Enemy Within (Moira Ashe Book 1)

Lincoln wouldn’t like this, but she had to do it for both their sakes.

Waking up early, Moira rushed to get ready. Having slept in her clothes, she only had to grab her equipment before she left. Moira opened her door slowly and crept into the hall. Carefully closing the door behind her, she pulled out her stolen key. She locked Lincoln’s door as quietly as she could in the hopes that the sound wouldn’t rouse him from his sleep.

She held her breath as the lock clicked. Holding her hand against the door, Moira waited for a response. When none came, she let out a long slow breath but stayed motionless. She lingered there, letting the guilt gnaw at her before pulling herself away. Adopting her usual stride, she left Lincoln behind. As she entered the inn, she stopped and waited to talk to Bridget.

“Heading out, are you?” She peeked around the entrance to the rooms. “Where’s Lincoln?”

Moira held up Lincoln’s room key. “He’s to stay in his room for the night.” She slipped it back into her pocket. “Quinn’s orders.”

Bridget tossed her chin up. “Umph. About time he did something about that man. He was bound to get himself killed running around out there.”

Her first stop was at the town’s butcher shop, where she picked up her usual order of discarded pig parts, which she wrapped up in her white blood-stained sheet. Next was leaving the town’s front gate. She waited for the front gates to be opened for her, the gruesome package slung over her shoulder. The guard on duty wished her luck as she left and disappeared into the forest; the gates closed behind her.

She was stalking through the forest when she stopped dead in her tracks. She spun around as she scanned her surroundings. She didn’t see anything, but she couldn’t help feeling like she was being watched.

She looked to the sky. She was running out of time.

As much as she wanted to make sure she wasn’t being followed, Moira couldn’t afford to. Instead, she called out into the illuminated forest.

“Is anyone there?” Moira waited for a response but was only rewarded with silence. She frowned, shaking her head. Moira strode forward at a quickened pace.

It only took a few minutes for her to reach her destination. Arriving at a wall of brush, Moira peered behind her before moving towards the tangled leaves. Carefully prying the branches apart, she slid silently through the blockade into a ring ensnared by overgrowth.

She stepped out into the clearing and dropped her package onto the ground. Stepping over to a tree, Moira placed her equipment against it. She hung her hat and coat on a branch above them before she returned to her package. She dumped the contents of the bundle onto the ground and draped the blanket over her shoulders as she took off her clothes, leaving her wearing nothing but the sheet itself. The sheet helped stave off the cold as she knelt in the clearing, as she had done many nights before. As the full moon bathed her in its light, Moira waited.