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“That will do.”
His eyes flicked to me, concern on his brow as he opened his jacket and removed a piece of red silk embroidered with gold threads that shaped delicate flowers and trees. Jasper’s hand clenched as he met her eyes. It was clearly something precious to him.
She settled a hand on his. “I shall make you another.” Red’s voice was so soft, filled with the love I thought she had for us. “I promise.”
He nodded and touched the piece of cloth to his forehead, then to his lips, holding her gaze as his hand lowered and he passed it to her.
She murmured her thanks before turning to me, darkness clouding her face.
My shoulders were screaming, the poison had already working its way into my blood. If they left me here, I would not die. I would wither, the silver eating away as the magic of the forest kept me alive until Valko and Fillian found me.
I could try to struggle, but I knew the sword was too deeply embedded in the tree to free myself in human form.
Red bent down, the darkness of her glare twisting into fury. She lifted the red cloth and pressed it against my eyes, forcing the silk tight as she tied it around my head.
Her breath scraped my cheek as her lips found my ear. She pushed the fabric up, tucked it behind my ear. “I’ll be back for you,” she hissed, rage lacing her voice. A deadly promise that my bitter heart barely heard.
She kissed my ear, and fresh pain rushed me as a fang pierced my earlobe. I winced, but it was nothing compared to the sword and the bullet.
She licked my ear, sucking my blood, tasting me for the last time. And then something else pushed through my ear, colder than her fang. She left it there as her warmth disappeared from me - I might have imagined the small kiss on my neck before she rose.
There were more voices, more orders, but I was only listening out for her.
All I heard was the rustle of retreating footsteps, and then they were gone.
Though the message was clear.
We were not yet done. My Red would come back for me. I had to hold on to that hope as my will shattered. Everything I had done, everything I had given up for her, and it was swept away the moment she had a chance to run.
Had any of it been real? Or had she continued to trick us until we fell under her spell?
I stared at the place she vanished through the red darkness, my jaw hard as the pain ate into me.
I swore to myself then that, whatever happened, I would get her back.
TWENTY
Valko
We were near the edge of the market town when we felt it.
Pain sliced through the bond, so violent that Fillian screamed, anguish exploding from him.
My shoulder burnt bright with throbbing pain, and the world shifted. Something was deeply wrong. Fear pounded through Lucien’s body. I could sense him reaching for us, but we were too far from him to help.
“Fillian, drop the cart,” I gasped, the pain just bearable. “We need to go.”
We were half a day's run from the den. We rotated which border village of the Cardinal Kingdom we visited when we needed supplies, spreading ourselves out between the five closest to the Forest so that we didn’t get caught.
Thank God we had chosen the one nearest to the den.
Fillian was panting, tears already slipping down his cheeks, his body trembling as he looked around wildly. “What’s happening?”
“We need to cross the border and shift.”
I couldn’t answer his question. I was as clueless as he was.
I put my hand out, dragging Fil to his feet, away from the cart that held everything we had bought today, and ran.
