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“You said you wouldn’t follow me!” I accuse.
He just shrugs his large shoulders, wincing. “I do not remember saying so. And I know what it is like out here. There is nothing for a hundred miles. It is why my brother was so suspicious. No one is meant to be on these lands. He wanted to see where you would go.”
“So you followed me?” I spit, furious for reasons I don’t understand. Am I mad because he said there is nothing for a hundred miles? Or that he’s now hurt because he followed me?
He shakes his head. “Those were his reasons for following you.” He lifts one of his many hands up and points to the sky.
What the— I look up, and instead of only clouds, I can suddenly see the winged form of the other big man from the castle, the one with horns. I jolt and take several steps back.
“Can you make yourselves invisible?” I gasp, taking another step back and dropping the blood-soaked glove to the snow. “You were both following me?”
“Abaddon can cloak himself from sight and was following you. But I came because humans are fragile. I do not know how many more hours you can be out here without coming to harm.” He seems to not notice the back of his neck gushing blood as he stands up. Does it even hurt him?
“What did you do to me to bring me here? Where am I? Is this even. . .” I look around at all the white. So many trees, up and down tree trunks, forever, every direction, on and on— “Still Earth?”
The large blue man frowns down at me. As if I’m the one who’s lost their mind. “Of course. How did you come to be here?”
“Where is here?” I shout.
Right then, the other large man lands to our left. I scream and jump back. “If you don’t know, we certainly don’t plan on revealing our location to a potential enemy. As you learned back at the castle, I have interests to protect.”
The woman and baby? Did he. . . kidnap them? She certainly seemed happy enough there, but I can be bad at reading people. Great with a blade, better with a bullet, but terrible at reading people.
I want to stomp my foot again.
Just then, the big guy with wings walks over to the blue guy, sets his palm against the back of his neck, and his chest glows. The same way it did earlier with me.
My mouth drops open, but I don’t run away like I probably should. Instead, I watch in astonishment as—
Holy shit, the deep bite from the lynx is completely healed. There’s just a small scar left. He picks up the lynx’s body and slings it over his shoulder, where it fits neatly between his neck and wings.
“It’s cold out here.” His strange cats eyes fall upon me. I avert my gaze. “And you’ve been walking in circles. So unless you have somewhere to go, the sun will set in an hour. You’ll die if you remain out here, coat or not. Come back and have dinner with us. My Hannah-wife will spice this nicely for us.”
He indicates the lynx over his shoulder. Hannah-wife? And they keep talking about a baby. I heard the baby crying.
I gulp at the thought of eating the wild game and sitting down to eat with the terrifying beast men. Well, and also his wife and baby. . .
I look out at the endless white. Without a plan, a map, and some serious provisions. . . Shit. They’re right. I wouldn’t make it out here even if I did know where I was going.
Still, I move closer to the blue one who took on the lynx for me and give in. “Okay. But just for tonight. Tomorrow, I go home.”
Chapter Seven
THING
I stay close by the woman’s side as we trek back to the castle. I think she is surprised at how close it is. She thought she had gone further. But we did not lie when we told her she ran in circles. The trees here are tall, and the sun is blotted out by a haze of foggy white in winter. It is easy to get turned around if one does not know the land well.
She stands off to the side by the fire as Hannah races up to me, exclaiming loudly about the blood on me as she helps me get cleaned up. Hannah beams at her husband when she hears that he healed me. It still astonishes me that he found someone to love him. Also astonishing are the changes that love had wrought in my brother, who, before her arrival, was still a mirror of our angry, hateful father.
She hands baby Raven off to me as Abaddon follows her downstairs to help prepare the lynx. She might be happy to cook up whatever he brings back, but she still prefers that he does what she calls the “disgusting parts” of preparing the meat. He takes particular pride in stretching and preparing the furs, as well. Something Hannah has decreed he uses one entire floor of the upper castle for. Mainly so it’s out of her sight and smell.
