Page 8 of The Nymph King

“I waited by the eastern settlements,” Esa went on. “Watched the roads. Listened to rumors. Yesterday, villagers started talking about a woman matching your description. Then this morning, there was a commotion close to one of the inns.”

Scraping a hand down her face, Imani suppressed a groan. It hadn’t been one of her finer moments.

“Yes. Very subtle.”

“I was being hunted. I’d like to see you escape perfectly under such pressure.”

Esa gave her a look, then waved her hand dismissively. “I followed your trail into the forest.”

“You tracked me?”

“I tracked everyone looking for you and went the opposite direction.”

“Clever,” Imani mumbled.

“I know.”

Her hand closed around Esa’s wrist before she could think better of it. Esa glanced down as her eyes narrowed. But Imani did not let go.

“You came for me,” she murmured.

“Of course I did. I still need your help getting to my brother,” Esa huffed.

Imani knew about Esa’s ulterior motives, but she still came. “I don’t know what happens next,” she admitted.

“Neither do I.”

“Helpful.”

“I can lie if you prefer.”

“No.”

Imani finally released her wrist and straightened her cloak, giving her hands something to do.

Esa pushed her hair off her face again and pointed through the trees. “We should keep heading east.”

Imani followed the direction of her hand. East would take them farther into Draswood, away from the settlements, roads, and open stretches where Kiran or Tanyl’s hunters could find her more easily. The deeper forest would be harder going, but that was precisely the advantage.

Kiran could search from the air all he wanted, but beneath miles of overlapping canopy, roots, ravines, and Norn magic that already recognized her as its own, she had a place to disappear.

More importantly, the chapalus had just proven what happened when the Draswood perceived something near her as a threat. Leaving that protection for an exposed road would be foolish.

“Deeper into the forest,” Imani said.

“Exactly.”

“Then east.”

They left the disturbed clearing behind and pushed farther beneath the canopy in silence, but Imani’s thoughts were loud in her head.

Whatever had happened in Niflheim had changed too much for either of them to pretend they were simply resuming where they had left off. Yet Esa had come looking for her. Imani had let her see the Crown of Life. Neither had demanded more than the other could give.

For now, that trust would have to be enough.

CHAPTER 3

Esa and Imani pressed deeper into the Draswood. The choking brambles thinned, giving way to a clearing where a narrow stream cut through pale stone. They washed quickly, the water biting cold against their skin, but even here the forest did not feel whole. A brittle tension hung in the air, as if something beneath the loam had stretched too tight, poised to snap.