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Wonderful.
“That was from when we first arrived.”
His dark eyes flick to me and back down to the other shoe he’s untying. Amusement softens his expression. “Is that right?”
“It is.”
He nods with a smirk. “You haven’t learned much about lying to Dessin, have you?” And with that, he’s standing again, hovering over me. “Why are your hands dirty?”
I don’t even have to look to feel the grimy flakes over my palms.
“Okay! I went down for like five seconds.” I throw my arms in the air. “But I came back up right away.”
The amusement drains from his face like water swirling down a sink. He lifts his chin, putting pieces together he didn’t catch before.
“What happened?” he asks. “And don’t bother lying again. You’re terrible at it.”
I roll my eyes. “It was nothing. I saw a man that looked like a forest god. Really handsome. Perfect skin, like glowing…”
“To the point, Skylenna.” Kane pinches the bridge of his nose.
“He only said a few words. Asked my age, and said, when you’re ready before he left.”
“When you’re ready?” Kane peers down at my hands in deep thought. “How was he dressed?”
“Like a forest god. Moss, vines, shrubs, for clothes.”
His gaze snaps up to meet mine. “Impossible.”
“I didn’t even know people lived out here. We were always told it was so dangerous because of the creatures these forests were home to.”
Kane sits down next to me, running his large hand over his neck.
“My mother used to tell me tales of the colonies of the seven forests. The Emerald Lake forest was home to the Naiadales, the descendants of the lake nymphs. They looked and dressed exactly as you described.”
“There’s no such thing as nymphs,” I scoff.
“They aren’t nymphs. Their colony is descended from them, though.”
I glare at him. Waiting for him to laugh in my face for being so gullible. But his expression is stone. Unflinching.
“Is it dangerous for us to be out here, then?”
“He didn’t hurt you. Maybe these people aren’t as vile and dark as our own.”
Kane’s knee leans against my thigh, and it’s the first time we’ve touched since I met Greystone. A jolt of fire ignites under my skin at the contact. I stare down at my leg, unsure if I should move it or lean into him.
Dessin was clearly attracted to me, and Greystone must have been attracted to me if my presence brought him to the surface. But what about Kane? He’s looked at me with fondness, sure. But is it more than that?
I nudge him with my ankle. “You found food?”
He straightens and pushes off the cot. “Yes, no meat today. But I’ll go hunting soon.” Fruit tumbles to the wooden tree house floor from the sack he brought up.
Kane tugs a sheet to the floor, placing the fruit onto it.
I lower myself to sit across from him. “Hey!” I pick up an apple as I reminisce a moment from the asylum. “Remember when we had the picnic at the asylum?”
He doesn’t answer. I glance at his blank expression. Oh. He wasn’t the one I had the picnic with. “I’m sorry—”
