“Sorry,” I said. “You can have your horse back now.”
“And our rabbit?” Snowy asked sharply.
“You shouldn’t have left it out in the open if you didn’t want anyone to take it.”
Brendan coughed to cover his laughter. “I’ll repay you for the rabbit.”
“No, no,” Big Nose said. “She’s right. He should have put it away. Never could do what he should, that one. Too careless.”
Snowy spluttered his indignation.
“So you’re well,” Drake said, looking at me as if I were an apparition.
“Yeah. I’m okay.” I slid off the horse and rubbed its nose. “I heard a rumour that some important fae were passing this way and decided to hang around. So who am I riding with?”
“Me,” both kings said at once.
Big Nose took the horse and nodded at me. “We weren’t gonna hurt you, you know, even though you’re human and probably the one there’s a reward for taking back to the Darkside.”
“How much is the reward?” I asked, curious to know what I was worth.
Drake made a sound of disgust. Brendan was smiling.
“Land and a title,” Snowy said. “Not that we would have taken it.”
“Well, thanks,” I said. “I’m grateful for that.”
“I don’t like the Darkside,” the hooded one said. “Didn’t seem right to me. None of this seems right. Three kings. They say things get bad before they get worse, but I always thought the twin queens were ’bout as bad as it could get.” He shook his head, and the three of them wandered on ahead of us.
Drake stared at me. “You made it here impossibly quick. I mean… impossibly. And you’re alive.”
Brendan slipped off the horse. “Let’s eat, and we can talk about what happened.”
We all walked back into the woods.
“This is definitely the Great Forest, right?” I asked.
“It is,” Brendan said. “Lucky you found it.”
“Skill, you mean,” I scoffed. “I was ahead of you two, remember?”
“That’s because we tried to find you back in the desert. Then, we heard whispers of a girl heading toward the Great Forest. We took a chance on it being you.”
“I got lucky. I was kind of kidnapped by some drunkards who wanted to sell me to Sadler.”
Drake made a choking sound. “That was lucky.”
I shrugged. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
We sat on a fallen tree trunk near a pond. The horses drank while we ate a cold meal. I was starving and didn’t care one whit that we didn’t waste time with a fire.
“So what happened to you two?” I asked.
“When you fell, we kept riding, hoping they would follow,” Drake said. “We finally lost them and turned back to try to find you. Sadler’s men have been swarming. We had to avoid them, as well as look for you, which was tough, since they were apparently looking for you, too.”
Brendan broke in. “After we realised we weren’t going to find you, we decided to head back to get help. We didn’t know if you had even made it through the desert.”
“I followed the river then a stream and managed to avoid the desert almost completely,” I told them. “Besides, Sadler’s men didn’t look hard for me. Two passed right under me while I was sitting in a tree and didn’t even realise I was there. They weren’t trackers or warriors, and they didn’t know who they were looking for. Or how many they were looking for, come to think of it.”
Drake frowned. “In a tree?”
I nodded. “I slept there, too.”
“Not very safe,” Brendan said.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to lie bleeding on the ground and not have a chance to run when someone tracked me down.”
“Bleeding?” Drake asked.
“Oh. Yeah. They hit me with an arrow. That’s why I fell off the horse.” When they gaped at me, I said, “What? You both just assumed I’m the stupid human who falls off horses all the time?”
Brendan scowled. “How is the wound?”
“It’s not so bad. Sometimes it bleeds when I lean on it. If I roll over in my sleep, I hurt it all over again.”
“Let me see,” Drake said.
I slipped off my cloak and carefully pulled my shirt off my shoulder.
Drake tutted. “I’m surprised you’re not feverish right now.” He glanced at Brendan. “We need to clean it. Start a fire. Now.”
I was surprised when Brendan obeyed.
Drake took the Miacha bundle from his horse and handed it to me. “If there are any for pain or infection, take them. Right away.”
I looked in the bag and found one for pain. I couldn’t remember which one might help against an infection, but I didn’t tell him that. When the fire was ready, Drake boiled a small pot of water. I watched, wondering what was going on.
“You’ll hold her,” Drake said.
Brendan nodded.
I scooted back a bit. “Um, what?”
“Your not-so-bad wound is infected,” Brendan said. “We only have the most basic method to clean it.”
“What’s the basic method?” I asked, getting to my feet.
“Cara,” Brendan said in his kingly voice, “sit down.”
“Tell me what you’re going to do to me,” I demanded.
“Burn the poison away. Cut it away. Whatever it takes.”
I whimpered. I couldn’t help it.
“Don’t be a child,” he said. “You could die if we don’t treat it.”
I wanted to run away from them. “It can wait until we get back, can’t it? Or we can find the Miacha and—”
“Sit!” Brendan barked.
I hung my head and sat. Drake was cutting strips of fabric from a shirt he’d pulled out of the pack. When he was ready, the two of them surrounded me.
“Take a second leaf,” Drake said.
My eyes flew open. “That bad?”
Drake smiled, looking right into my eyes. “Let’s hope not.”
