“Okay, let’s change the subject before I start to cry,” she pleads with the wave of her hand. “Come look at what I have so far.”
She scoots over and I sit down next to her in the chair that is almost big enough for three people. “This is the list of all the monsters said to live in the Dread Woods. We broke the list into sections so we could divide and conquer. Zane and Akari have these, and I have these.” She points to a list of about fifteen names.
“I had no idea there were this many different creatures in there.”
“Right?” She turns her head to look at me. “I thought the same thing, but some of them are just variations of each other. Like the Lybrates. Those were the ones you guys got attacked by, right?”
“Highly recommend avoiding those.”
She laughs, and it feels good to see her smile. “Okay, so basically Lybrates, Tryl, and Nox are in the same kind of family of chimeras. But like some kind of mutated evil twin.”
“Delightful.” I wasn’t going to say anything until we were all together, but it doesn’t seem right not telling her right now. “So, Ryder has agreed to go back and try to make a deal with some of them to fight on our side.”
“WHAT?” She nearly jumps out of the seat. “You’re not going with him, are you?”
“I am,” I reply hesitantly. “But he’ll be there with me.”
“And why can’t he just go alone or with someone else?” She counters, her face filled with concern.
“Because I was the one who stopped him from killing one of the creatures last time. If he goes without me, there’s no chance of a deal being made. That, I’m sure of.”
“I’m going to kill him if something happens to you.”
“Oh, I know you will. But don’t blame him. It was my idea.”
“Of course, it was.” She glares at me sideways. “You and your bright ideas.”
I shrug innocently and she shakes her head.
We spend the rest of the afternoon doing research on her list. Maybe having a better idea of what I’ll be walking into will help just a little.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Damien tells me with a devious smirk.
A few minutes later, I see a blanket laid out in the middle of the Shadow Lands with a basket and wine glasses.
“What’s all this?”
He motions for me to take a seat on one of the large pillows. “There’s been a lot going on and I thought we could use a date night.”
“You put all this together?”
“I might have had a little help from a certain witch.” He takes one of the glasses and begins to fill it.
“I was with her all day, and she didn’t say a thing!”
“Well, that would defeat the purpose of it being a surprise,” he replies, handing me the glass of red wine.
“What’s in the basket?” I ask before taking a sip.
“My dear, what is a picnic without snacks?” He turns around and pulls out a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries, followed by cheese, crackers, an assortment of meats, mixed nuts, small sandwiches with the crust removed, and a bundle of grapes.
“This looks delicious!” I reach for one of the grapes and pluck it from its stem.
“Anything for my lady.” He leans over to give me a sweet kiss.
I love nights like this. No talk of war, or loss, or the unknown. Just the two of us on a normal date. Moments like this are hard to come by these days, so I don’t take it for granted.
