.

When it closed behind them, Corbin rushed over and bolted the locks. What on earth just happened? Whatever it was, he wouldn't stick around to find out! So he packed his bag, got dressed, and pulled money out of his wallet for Charlie's father. His heart pounded as he made his way to the door, and he blew out a breath before unlocking it.

"When will I catch a break, old man?" He pulled the door open, but as he stepped out, his eyes narrowed on the knuckles flying towards his face.

∆∆∆

When Corbin came to consciousness, he found himself on the bed in the studio. As he blinked at the ceiling, angry whispers from somewhere in the room demanded his attention. He rolled over and watched the shadows from Luna's dramatic arm movements take up the entire place as she paced by the lamp.

"What if they were after ME," he heard her say.

"But they're not," Jasper replied.

"Papá, por favor..." She turned to a tall older man with hints of grey frosting the stubble on his chin. If Corbin had to guess, the man was probably in his fifties, yet his body looked like he could strangle a bear in its sleep. "What if they were after my kind? Wouldn't you want someone to help me?"

"Sweetheart, if this is the man we heard The Hounds are after, we can't help him. It's not our business," he replied in a British accent.

"Not our business?"

"I am sorry, Sweetheart, but you have to understand—"

"He has the gift of water, Papá!" Luna exclaimed with clenched fists and began pacing again. "He has a bigger purpose. I saw it in his eyes."

"Don't start making things up just because you want to help him," Jasper scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not making it up!"

"We can't keep him, Luna. He's not a pet."

"I'm not making it up, Jasper!"

"What did you see?" the older man asked, halting their bickering.

"What?"

"What did you see in his eyes?" he asked again.

"I'm not sure."

"Because you're lying!" Jasper laughed.

"QUIET," the man scolded. "Concentrate, Luna. What did you see?"

"Go on." Corbin got to his feet, drawing their attention. "What did you see when you looked into my swollen, bruised eyes? And I'd also like to know who the hell you are."

"I'm Archibald," the older man replied, extending his hand to him. "My daughter thinks you have a greater purpose, so here we are."

"Oh, really?" Corbin snorted, ignoring Archibald's hand. "Like selling me to The Hounds so I can become someone's slave!"

"Don't be foolish," Archibald chuckled. "Selling people isn't my line of work."

"No? Then what do you want?"

"Well, at first we wanted to steal your gems, but now that we know you're not the Jeweler we're looking for, we'll help you get out of here instead."

Corbin's blood plummeted to his feet like weights, sinking him onto the bed. "Are The Hounds here?"

"No." Archibald shook his head. "They're more like scouts. They gather information to report back to their leader."

"And how do I know you aren't a scout?"

"Well, if you want to see another day as a free man, you must trust us."

"Trust you? I haven't trusted anyone since leaving Scotts Valley, and you expect me to believe you have my best interest? Oh, please!"

"Corbin, listen to me..." Luna approached him.

"NO."

"Corbin, please listen," she tried again, cornering him on the bed. "You are in danger."

"I need you to move! You can't keep me here."

"You're right," Archibald replied. "But it sounds to me like you've encountered one trouble after another, and I might not have Luna's gift, but even I can see you have no experience in what this country has become. It's dog-eat-dog, and you're a small dog who the big dogs want to devour."

"I am NOT a small dog!" Corbin folded his arms.

"Then stop acting like one," Jasper said, dragging a pocket knife across his nails, trimming them. "Let my father help you."

"Please, Corbin," Luna begged. "What I saw in your eyes... let us help you."

Corbin dropped his gaze to his feet. The voice in his head was shouting not to trust them, but his gut said maybe he could?

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Because here in this town we don't let outsiders come through our gates and hunt down one of our own," Archibald replied.

"But I'm not one of your own."

"You are now. Plus, my daughter is right. Today The Hounds are hunting down witchers, but tomorrow they could start going after people like her."

"People like her?"