I popped another leaf in my mouth and tried to stop shaking. Brendan pulled me onto his lap and held me with my arms pinned at my sides. Drake dipped a dagger into the boiling water for a moment then came toward me. Without hesitation, he pierced the scab. I felt liquid running down my back.
“That’s pus,” Drake said. “We have to drain all of it.”
I bit down on the scream that threatened to erupt from my throat. Using a stick, he dunked a strip of fabric into the boiling water then pressed it against the wound. He must have burned his own fingers while holding it in place. I cried, tears streaming down my cheeks. The white material came away stained both red and yellow. He repeated the action two more times with fresh strips, and less pus came away each time.
I sucked in a breath. “That fucking hurts.”
“I know,” Drake said. “Tell us your story.”
“Um… some kind of water fae told me to follow a stream away from the river. I just wanted to get away from her; she was creepy. Then, ouch… um, I saw some white flowers and kind of… well... followed them.”
“You followed some flowers?” Brendan asked.
“Will you let me tell my story? Whenever I didn’t follow them, stupid things happened, like getting chased by stone statues.”
They exchanged a bemused glance. Drake started cooling my wound with fresh water. He pressed something against my shoulder.
Talking helped distract me from the pain that was worse than actually getting hit with an arrow, so I continued. “Anyway, not the point. I made it here in the end. I was hungry, smelled food, and met those faeries you were walking with. They offered me some food and a spot by their fire. I got up in the middle of the night and took one of their horses and the food.” I shrugged. “I don’t trust anyone.”
“Good,” Brendan said. He looked a little proud. “They were very angry and noisy this morning when we came upon them. They told us about you, so we headed along the road home.”
“You were pretty noisy, too,” I said. “
Like I said, some men were going to sell me to Sadler, but I got away, and then I met the Guardian of the forest.”
“You met…?” Brendan shook his head. “Why am I even surprised?”
“So the Guardian led me here. He said the forest is full of Darksiders today. Aren’t you worried?”
“We’re kings,” Brendan said, looking confused.
“Yeah, and so is Sadler now,” I reminded him. “And he has some pretty scary-looking fae on his side. And he has a reward out for me. I just don’t get why.”
“Some stupid game, no doubt.” Brendan waved dismissively. “Or he knows we’re with you and wants to bring us to him without alerting anyone that he wants to kidnap a king. It’s easier to ask people to take in a human than a king. He hasn’t changed.” He shook his head. “He’s always had an odd way of going about things.”
“Am I in trouble?” I asked.
“Yes,” Drake said. “But we can protect you now.”
“But his people are here. What if one of them tries to take me away?” I asked, my chin trembling. The more I remembered Sadler and his grandchildren, and the way he spoke about his own son, the more I feared him. He was beyond demented.
“He’s never going to get away with it here,” Brendan said, but something in his eyes made me wary.
“He’s never going to stop,” I whispered.
I stiffened as Drake pressed a makeshift bandage on my shoulder. The pain didn’t bother me since I had stopped panicking. Getting my tattoo done had sent me to sleep, which impressed the tattooist so much he gave me a discount. It was my first tattoo, a large one that covered bony areas, and I had kind of enjoyed the sensation. Maybe there really was something wrong with me.
“He’ll stop when he’s dead,” Drake said, sending Brendan a meaningful glance.
I yawned, unable to hold it in any longer.
“You probably haven’t had much sleep since you left us,” Brendan said. “Perhaps you should rest.”
I tried to shrug, but Drake hissed in annoyance at my moving my shoulder.
“There’s no point lingering” I said. “Anything could happen. Besides, it’s been this entire journey. The stress and drama has worn me out more than the actual activities.”
“You’ve grown tougher,” Brendan said. “More capable of handling yourself. I respect that.”
“You respect that she’s hardening?” Drake snapped. “Becoming like us?”
Brendan ignored him. “Sometimes humans fall apart when they come to our world, Cara. All of this danger and fear, but you’ve come along. I’m proud of you. You have some of our best qualities, I think.”
I blushed, but Drake was angry.
Spittle flew from his mouth as he yelled, “Disregard for life isn’t our best quality, Brendan!”
“She doesn’t disregard life,” Brendan scoffed. He looked me directly in the eye. “She’s more than you make of her.”
The tension peaked. I had to cut it before anything went further. I stood. “We should move on. Time is important right now. We all need to get back to… safer ground.”
They started gathering our things. I tried to help, but Drake kept taking bundles out of my hands.
“Would you stop? I can do this!”
“Your shoulder,” he said. “I don’t want the—”
“After everything that’s happened, I’m not going to let a little ache slow me down.”
“Yes, dear,” he murmured, dumping a bundle at my feet.
I thumped his arm. “Smart arse.”
We mounted the horses—I rode behind Drake—and headed toward the road. A thunderstorm cracked the sky that afternoon. Lightning sparked, illuminating everything in one hideous flash.
“Did you see that?” Brendan exclaimed. “It’s been so long since I witnessed a thunderstorm.”
