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“Hey,”Knox said, giving me a soft shake as the storm raged around us. “You’re not supposed to fall asleep.”
“Pretty sure that’s a myth,” I replied even as I forced my eyes open — eyes I hadn’t realized I’d closed. “At least in my realm I think it’s a myth. For all I know brains work differently in this realm, like hormones.”
“I wouldn’t know about that. I just know you’re not falling asleep until sunset.”
I looked out at the gloom unable to see more than a couple feet beyond our dry little crack. “Will we even know when it sets?”
“It’ll get even darker,” he replied dryly. “But I’m hoping the storm will pass soon.”
“It did come on us suddenly.” The sky had been bright with only a few clouds moments before the rain had started… or maybe I’d just missed the signs. We’d been in the ravine and hadn’t been able to see the horizon. The storm still had to have been fast-moving since there hadn’t been any cloud on the horizon when we’d entered the ravine just after lunch, but it might not have been as magically sudden as it felt.
Knox, however, didn’t elaborate and I didn’t want to pry answers out of him. I’d ask Bishop about it when he and Cyrus found us.
The rain continued to pour in a steady rush, picking up in pitch and volume every time the wind gusted. I watched a bush that was barely visible through the torrent thrash against a boulder. It jerked this way and that, unable to escape and forced to endure.
That was me now.
I couldn’t escape Knox. I had to endure and make the best of my situation, but I also couldn’t roll over and submit — like my screaming instincts insisted.
That would only lead to a lifetime of subservience and I was never going to go back to that. Ever.
It wouldn’t matter if I also had Bishop as a mate. I couldn’t let Knox think he could push me around again, even if he thought it was best for me.
But God! Just the thought of standing my ground again made my pulse race and my insides squirm.
“Bishop is still fine,” Knox said, his tone still gruff, but his words surprisingly comforting.
Even if I hadn’t been panicking about Bishop being in danger, Knox had sensed my worry and was trying to calm me.
“When do you think he and Cyrus will find us?” I couldn’t imagine them finding anything in this downpour, but Knox had found this crack and they were real shifters who could see in low, to almost no, light.
“Tonight at the earliest,” Knox replied. “The flash flood was moving quickly and we could have easily gone a few miles in a few moments. We were also swept past the slope where we would have exited the ravine and headed away from the river, which means we’re past the split and they’re going to have to find a way to cross it or wait for the water to go down.”
The split was another ravine that joined the one we’d been following that had crossed our path. It had been easier to slide down the only available slope and follow the ravine leading north until we found another easy-to-climb slope farther along instead of trying to scale the almost sheer rock face on the other side.
“Do you think that other ravine flooded?” I asked.
“Probably.”
Again, I waited for him to say more, creating an awkward silence between us, but he still didn’t elaborate.
Swell.
“I guess that means we’re even closer to Darkweald.”
“We’re in Darkweald.”
“We’re what?” I tried to jerk upright, but he tightened his grip, clutching me to his chest.
I couldn’t believe the water had raced so quickly that we’d travel a whole day’s worth of walking. But then I hadn’t known how long I’d been in the water or where either ravine had gone to. I’d have thought they’d have both gone to the river, but the one had clearly branched away from it. Regardless—
“We have to get out of the forest,” I said. There were dangerous spirits in Darkweald and from everything the guys had told me, they were most active at night. We had to leave before the sun set.
“Calm down,” he snarled, a wave of his power rolling through me and making me go limp.
“Don’t you dare!” I snapped at him, fighting his command.
