It smelled her, and yellowed eyes tracked her scent as she stood tall, the gleam of her weapon shining beneath the moon’s light. A low howl sounded again, but it was no longer one of fear.
Rage.
How it longed to tear at her throat.
She swallowed. “Your sacrifice is appreciated, beast.”
But the eyes left hers. They sought the trees. Lux dropped to a crouch as a shadow moved within the copse.
Cloaked in grey, it floated from beneath the boughs toward the restrained howler. Yellowed eyes closed. The animal fell to its dark, cat-like haunches, the rope buried deep into the skin of its thick neck. With pale, dirt-encrusted fingers, the phantom reached forward, wrapped them around the rope, and released the beast.
Lux’s body was stone. She didn’t move. She didn’t breathe. She simply waited.
And when the phantom disappeared into the trees, the howler stalking at its side, she allowed the bone handle to slip through her fingers. She understood something now, and it made her all the more frightened for the knowledge. For the figure was an extension of the wood itself—an ally of all within. And anything that allied itself with such evil could only be an enemy.
It must never find her.
Lux allowed another heartbeat to stutter before she tore from the forest’s edge. Back to Ghadra. Returning to a different sort of darkness, and a very real terror, but one she understood.
The whole while, she felt the trees grin at her back, watching her go.
Lux stripped damp clothesfrom her body.
She had kept her gaze from traveling to Riselda’s small bed as she crept silently across the floor, not wishing to meet her aunt’s questioning eyes should she awaken. Lux’s skill at moving unseen had proved ever useful, however. Riselda hadn’t stirred.
Lux piled blankets atop her, extinguishing the lamp. Then wished she hadn’t. The encompassing darkness brought the phantom to her side, and soon, a heartbeat filled the air.
Her own.
Why was she so frightened? Yet, she knew. Deep within. The phantom drifted through the wood like the very soul of the trees given form. It was a friend to howlers, unaffected by the dead, and in league with the night.
She shut her eyes and pulled the blankets higher when a swish of fabric against wood stilled her thoughts. Outside the door.
Her breath took root in her lungs, and she listened with parted lips, but the sound didn’t reoccur. In its place, rose the heavy presence of another, unmoving, against the wooden frame.
The swish of fabric again, and the presence was gone. Lux exhaled.
Only Riselda coming to snoop.
With an irritated huff, Lux rolled to her side, and promptly fell asleep.
Chapter twenty-five
“Not only do youwant to go for a stroll through the forest, but atnight?” Shaw laughed, bringing the pint of ale to his lips.
Lux watched him swallow before turning her head, eyeing the startlingly empty room. The Brewing Bog’s regular crowd had dwindled to a few glassy-eyed patrons focused on their drink rather than their companions. The barkeep had been arrested, as rumor told. Dragged to prison for crimes no one knew. He may very well have done whatever they accused him of, but the Shield, and certainly the mayor, were deeply involved in much, much worse. Her imagination spun with the image of his laughing eyes clouding over, and, finally, descending into dust.
Shaw’s coat bulged, the faintest outline of the returned journal beneath it. Lux hadn’t meant to stay longer than a moment, but the warmth drew her in again. Why couldn’t she ignore it?
She made to pull back now. Her body leaned in further, instead. “Why is that so ridiculous to you? This phantomclearly resides in the wood, amongst the trees, with howlers as companions and who knows what else. Aren’t you curious?”
“Certainly not curious enough to die.”
“You didn’t enjoy it the first time?”
Shaw quirked his lips at her. “Take my advice. Don’t do it.”
“Hmm. No, I think I’m going to. Riselda would have me knitting in front of the fire, waiting for Ghadra’s collapse. There is something I’m missing. I feel it, and I can’t sit here and wait for the plague to take me. To take everyone.” She clutched at the black fabric covering her lap, abruptly puzzled.
