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Chapter 23
Indigo
We set out again the next morning, heading through the woods back toward the main road that would lead us to Tyler. We’d left later than usual because Melaina had insisted on visiting the hot springs yet again after we woke.
We’d probably reach the village by the end of the day, though, which still wasn’t sitting well with me. I really did not want to cross paths with my uncle. If there was anything he detested more than his resentment toward High Cliff, it was his loathing of all things Graykey. He would not take kindly to learning his High Cliff nephew had mated to a Graykey girl.
Quilla seemed quieter and more withdrawn than usual, however, so I ignored my own anxieties as I studied her on her horse, riding about twenty feet ahead of me. She didn’t seem upset or scared, or even particularly happy for that matter; she was mostly just contemplative. I had no idea what she was contemplating, but it was definitely taking up a good portion of her attention.
I glanced toward Melaina to see if she noticed Quilla’s mood and seemed worried by it. But Melaina was too busy muttering obscenities as she tried to untangle a strap that had become knotted as it held her pack onto her horse’s back.
I sighed. “Wait. Here. You’re making it worse.” Riding up to her side, I reached out and was able to untangle the straps with my hands bound together.
“Show-off,” she muttered, giving me a scowl.
I rolled my eyes as she trotted on ahead without even considering to say a simple thank you. Then I gave a silent chuckle because I hadn’t exactly expected her to either.
I began to hum “Singin’ in the Rain” again when pain zapped through my mark, making me gasp in surprise and press the heel of my palm to my temple, trying to staunch the agony. But just as quickly as the pain came, it was gone again.
Melaina glanced over and lifted a bored eyebrow. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, shaking my head and trying to make sense of it. “One second, it felt like someone was stabbing my temple. The next…” My words died off as I realized something key.
Something Graykey.
I turned slowly toward the only blood-born Graykey present. “It was you,” I murmured in realization.
Gaping at me with wide eyes, Quilla shook her head and clutched her forearm to her chest. “No, I—”
“You were hurt,” I accused, swinging one leg over my saddle and leaping off Holly so I could rush to her side. Reaching up, I snagged her from her horse, already demanding, “Where? What happened? Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” she said, pushing me away when I set her on the ground and immediately tried to search her for wounds. “Stop! I’m fine.”
“But you weren’t,” I argued. “I felt it.”
“Then you must’ve felt it stop hurting too, then, right? So you know I’m fine now. Jesus. Give me some space to breathe.”
Rea
lizing I was crowding her, I stopped edging closer and trying to find physical proof of her pain, but I couldn’t seem to back away and give her extra room either. “Where did it hurt?”
“My mark,” she started with an impatient sigh. “But it…” She shook her head, obviously not wanting to make a big deal about it.
“Let me see.” I took her elbow before she could object and evade my touch. Then I flipped her hand over and ran my finger along the soft inner side of her arm. The skin was intact, not even red or abraded. The temperature of the marked area felt exactly like the rest of her skin, too.
“Christ,” she muttered on a shiver as she yanked her hand back, out of my grip. She covered the mark with her palm. “It told you it was fine now.”
“What happened?” I demanded.
“Oh my God,” she groaned, shaking her head. “You’re the most annoyingly persistent man I’ve ever met. Nothing happened. My mark felt a little twinge, and then it went away.”
“A little twinge, how?” I pressed.
Melaina had ridden her horse closer and was watching our exchange with a confused squint.
“Like…” Quilla threw her hands in the air, clearly exasperated. “I don’t know, okay. There was this sudden heat as if my mark was on fire, or I was being branded or something. And then it was gone. There wasn’t even five seconds of pain. Certainly, nothing to cause this kind of commotion.”
“Branded,” I repeated, squinting as I glanced toward her aunt.
