Chapter 4 — **Chapter 3**

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Elowen and Gareth sat in a shadowed corner booth at the Four Crowns pub, the air thick with the scent of stale beer and, curiously, damp moss. The clink of glasses and the low murmur of patrons buzzed around them, a Thursday afternoon crowd already gathering. A grizzled old man at the bar glanced their way, his weathered face narrowing with suspicion before he turned back to his pint. Elowen shifted uncomfortably, her fingers tapping the scarred wooden table.

“You said you’d take me to Thorne, and the minute I agree, you drag me back into town.” Her voice carried an edge of frustration. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Gareth was stringing her along, testing her resolve to chase after her missing boyfriend. Perhaps he’d been right to scoff at her determination—maybe she should have turned tail and driven back to Edinburgh. *What are you doing, Elowen?* The thought gnawed at her. This was reckless, absurd even. When she finally tracked down Thorne, she’d have words for him about sending her on this maddening detour with his gruff not-twin brother.

She scanned the dim pub, its walls steeped in shadows. “Why are we here again?”

“We need a favor,” Gareth said, his jaw tight. “From Dru. And before you ask, he’s more than just the bartender.”

Elowen raised an eyebrow but bit back her retort as Gareth’s gaze hardened. “We’ll need to bargain with him. Keep quiet, and don’t give him your name.”

She clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to scoff at his cryptic rules. Gareth’s obsession with old tales was almost theatrical, yet there was a grimness in his tone that unsettled her. Before she could press him, a voice cut through the hum of the crowd.