He was tall and thin, all straight lines and elegant edges. Thick obsidian hair fell into his eyes, which were deepest brown, and his clothes were the same polished black as the raven’s feathers.
His shadow gave him away. Twisting behind him, the dark outline revealed an inhuman shape: a winged and taloned form.
You can always tell a shiftling by their shadow.
The corners of his mouth danced with mischief. “My name is Rooke. I hear you’re looking for passage to the King’s City.”
EIGHT
“ICAN TAKE YOU STRAIGHTto the Wood King, if that’s what you desire.”
Emeline yearned to say yes, that was exactly what she desired. But the back of her neck was prickling. She remembered the ember mare and her rider—the nameless stranger who’d tricked her.Liedto her. Would this shiftling do the same? He might lure Emeline into the woods with a promise of taking her to find her grandfather and lead her somewhere else instead. To her death, maybe.
“I know what you are.” Emeline watched the ever-changing shadow on the floor as she grabbed one of Pa’s hammers, her fingers tightening around the smooth wooden handle. “Why should I trust you?”
Rooke stared her down, crossed his arms, and smirked. “Because if you don’t, you’ll never get to the King’s City alive.”
It was the same thing the liar had told her:There are horrors here far worse than any nightmare. It’s only a matter of time before another one finds you.
Emeline could go in alone, follow the trees’ directions, and hope she didn’t run into another shadow skin. Or get trampled by ember mares. Or … worse. Whatever worse was.
Or she could go with this shiftling, who may or may not intend to betray her.
If Rooke was trustworthy, joining him was the preferable option, obviously. If Rooke was a shiftling, he would know exactly where the Wood King’s palace was. It was her best chance of finding Pa.
And if he isn’t trustworthy?
Emeline would need to keep her guard up. If she got a whiff of treachery, she could always lose him. Run. Find the river and follow it. She just needed some kind of surety …
Emeline set down the hammer on Pa’s workbench.
“I’ll come with you on one condition.” She nodded to the ax in his hand. “You let me carrythat.”
“Take it then.” In one fluid motion, he flipped the ax, caught the sharpened head, and held it out to her. “Now let’s go.”
EMELINE SLID HER THUMBcarefully across the ax’s paper-thin edge. Judging by its sharpness, someone had recently honed it. Tom, maybe? Tom was the kind of man who took care of his tools. He’d been chopping wood for Pa, along with doing other farm chores, for several years, steadily taking on more the less Pa could do.
If Tom sharpened it, Emeline silently thanked him. Because the deeper she followed Rooke into the forest, the warier she became, and the more comfort she took in its sharp edge. Night cloaked the woods in darkness and Emeline had left the defunct flashlight behind, which forced her to follow this shiftling nearly blind. Worse: judging by the stars flickering above—disappearing as the leafy canopy grew thicker, reappearing as it thinned out—they werenotheading south.
Rooke’s raven companion flew ahead, cawing back at him every few minutes, acting as some kind of lookout. Rooke paused when he heard the bird’s call, then advanced or pivoted depending on whatever instruction it gave.
It was eerie and animal-like, the way he and the bird conversed without words.
When they were well and truly off course and Emeline was fairly certain the shiftling was leading her into some kind of trap, she halted. “Why are we heading west?”
From up ahead, Rooke said, “This is the quickest route.”
Emeline’s grip tightened around the ax’s wooden handle. “Except the gate is south.”
“You want to take the gate? Be my guest.” She could almost hear him shrug. “It’s a three-day walk from the tree line, and you’ll likely be eaten before you arrive.”
Emeline frowned. Was he lying? Or had the trees failed to mention that part?
“If you’d prefer to remain alive, however, there’s an entry point just ahead. We’d be there already if not for your dawdling.”
Entry point?
Suddenly, Rooke thrust out his arm and Emeline walked straight into it.
