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Chapter12
Noah was by my side, though I wished he wasn’t.
“I’m fine Noah, please don’t draw more attention to me.”
I wanted to escape and I couldn’t. My body shook so violently that instead of pushing him away, I gripped his arm instead.
“Cora,” his strained voice was filled with pain all his own. Seeing his men like that couldn’t be easy.
“I’ll be back,” I said before breaking into a run.
It was stupid, but the smell was bad enough that I thought I’d never stop vomiting if I stayed.
And I didn’t think I could shoulder the guilt from drawing Noah’s attention away from mourning his men.
It’s only the beginning …
What were the Seelie planning to do, burn all of the Unseelie? With their dragons. Just a few weeks ago, I’d been made to feel like a fool for believing the Seelie had trained dragons. Now it was more than evident the massive beasts were doing the Fae’s bidding.
I slowed, and while the scent lingered, I could think again. And breathe without nausea rolling over me.
I’d run straight, hopefully I could find my way back easily. Even though that’s the last place I wanted to be. I wasn’t sure how I’d buck up and handle the smell. Maybe I’d just camp here.
I leaned my hands on my knees, exhaustion from the last two hours hitting me hard.
I smiled as a hint of cinnamon came to me, which was more than a little strange out here. Following the scent, I moved slowly.
When the smell of cardamom hit me, I knew it was the King. The King’s scent at least.
This far from camp? There was another smell I didn’t quite recognize. Something I couldn’t put my finger on, though it was familiar.
“Cora?” Noah’s voice echoed near me. “Coraline?”
“Here!” I shouted, moving toward Noah’s voice.
The smell of the King was definitely less the closer back to camp I went.
“We should head back to camp.”
I noticed Noah took a large loop around the old camp, careful to avoid me seeing it again for which I was grateful.
“I - “ I hadn’t told Noah all of the details with Prince Landon. And what I’d left out, I feared he’d find vital and think I was withholding things from him on purpose.
The truth was, I wanted to make sense of it myself before I looped him in. But now, perhaps that hadn’t been the right thing to do.
“I have to tell you something,” I said.
Noah looked me up and down. “Can it wait till we’re back at camp?”
I shook my head, quickly.
Noah’s gaze lasered in and he moved toward me. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
I inhaled slowly, trying to calm my nervous heartbeat and blood thumping in my veins.
“When Prince Landon had me captive, he gave me some drink. I didn’t think much of it. Since then, I’ve been able to -” How was I supposed to say this without sounding like a damn tracker dog. “Pick out scents more strongly than I ever have before.”
Noah’s frown grew as I rubbed at my forehead.
