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Jude gave me a curt nod, spinning around and ambling off to the left, leaving me to explore the right side of the clearing. It wasn’t a large area, perhaps a little over two hundred feet. A space filled with heavenly, effulgent light.
As if an artist had dipped his brush in pots of pale yellow and gold and coated every leaf and bloom and blade of grass. And because this place was real—or as real as anything beyond the borders—I found myself tilting my head to the sky and spinning around and around.
The dense clouds overhead were kept away, as though this place was untouchable by even the deadliest of curses. When I settled, having spun myself silly, I dizzily staggered over to a patch of the brightest blue blossoms.
Five heart-shaped petals burst from wide, buttery centers, flecks of silver scattered amid the blue like glitter. When I lowered my head to inhale the heady floral scent, a distinct crunch sounded behind me, and my hand whipped to my dagger.
I was a whirl of red hair as I twisted around, my dagger sailing skillfully through the air—
Only to pierce a ball of gray fur.
A rabbit.
“I think I just caught dinner!” I shouted over my shoulder to Jude, my stomach applauding my efforts with a growl.
Boots pounded, and the commander appeared at my side in an instant, a flustered hue of pink on his cheeks.
“What’s wrong with you?” I studied him from his boots to the crown of his mussed hair, a thin sheen of sweat coating his brow.
“Nothing.” His right eye twitched. “I just heard you scream.”
Instantly, my smile blossomed into something wicked. “Aww.” I bopped his nose, much to his chagrin. He scowled. “You were worried about me, and now you’re all flustered.”
“Quiet.” Jude bit into the side of his cheek. “I’m in charge of recruits’ safety, that’s all.”
A wave of guilt and sadness hit me upon hearing Jude mention the recruits.Alec, Patrick, Jake. They would have loved this. Here I was in the middle of this sumptuous, lush wonder in the middle of the Mist, and my friends were—
No. Don’t think like that. They’re okay. They have to be.
I couldn’t voice my thoughts to Jude and break this spell, however brief. He deserved this moment of playfulness, of happiness, after everything he’d been through.
My friends were fine and likely attempting to follow our earlier path to meet us. I refused to believe otherwise.
I focused on Jude and his stern expression. “I’m sure that’s all it is.” I clasped my hands behind my back and adopted my most innocent of expressions. The doe eyes were out in full force.
Jude grumbled something beneath his breath, swiping a hand through his blue-black hair. It stuck up at awkward angles, oil and dirt coating the strands.
“Man, do you need a bath,” I remarked, lifting my hand to run my fingers through it without thought. The moment I touched his silken, albeit filthy, hair, I jerked my hand away, forcing it to my side. Jude bit extra hard on his cheek to keep his smile at bay, but a roguish gleam ignited his brown eye.
“Gross,” I snorted, as I wiped my hand on my trousers, covering up the fact that I’d just run my damn fingers through his hair. Thankfully, he put me out of my misery.
“The same could be said about you.” His eyes narrowed into teasing slits as he took in my grimy clothes and smudged cheeks. He wasn’t wrong.
In reply I winked and said, “How about you cook up the rabbit I so graciously caught for us, and after, we can take turns making use of that stream?”
Just looking at the crystal-clear water tempted me to run headfirst into its shallow depths. I didn’t even care if it was freezing. Smelling like body odor and dried blood was not something I particularly enjoyed.
Jude visibly stiffened at my words, but he awarded me his signature nod, the one he gave me whenever he didn’t care to speak. I often wondered what he was thinking when he resorted to those.
“Fine.” Jude bent down and snagged the limp creature, jerking out my dagger before flipping it deftly in his hands and handing it over. “I’ll start a fire, since you sograciouslykilled this poor animal.”
“Eh, he never stood a chance.” I’d been the reason my family’s table had never been empty when the fields were barren. What few creatures I found in the woods I caught, my aim a thing of beauty.
“Oh, and if you don’t tend to that shoulder and bandage it, you’ll face my wrath,” I warned.
He grunted. “Fine. But your ‘wrath’ isn’t as terrifying as you think.”
Before I could retort, Jude sauntered out of sight, presumably to clean his wound and search for firewood. With his absence, curiosity settled into me.