"People with the gift of sight," Archibald explained. "So we'll fight one battle at a time, which means first figuring out how to get you out of town safely."

"So, will you let us help you?" Luna asked.

"I suppose I have no other choice," Corbin replied.

∆∆∆

As soon as the sun spread its fingers over the big blue lake, Archibald and Luna set out on a reconnaissance mission while Jasper and Corbin stayed behind. Even though it was early, the main street in town was coming to life with people exiting their tents and lighting their fire pits to cook breakfast. Meanwhile, Archibald and Luna beelined for the brewery. When they got there, they handed each prostitute fifty dollars of loyalty and sent them on a mission to be their eyes and ears.

After an hour of waiting for information, one of them rushed through the door. Chantelle's voluminous copper curls bounced around her pale shoulders as she sauntered excitedly up to Luna, who was nursing a beer at the bar.

"I saw a group of five men and one woman come through the southern gate on horseback!" she whispered loudly.

"And?"

"And the guards let them pass with weapons and they had these things across their chests with, I don't know, ammo or something!"

Luna flashed her eyes towards Archibald sitting at a card table with a cloud of smoke around him, a cigar wedged between his lips. When their eyes met, he set his cards down, and she turned her attention back to Chantelle. "Hounds or Scouts?"

"Hounds, I think. They didn't look like the ones from yesterday."

Sunlight invaded the brewery with a blink as two men, and a woman walked through the door. Luna's eyes shifted their way, and then to her father, who had already spotted them.

Heads turned as the threesome zeroed in on the bar. It was hard not to notice them with rifles slung over their backs, bandoliers across their chests, and protective vests. One of them appeared to be the leader. Not only did he walk ahead of the others, but he was too tall and muscular to submit to anyone else.

The Goliath-like man scanned the room, his eyes piercing and dark like arrowheads. He took a seat near Luna, and she played it cool while sipping her frosty beer. Chantelle, on the other hand, used the opportunity to flex a sales pitch.

"Oh, my, aren't you handsome," she squeezed his arm. "And strong too. I bet we'd have a wild time upstairs."

"Get away from me." He twisted her hand and gave a hard shove.

"Help!" Chantelle cried and Luna closed her eyes, her fist tightening around the misty glass of beer.

"Chantelle, I need you to get lost."

"W-What?" she blanched, clutching her wounded hand.

"Get. Lost."

Archibald approached the quivering prostitute gently, resting his hands on her shoulders. After whispering some words in her ear and slipping some money into her palm, she walked away.

"My apologies," he directed to the muscular man's back. "But you must treat the girls with respect when you step in here."

Neither of them turned around, so Archibald inhaled a deep breath and folded his hands in front of him. Reading her father's body language, Luna stood and rolled her shoulders back — preparing herself to swing.

"Where I come from, you face a man when he's speaking to you," Archibald said.

The men didn't acknowledge him, but the woman with a mohawk and full sleeve tattoos did. "Listen, old man. If you're smart, you will walk away."

"Oh?" Luna stepped forward. "Are the women having a chat, then?"

But Archibald swung his arm in front of her, blocking her path. The woman smirked and wiped her mouth before turning on the stool to completely face them.

"Listen, little girl, why don't you get lost like that whore?"

"I don't think you realize where you are," Luna replied.

"And I don't think you know your place."

"Then maybe you should look around."

She scanned the suddenly silent room as card players folding their arms, while dancers and wait-staff paused from their duties. Archibald folded his arms too, mirroring the others, and said, "I suggest you let the men talk now because around here, no one disrespects my daughter."

The woman's less muscular companion glanced over his shoulder and rotated on the stool. He took in their audience with a flicker of amusement, curving the edges of eyes before sliding them over to Luna. It quickly transitioned into appreciation as he assessed her from head to toe. Archibald cleared his throat and stepped in front of Luna, prompting the man to grin.

