Page 51 of Dream Reaper

Her question hung between them, a quiet whisper filled with unspoken meaning. Danger from Talos? Or danger from Dragon?

Or both?

“We put them in danger the moment we stumbled into their camp,” Jerrid replied, hating the sound of the words on his tongue. “Not much we can do about that now.”

“Even if we wanted to leave, I don’t think Brynja would let us. She’s too afraid we will bring trouble back upon them.”

“Maybe she’s finally realizing the trouble is already here.” He cleared his throat and stared down at his clasped hands. “We should probably warn her to be on the lookout for Talos.”

“Yes, probably. Although they seem to be on high alert already. I get the feeling they always live this way. Always in fear.”

Fear of your people, Jerrid finished the thought for her, guessing that’s what was on her mind.

She hunched into herself. Surely, she knew she wasn’t to blame for any of this? She was just a young healer—an apprentice healer. She was in this mess because she’d been obedient and followed her orders, putting herself in danger to help her prince.

But maybe she didn’t see it that way.

“Do you think we should keep watch?” Ava asked around a yawn. “Just to be safe?”

Jerrid hesitated, torn about that idea. On the one hand, it was always safest to be alert, but they were all injured and exhausted. And Brynja’s girls were already taking shifts watching the camp. He’d seen the girls flickering in and out of the forest during their watch change.

Considering how easily they had snuck up on Jerrid and Ava, and how easily they’d overpowered them, he guessed it would be safe enough to sleep.

“I think we should sleep,” he whispered. “Neither of us is in a condition to do anything else. The girls are on watch. I’m sure Brynja is out there watching us at this very moment.”

“Yes,” Ava said, catching and holding his eye. “She’s probably watching us. But the real danger is out there.”

He grimaced. “Aye, that’s true enough. But I think she already knows that. Again, this is their life, living in these woods. They may not know about Talos, but they know more about the dangers of these woods than either of us. I think we can trust that they’ll notice anything that might be amiss. Talos isn’t exactly subtle anyway.”

Her nose wrinkled. “No, he definitely isn’t. He’s as close to pure bad as a person can get. I am yet to find an ounce of pity or compassion in him. And I’ve known him for several years. He’s always been…bad. Just bad.”

“I suppose something made him that way.”

Ava shifted away from him and curled onto her side, her back against Echo’s hind leg. “No, I think he chose to be that way. I don’t think life makes you a bad person. I think it’s how you react to life that decides what kind of person you will be. Don’t you?”

He had to think about that for a moment. There was wisdom in it that belied her young years. Maybe there was more to this elvish lass than he had realized.

I could have told you that, Dragon whispered. Meat Pasty is clever. Very clever.

Jerrid jumped, not realizing that the dragon had been eavesdropping. His presence had become so quiet that he thought Dragon must surely be asleep.

He opened his mouth to reply to Ava but cut the words off when he realized she was already asleep. Her eyes had closed, and her chest rose and fell in deep breaths.

Jerrid settled against Echo’s neck, careful to avoid any of her injuries. She stirred enough to nuzzle his shoulder with her rough cheek. He gave it a pat and whispered that all was well.

For the moment.

He leaned his head back and thought about Dragon lurking in the back of his mind. He was going to have to be more careful, more alert, even when he thought Dragon was sleeping.

Because the past two days had taught him something.

Even when it didn’t seem like it in this exact moment…Dragon was getting stronger.

CHAPTER 13

AVA

Nameless horrors whispered Ava’s name and stalked the edges of her consciousness.