Bowen
We stood at the edge of the forest.
Liana rested her palm on the hilt of her concealed dagger, staring into the gaps between the trees. Shadows gathered where sunlight couldn’t seep through the branches, and a thin layer of snow coated the ground.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” she asked, eyeing the crossbow slung over my shoulder. I also had a blade sheathed at my waist and an extra one strapped to my ankle.
“It’s as good a plan as any. After you take the mint, I’ll follow you at a distance until we reach the cabin.”
“And then you’re going to free Annie and her brother? That’s the most important thing. Whatever I do or wherever I go, you promised you’d get them first.”
“I promise. But I’m not leaving without you and Hendrik.”
A strangled laugh slipped past her lips. “Good. I don’t want to be left behind.”
“Never.” I framed her face with my hands and made her look at me. “We go into the woods together, and we come out together. That’s the deal.”
Liana wrapped her arms around my neck. Leaning forward, she sealed our bargain with a kiss, and I felt her lips tremble against mine. I tried to show her everything would be okay, tried to pour everything I felt for her into that kiss, but it was over too soon.
I brushed the hair off her face, smoothing my fingers down her cheekbones. “Are you ready?”
She removed the small mint from her pocket and held it in her hand. “I swore I’d never eat one of these again. I hate these things, but if it will lead me to her, then I take it gladly.” Her gaze tracked back to the forest and she whispered, “I’m coming for you.” Closing her eyes, she popped it into her mouth.
A few moments passed while we waited for the mint to take effect, then her whole body tensed. Another minute passed before muscle by muscle, she relaxed, almost going limp in my arms. I held her close while she finished the mint, murmuring words of encouragement I wasn’t sure she could hear.
Slightly woozy, her eyes came back into focus, but there was a strange sheen in them. Magic tainted her irises making them glow silver instead of their usual moss-green hue.
“Liana?”
She didn’t answer. Slipping out of my arms, she turned toward the forest and started walking almost as if she were asleep, except her eyes were open, and she weaved around every obstacle.
I let her walk until the trees swallowed her up, then I began following her tracks. We walked for a couple of miles, and I calculated the time left before dark. I wanted them all out of the woods before the sun set. Worst-case scenario, we’d have to find our way in the dark. I’d come prepared with a couple of flares just in case, but I didn’t want to rely on them.
The trees were endless, a maze of barren branches and thick swaths of pine. My boots crunched through the thin crust of snow, but there weren’t any other sounds as if the closer we got, the witch’s power swallowed them all up. There was a loneliness to these woods. An isolation that sank into your bones, making you feel like you might never find your way out, that you might be lost forever.
Her tracks continued as the forest grew thicker.
It was strange, walking this path where our pasts had intersected. I never could have imagined we were connected by a string of circumstances that appeared random until we looked closer. Ever since she’d asked for my help, Liana’s fight had become my own, but now, with crystal clarity, I realized it was probably always meant to be this way.
Hadn’t I felt a pull the first time I ever heard her name? A connection the moment I saw her face? I might never fully understand why what happened to me did, but in a strange twist, it was another thing I was grateful for. And that was a heavy dose of irony. Grateful for my scars? No. But grateful we were still on the same path, getting closer with each day.
In the distance, I spotted a small clearing. Liana hesitated, still in the shadow of the trees, before continuing closer to the front of an A-frame cabin. Smoke curled from a stone stack set into the roof, and another section of the cabin branched off to the left. A large stack of firewood rested next to a water well and hanging bucket, and I crept closer and crouched behind the well.
The cabin looked unassuming, the perfect spider trap for lost souls.
I knew the moment the fog from the mint lifted when she shook her head and rubbed her eyes. She swiveled her head, looking up into the tree branches and then deep into the forest, likely searching for any sign of me. There was a calmness in her gaze, a fortitude that made me proud. She’d come a long way, and now, not even the shadows could hold her back.
The front door opened, and Hendrik stood in the entrance. I ducked beneath the edge of the well, counting the seconds until I peered around the side again. She faced her brother, neither of them moving. It was a tense moment, each of them seeing each other for the first time in years. Her fingers flexed, trembling slightly, but she stayed still. He didn’t seem to recognize her, but he stepped back, using his arm to gesture her inside.
Her feet remained rooted in place as she stared into the gaping darkness of the doorway. I wanted to pull her back, find some other way to draw the witch to us instead of making her walk back into that house. But she squared her shoulders, head held high and stepped forward, following him into the cabin. The door closed tightly behind them.
I stayed where I was even though everything inside me wanted to rush into the house. I counted out the minutes, each second elongating the torturous wait. When I saw the curtain move and a pair of eyes peer into the yard, I knew I’d made the right decision. They were trying to confirm whether she’d come alone. The longer I waited, the more at ease they’d become.
Leaving the well and skirting around the edge of the property, I located the back of the cabin. The windows were covered with grime, so I couldn’t see inside. I wasn’t sure where they were keeping Annie and her brother, but I had to find a way in.
The back door was boarded up, and even if got through the padlock, there was no way I could remove the boards without anyone hearing. I tried the windows, but they were sealed shut. I rubbed my palms together, trying to think of another way. How would I have breached a hidden temple? The front was usually a trap, the back sealed tight. But there was always another way…
My gaze roamed the yard, looking for anything out of the ordinary, and that was when I spotted the strange object poking out of the ground.
