Rowan stepped back.
Where the hell was Casrian?
The witch drifted forward, more fog than substance.
“You used magic in my woods. I felt it last night through the trees. I can feel even the ones that don’t belong to me yet. I smell your sweet blood on the wind.”
“That’s disgusting,” she choked out.
The witch chuckled, a sound that was surprisingly light. “Not as disgusting as the scent on the one with you. Iron and holy water. Leave him behind. Come to me. I’ll open the way for you.”
“No thanks.”
Black tendrils slid from beneath her cloak, snaking across the forest floor. Rowan scrambled away from them.
“All that sweet fae blood,” the witch murmured. “All that power. Do you really think I’ll let you go now that I’ve found you?”
Rowan gathered herself to run. Casrian wasn’t coming.
The witch was in front of her, hand reaching for her throat. “My Rowan?—”
She threw herself back, dodging the claw-tipped fingers. Then, she bolted, hurtling through the forest, blind with fear, heart shuddering, breath seized in her lungs.
It knew her name.
That fuckingthingknew her name.
She slammed into something solid. Her vision went black, and her jaw snapped closed. Hard hands closed on her arms, keeping her from falling. She batted them away. She didn’t have her knife. Where was her knife?
“Rowan!”
Casrian’s face came into focus above her, pale and alarmed. He was yelling at her, but she couldn’t make sense of it until he cursed and shoved her behind him. Drawing his sword, he stalked forward.
“No!” she shouted, grabbing the back of his jacket. “No. You can’t. Don’t. She’ll kill you.”
He froze. “Who?”
She was shaking, her shirt damp with sweat. But all around her was quiet. There were no moving shadows. No witch. The horses stood, looking only mildly concerned at the raised voices. The campsite was just as she’d left it.
Casrian turned to face her. “What did you see?”
“I don’t… I don’t know.”
If she told him she’d seen the witch. If she told him the witch had called her by name, what would he do?
“There were… There were shadows. I thought I heard something.” She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I don’t know what happened.”
Casrian frowned, but he was as calm as he’d been when they faced the bear. Did nothing upset him?
“Why didn’t you come when I called you?”
He shook his head slowly. “I didn’t hear you. You’ve only been gone seconds.”
“I was shouting.”
“No,” he said quietly. “You weren’t.”
She stared at him. “But…”