Something caught in my heart at those words. I kept forgetting he had been trapped in a hellish place. It had taken a visit to the Fade to truly understand what it must have been like for him all those years. He was experiencing life all over again, like a child whose eyes had just opened. He wanted to drink up the world. I wished that for him, wished for him a life full of the things he had missed out on the first time around.
Lightning struck again, and the rain turned to hail, ricocheting off the trees. I pulled my hood lower to protect my eyes.
“We should find shelter,” Drake said. “Farther into the forest, where the trees grow more densely. Perhaps we’ll avoid the worst of it.”
Brendan nodded and turned his horse in that direction. We fell in behind him. We rode farther into the woods, deeper and deeper. The trees were larger, older than the others.
“This is deep,” Drake said. “Brendan, wait. Let’s stop here.”
We all dismounted. The horses were spooked, but we managed to lead them into a copse of thick trees where the ground looked a little drier. Once sheltered from the painful hail, the horses calmed.
Brendan paced, his hands shoved deep in his pockets and a frown marring his brow. He had less patience for delays the closer we got to home. The storm still thundered overhead, and by the look of the dark grey sky, it wasn’t about to ease off.
Drake stood next to me, as close as possible without touching me. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed a couple of times. I waited for him to spit out whatever was on his mind.
Drake pulled my hood tight, then his fingers drifted to my face. “Is your shoulder hurting?”
“Hadn’t noticed,” I whispered.
He took off his cloak. His wings unfolded as if on a spring. I reached out, and he didn’t stop me, so I stretched my hand over his shoulder and touched one of the fluttering wings. It felt the way I remembered: soft, downy, and sensuous. He sighed with pleasure. His violet eyes held a sea of emotions.
I dropped my hand. “We’re similar. In some ways, we’re exactly alike.”
“How so?”
“We protect ourselves, stop anyone from knowing exactly what’s in here.” I pressed my hand against his chest. “Except I’m learning to share more, to know that maybe it’s okay to ask for help and not do everything myself. That maybe it’s all right to acknowledge when I’m not okay. You’re not there yet. Even if I am as innocent as a babe.”
He smiled. “You heard that.”
“You two are less than stealthy.”
I expected him to laugh, but his expression grew serious. He stared at me with an intensity I had missed.
“Is it all over?” I whispered. “Everything that happened between us. Was it all for nothing?”
“Not for nothing,” he said, moving his hands to my waist. He stepped so close to me, I could see the liquid on his eyelashes, every crease around his mouth as he spoke. “But it can’t go on. It will only hurt both of us in the long run.”
“And if it’s too late for that?”
“It’s never too late.”
“Maybe I’m already hurt.”
His gaze softened. “Then I’ll be eternally grateful that the hurt you feel now is nothing compared to the hurt you would experience among the fae if I did the selfish thing and kept you with us.”
“You don’t think it’s the selfish thing to decide for me?”
“I’m not perfect. Sometimes, I do the selfish thing. But I think that if you stayed and witnessed what is to come… I think that you would never forgive me. I don’t think I could bear to see that look in your eyes.”
I shivered, stepping away from him. Was he talking about war? Something worse? “What are you going to do?”
He lifted a hand but dropped it before he touched me. “Don’t worry. I’m just going to hurt myself.”
He turned and walked after Brendan, deeper into the forest, leaving me stunned.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I had completely underestimated how uncomfortable being in the company of both Drake and Brendan would be. My feelings had divided and shifted and tricked me. They were two very different men with often opposing agendas. Drake
unsettled me more than Brendan ever had, but I had unfinished business with both of them. And the closer we got to the end of the journey, the more intense everything felt.
Brendan called our names, his voice strained. Drake upped his pace, leaving me trailing behind. I pushed deeper into the woods. The trees protested, holding tight against my unwanted entry. Finally, I stumbled out into a clearing and gazed about in surprise.
Before me lay the ruins of an ancient village. Broken-down forgotten buildings were scattered all around, some of them covered in dead leaves and dirt. Mud caked the crumbling walls.
“What is this?” I whispered.
Brendan strode amongst the ruins. “I think this was here when I was young. I remember my parents visiting this place. I had forgotten…”
What had happened to make people forget an entire village? A larger building was almost intact. Some of the rooms had fallen away, but the entrance hall was still standing. I stepped inside and regretted it immediately. I was surrounded by bones. The people hadn’t moved away. They had died together, in that little entrance hall. The skeletons looked complete, as if the bodies had been left there. Some of the smaller ones were encircled by larger ones.
“Dead,” Brendan said from behind me. “They’re all dead.”
“You’ve been gone a long time,” Drake said. “This isn’t an unusual sight in the realm.”
“It should be,” Brendan said. “What happened here? Were they all murdered?”
“The bones aren’t broken,” I said. “It doesn’t look like a battle. It’s as if they all knew they were about to die, and they came together to do it.”
“A plague, perhaps.” Brendan pressed his knuckles against his temples. “Why didn’t I try harder to watch over the faery realm in the Fade? I could have seen this, could have—”
“But you couldn’t have stopped it,” I said softly.
“I could give them closure,” he said. “Peace. I could give them their revenge if I knew who had caused this.”