Page 25

“Yeah.” I pushed back a little, so I could see his eyes. It struck me how absolutely absurd everything about this was. Me needing rescued in a storybook forest. Jack with his magic hands and dick. Me putting myself into his power willingly and lapping it up like a kitten with a dish of cream. None of it made sense.

But I kept going back to the way it felt when he was near, and that was safe. Even on the spot where I’d been pounced on and attacked by a cannibalistic psychopath, I’d felt safe with him there. Now, on what I should’ve thought was a wild goose chase to find my grandmother in a monster-friendly fairy tale forest, I felt safe with him. I believed in him.

I was normally so careful. Was I walking into another trap, like my dumb ass had with Wulfric? Was Wulfric waiting for us at the dig site now, sitting on my grandmother’s lifeless body and wearing her favorite shawl?

Or were we nowhere near Amma’s little stone house and archaeological dig? Was my big strong woodsman as delusional as I’d initially thought, and I’d somehow stumbled into a forest retreat for lunatics like me?

I found I didn’t much care anymore. I stepped out of his arms and set my jaw. “I haven’t told anyone about that. Except Amma and my therapist.”

“Your what?”

“Someone you pay to listen to you objectively. To help you make sense of your thoughts. And—a million other things, really.”

He frowned but just nodded. “Well… thank you. For telling me.”

I smiled. “You’re welcome.”

We started walking again as if by silent consensus, both of us lost in thought. Jack paused a few times to check on little copses of plants settling in for the long sleep of winter, but he didn’t make anything grow. Just observed and muttered to himself in the most adorable way, my messenger bag dangling from his backside, his massive axe balanced in one hand. Then he came back to the path and led on.

After an hour or so, the forest began to thin out, and my side acquired an annoying stitch, so I suggested we take a break. We settled with our backs against a massive tree, and he laid my bag between us and his axe on his other side. He’d stuffed the bag with flatbread and fruit for lunch; I’d thrown out most of what I’d brought for Amma, since it’d spent the night in the damp forest without me. All that was left was an unopened tin of her favorite Darjeeling tea and a tea ball just in case she hadn’t brought one.

Anyhow, let’s be so for real: It was all just a thinly veiled ruse to seek her out for my own comfort. Only wonder was that I’d never pulled this kind of pathetic bullshit before… And yet, I was almost glad I had this time, if she really was working away in a magical forest where a depraved killer liked to hunt.

It must’ve still been before noon as we nibbled away at our snacks, me asking the names of little birds or plants, him casually showcasing an encyclopedic knowledge of our surroundings. The forest was truly beautiful, and I was starting to appreciate it at last. I liked the way light danced in the forest, like the canopy changed it, almost prismatic. I liked how soft sounds and smells were out here, and how they reminded me of Jack’s hair and skin. I liked—

Jack sat up straight suddenly, frowning.

“What?” I darted my gaze around, strained my ears to hear what he heard. Nothing but a faint autumn breeze shaking leaves and a lonely crow calling.

He held up one finger and lifted his chin, as if listening to music I couldn’t hear.

I bit down on my lip to keep quiet, blood pumping a little harder now. Still wasn’t quite on the level of hypervigilance I normally felt, thank fuck, but it was edging there.

Jack’s dark eyebrows knitted together. “He’s back.”

“What?”

“The crows spotted Wulfric near the Ferry Vale portal.” Jack fixed me with a serious look. “He’s alone and looking for something.”

I fought down a shiver; I wasn’t gonna give him the satisfaction again. “For us.”

“He won’t come near me,” Jack said slowly. “Might’ve had eyes on the portal to find out when you left. He’s hoping you’re on your own, if he’s done waiting for you to come to him. Must be fuming.”

I tried to digest this, careful to take deep breaths and not let fear seep into my body. It tugged at my fingers and toes, dying to get inside. A fucking Propanolol would’ve come in handy just now, goddammit.

“You’re safe with me.” He settled a hand on my thigh and squeezed. “I promise.”

“Is she?” I hated how small my voice sounded.

“Does Wulfric know about your grandma?”

I nodded. “I asked him how to get to the little stone house and ruin in the Greenwood.”

Jack blew out a sigh, his cheeks puffing out comically. “And he brought you to this forest, which means he knows it for sure. Even if I never heard it called that.” Jack stood and reached for me.

I accepted the hand up, ignoring the shock of pain in my side. “Fucking perverse of him to bring me to the place I wanted to go just to kill me in it.”

“Sounds about right.” He looked me over doubtfully. “I can carry you, if it’d be easier.”