"It appears we got off on the wrong foot," he directed to Archibald. "I'm Alexander, and we're tracking a man who might have come through here. That's all."

"Is he a criminal?"

"That's our business." Alexander winked.

"Then I'm afraid we can't help you."

"We don't need your help. Merric might not be a man of many words, but he's a damn good Lurp. So we'll find our guy. Now, if you'll excuse us, we'd like to continue enjoying our refreshments. Unless she's for hire?" He nodded towards Luna. "It's been a long road, and I'm mighty hungry."

"NO," Archibald replied through clenched teeth, and every muscle in his body tensed as he tightened his fists at his sides.

"Oh. My apologies then. G'day to you." Alexander grinned.

Around them, the click of safety buttons on weapons echoed throughout the bar as each patron aimed at The Hounds. The grin dissolved from Alexander's face. Then he and the mohawked woman readied their weapons as well, resulting in Merric finally turning on his stool. His dark eyes scanned the room.

"Stand down," his deep voice ordered quietly.

"Seriously? Merric, we could wipe this town off the map if we wanted to!" the mohawked woman scoffed.

"Joanie, he said to stand down," Alexander clipped.

"But—"

Merric's muscular arm reached across Alexander and slapped his meaty hand over Joanie's mouth. "I won't tell you again!"

With a snarl of disgust, he shoved her face before returning to his beer. Joanie remained frozen in place with her head bent, but her complexion bloomed into a bright shade of red.

"I suggest you all move along and soon. You're not welcome here," Archibald said, breaking the silence.

He latched onto Luna's arm and pulled her with him towards the door while nodding to everyone in the bar to stand down. When they exited the brewery, he didn't let go of her as he pushed through the crowd of pedestrians in the street. It wasn't until they put enough distance between them and the brewery that he stopped and faced her.

"If I ever see that Alexander man again, I'm going to break his damn neck!"

"Papá, it's ok." She brought her hand to his cheek. "He was trying to provoke you, but you did good. You walked away, and now we know who they are and why they're here."

"I still want to kill him." Archibald lowered her hand and held it in his. With a squeeze, he said, "Whatever you saw in Corbin's eyes better be damn good because that man back there, Merric, won't stop until he finds him."

"I don't understand the vision yet, but I saw him swallowed by water and several hands pulling him deeper and deeper."

"That is alarming." Archibald nodded. "And we should get going."

When they walked through the studio door, Corbin and Jasper were sitting at the small kitchen table drinking coffee. They both looked up, ready for the news as Archibald rubbed his temples, concern carved across the wrinkles of his forehead.

"Father, what is it?" Jasper went to him.

"We need to leave. Immediately. Grab your things, Corbin."

Jasper's eyes shifted from Archibald to Luna. "What happened?"

"Chantelle saw a group of Hounds enter through the southern gate, and they were allowed to keep their weapons. Which means they bribed the guards," Luna explained.

"Plus, we met three of them, and the leader is a Lurp," Archibald added.

"Are you kidding me?" Jasper's jaw dropped.

"No, son, I'm not."

"Well, that's just fantastic!"

"Um... what's a Lurp?" Corbin asked.

"An L.R.R.P," Archibald sighed, running a hand over his face. "Long-range reconnaissance patrol. Which means he's a military man and has experience doing missions where he goes for days, maybe even weeks, tracking a target. So this man, Merric, won't be easy to dodge. Not with his tracking skills."

"Did you say, Merric?" Corbin swallowed the bile rising in his throat.

"I'm guessing that name means something to you?" Archibald asked.

"I ran into him back in Sage Brush. There was a woman, and she told me he's the leader of The Hounds."

"How long ago was that?" Jasper asked.

"About two days ago."

"Jesus, he's tracked you this fast..."

"Well, let's get going then!" Archibald ordered, marching towards the door. "Smuggling people out of here is easier said than done."

With no other choice, Corbin followed his new companions.

***

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