Page 46 of The Unseen Hour

“Bloody ghosts!”

I cursed entirely too loudly as my toe found what I was looking for. I’d stubbed my foot on a sizable rock. Wincing at the pain, I crouched and managed to heft it into my arms.

My preference for rides on Pellix rather than embroidery was arguably a deficit in Emrys. Not a usable skill at all when you were trying to advertise yourself as a potential wife. In this case, though? Riding and caring for a horse gave me stronger muscles than most people might have assumed.

I threw the rock as far as I could manage. It arced in the air and crashed into a pile of fallen leaves. The slycat yowled, sprinting to investigate the potential new threat.

“Come on!” I urged Orion, standing and waving him over.

When he reached me, he grabbed my hand and hauled me along as he raced deeper into the woods.

CHAPTER 22

“Let’s stop here for some rest,” he suggested when we were well away from the slycat.

He’d brought us to a small creek running through the forest.

I sank into a crouch and then fell onto my backside with an ungraceful plop. Tucking my knees up and wrapping my arms around them, I stared at the bubbling creek. The steady sound of the water somewhat soothed my anxiety.

“Are there many of them, those slycat things?”

Orion shook his head.

“Not in this section of the woods. It’s part of why I stayed here. When I first arrived, I ran into a mother with her cubs, and then several more sets farther east. I had no desire to live where there was a pack of the things, so I built in an area I saw they stayed away from. The closer you go to the Meadow, the fewer large animals there are. It was a balance, finding a spot away from the Shades but also away from the predatory animals.”

I looked at him, tilting my head.

“Why away from the Shades? According to you, they don’t do much of anything. Can they be dangerous, too?”

Orion stared at the water, unblinking.

“Not physically, but they’re a reminder. A reminder that I’m not dead but not really alive. That I’m under Charon’s authority. That I have to lead them up each year to call the souls of their friends and family to this doomed land.”

His voice was haunted.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he had gone through. Losing his life, losing his brothers, and then being forced to repeat the night that ruined everything, over and over. Having to take part in other peoples’ suffering.

One trip to Emrys where I was forced to try to hurt my brothers would have been enough to undo my sanity for good. And Orion had gone back to Emrys ninety-eight times after his own hour.

He was still looking at the water, watching it move over the dirt and rocks.

I reached for his arm, and he jumped, looking to where our skin touched. His breath caught.

I gave him a determined stare.

“We’ll all get out. The three of us. Together. You must be the strongest person I’ve ever met to have survived this place alone for so long. But you're not alone anymore.”

“I’m beginning to realize that,” he murmured in a rough voice that caused a wave of heat to build between my legs.

Orion leaned in, one of his hands reaching up to hold my face, and I nearly forgot how to breathe.

“Starlight?”

“Yes?” I sounded hoarse to my own ears. I felt the thrill of his touch all the way to my toes.

“You’re bleeding. You must have scratched yourself on one of the branches. Here. Let me help.”

If I was, it wasn’t the only reason my cheeks were red. I wrestled with embarrassment. What was I thinking? I had no business being drawn to the Head Shade when he was just trying to help me.