The water’s fresh scent and rippling sound drifted to me before the river came into view. It had a swift current but wasn’t so bad I couldn’t wade into it.
A large tree trunk had fallen across it to create a bridge over the twenty-foot expanse. Sandy shores, speckled with some trees, lined both sides of the river.
The darkness was so complete, I could only see the first row of trees across from us. The rest of the forest remained hidden in shadow.
Stopping beside the river, I knelt to splash some cool water on my face. The night was about ten degrees colder than the hot summer day, but my face wasn’t burning because of the warm temperature; my blood still boiled over Ryker.
I’d just finished washing my face when Ryker grasped my shoulder and moved to stand a little in front of me. I didn’t know what had caught his attention until a mountain of a man emerged from the shadows of the trees.
The behemoth held a staff he’d planted in the ground. More men and women emerged from the shadows behind him; they held bows and arrows pointed directly at us.
No, not men and women…kids. They were only teenagers.
What the hell?
“No one crosses our river,” the massive man declared.
CHAPTERFIFTY-EIGHT
Ryker
The man stoodat least seven-and-a-half-feet tall and had to weigh three hundred and fifty pounds, all of which was muscle.
“It’s the giant,” Ellery whispered.
My forehead furrowed as I glanced at her over my shoulder. She looked up from where she remained, kneeling by the river.
“From that day with Mouse in the Hollows,” she said. “He was in the ring wrestling everyone and tossing them around like rag dolls.”
The memory niggled at the back of my mind as the giant leaned on his staff and grinned at us. I didn’t envy that staff or understand how it didn’t break.
“If you insist on crossing, you can pay to do so,” the giant taunted.
He was nowhere near the size of an actual giant, as those beings were around a hundred feet tall, but he was the biggest man I’d ever seen, and I wasn’t in the mood for this shit. “I’m not giving you a dime.”
The giant’s grin widened to reveal all his straight, white teeth. “Then I’m afraid you’re not crossing into our land.”
“Since when does anyone own property in the Revenant Woods? This is the king’s land.”
The amsirah behind him… no, thechildrenbehind him all chuckled, and the giant’s loud, barking laugh traveled through the night. “Weare the kings here! These areourwoods.”
“Let’s go, Ryker,” Ellery whispered. “There’s no reason to engage with him, and I can’t do anything here without them seeing me.”
She was right, but I wasn’t in the mood to turn back. My father believed he’d wedged me beneath his thumb by trapping me here, and nowthisasshole was telling me what I could and couldn’t do. That wasn’t going to happen.
“Who’s going to stop me from crossing?” I demanded.
“You’re welcome to try getting through me, but—” The giant’s gaze raked over me before his eyes met mine again. “—I don’t think you will.”
“Let’s go,” Ellery said again.
I studied the giant and the kids lined up around him. There were only a handful of them, and I doubted any of them knew how to use the weapons they held.
What is this man doing with these kids?
It didn’t make any sense, but there could be other amsirah hiding in the trees. He could be using the kids to lure us into a sense of complacency while stronger fighters waited to trap us.
I looked back at her as I spoke. “There could be more fighters in the woods. They could be an asset.”
