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He was right. The forest was already closing in around us. I never really saw anything actually move. But when I glanced around, things were just…changed. I looked back at the path behind us to find a large tree and a thick cluster of bushes where the little animal trail we were following had been just seconds before.
"Agreed," I murmured. Fife held out his free hand—the one that wasn't glowing with magic—and I took it as we headed off after our insistent guide.
And if I enjoyed the sensation of his skin against my own a little more than I should, well…it had been a long day, and a long night before that. I deserved a little bit of sweet distraction.
We followed the stag for a surprisingly short amount of time before the creature disappeared. The symbol on Fife's hand was glowing so brightly at this point that it was nearly blinding.
"Amazing," the cleric whispered, glancing back to give me a brilliant smile, like a child delighted with a new discovery. "The spell I used points in a straight line. It simply tells me which direction to go, and it's up to me to find my way there. I only get a vague sense of distance. But I think the forest spirit just—rearranged things to make our journey much shorter than it should have been."
I nodded. "I think that's how I found you. The forest seemed to be…changing around me, herding me there."
A twig snapped nearby, followed by a soft rustling sound and a tired exhale, and I froze. A moment later, Adder's tall, broad-shouldered form pushed through the undergrowth and onto the path in front of us. He didn't seem to notice me, hanging back as I was. A bit of his silver hair had come loose from its short tail, and a strand whipped across his face, glinting in the low light, and making him look like a human fairytale come to life. He ignored everything around him, his eyes only for Fife. Taking a few quick steps, he reached for the smaller man before him. "Fife!"
Adder drew Fife into his arms and hugged him fiercely, then pulled back to grasp his shoulders and look him over with sharp, shining eyes, his face showing more emotion than I'd ever seen in the stoic man. "You're well? Truly? Unharmed?"
Fife chuckled, and something in my chest squeezed at the happiness in his twinkling green eyes and impish features as he peered up at his teammate, his graceful hands coming up to grip Adder's upper arms. "Of course I'm well. I've magic enough to protect myself, idiot. It's the rest of you I've been worried about."
I arched my brows when Adder leaned down swiftly and placed a sweet, lingering kiss in the middle of Fife's forehead. Straightening, Adder's dark eyes finally moved to take in his surroundings. He saw me and froze, all that uncharacteristic warmth leaving his face as he once again became cool and sharp. "Mistress Rina?" His deep voice was controlled. Wary. "What are you doing here?"
And the louder, unspoken question lingered in the air between us as he released Fife's shoulders and stepped away. What would I tell my supposed employer about the clearly not-so-brotherly show of affection I had just witnessed?
It seemed Talon and the rest of the gossips were right, at least to some degree. Fife and Adder, at least, seemed to be…a bit more than friends.
I cleared my throat and shrugged, trying to look unconcerned. "Same as you," I replied to the question he had spoken aloud. "Some assholes attacked me and left me to die in the woods."
"Spying again, were you?" Adder asked coolly. But there was no real malice in his words.
Fife turned so he could keep both of us in his line of sight. He didn't seem concerned about what I had seen, or what I might think. His beautiful smile was as easy as ever. "I think our lovely causerie here is blessed," he informed Adder. "A friend of hers helped lead me to you."
I laughed, hopefully showing that I thought nothing of their previous display of affection. It wasn't like I'd caught them naked and writhing on the forest floor, after all. Among our people, this was nothing. "I don't know about being blessed," I said honestly. "But I do have a healthy respect for the forest and its residents."
Fife winked. "One and the same, I think. A healthy dose of respect goes a long way in places as ancient as this."
Then the cleric dug around in his pockets for supplies and set about extinguishing his current spell and casting a new one. "Now," he said brightly once he had finished. "Let's see if we can find the others before moonrise."
True to form, Adder was mostly silent during our journey. Meanwhile, Fife split his concentration between his spell and making witty jokes or pointing out rare plants and other oddities in the landscape around us. Listening to Fife’s lyrical voice as he expounded on the beauty and power of the natural world might just be my new favorite thing. I could tell he was tempted to forage, to take some of the rarer plants and stones to add to his collection of spell components. But he wisely refrained. He was serious about respecting the forest.
His wistful expression, though, was even more dangerous than his happy one—it made me want to make sure he got every single thing he wanted.
When Fife started sighing over a rare specimen of glowing blue fungi, I glanced at Adder and caught him staring at Fife with a tiny, fond smile of amusement lifting one corner of his mouth. Adder's dark eyes met mine, and the expression disappeared. I couldn't help it. I grinned at him until he looked away with a little huff of irritation. I was onto him. He had a massive soft spot for his teammate. I had seen through his cold, stoic act to his candy floss insides, and he hated it.
The stag appeared three more times, leading us to Mirri and Bach, then to the clearing where the men had originally planned to make camp before they were attacked. It was an open space with a relatively smooth, mossy floor, not far from the little field of moonsilver plants.
Bach and Mirri were both just as happy to be reunited with their teammates as Adder and Fife had been, but they didn't miss me standing there, so their greetings were a bit more restrained.
I had to wonder, though…would all of them have greeted Fife with a kiss, if there wasn't an audience?
Jealousy wanted to rear its ugly head. After all, Fife was stunningly beautiful, and I was certainly no competition. But that impulse was almost immediately overcome by lusty curiosity. Visions of the four of them naked and twined together in pleasure flooded my mind, and I suddenly found it hard to think straight. I tripped over a tree root and nearly fell on my face. Only a big, firm hand on my arm kept me upright.
"Careful," Bach warned, his chiseled lips curving up in amusement and his deep voice doing nothing to keep my mind off my fantasies. After all, I didn't have to imagine how good the handsome highborn looked naked and in the throes of passion. I had already seen it myself first-hand.
I coughed and looked away, feeling my face heat. What was wrong with me right now? "Thanks," I muttered.
Bach released my arm, but didn't step away, his big, warm hand coming to rest on my low back instead. By the time we reached the clearing they had chosen for camp, I was a ridiculous mess of heat and want, and all from such simple contact.
The stag stopped and looked my way, and I pulled it together, hoping the whole damned forest couldn't sense how horny I was.
"Thank you," I said formally, bowing my head to the ancient being. I didn't offer anything in return except my gratitude—anything else would be too dangerous. But I did add, "We will respect your home while we are here."
