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Reilyn hesitated for a moment, then took my hand. I helped her to her feet. She looked at me for a moment, as ifshe wanted to say thank you but the assumption was squashed immediately with a quick shove from her. I fell back a step, not wanting to crowd her. She sneered, lifting her chin defiantly. “You only saved me to save yourself.”
I watched her as she started down the path again, the pain in her ankle worse from the state of her limping. It appeared we were back to square one.
Spectres and Ghosts
Reilyn
After the Cupiditas attack, I didn’t care if Araki noticed me looking at him. It wasn’t as though he could do anything about it. I remained calm and kept my expression neutral, even though he could feel the swirls of confusion I was fighting internally. I hated that we were bound like this, that he was privy to emotions about me that nobody else was. I wanted to hate him personally for putting a spell on me, binding me to him without my consent. But, annoyingly, I couldn’t. I could sense through our bond that it wasn’t done maliciously. Araki had wanted to protect himself, and while I felt that he still wanted something from me, Araki hadn’t cast the Union spell because he wanted to raid my thoughts and feelings. If anything, I understood he was trying to block it out. Which only made me more confused about who he truly was. I didn’t like it. I had always known my mind. To be dealing with any sort of doubts right now made me grimace.
“We’ll find a good campsite soon,” Araki said as he held back a curtain of vines that blocked our path. I nodded, but I didn’t pass by him. Instead, I studied him as he stood there, holding the vines out of my way. I had never been one to allow myself to be bewitched by good looks. Yes, I had been attracted to people before. I had even, on occasion, indulged in that attraction. But it wasn’t as though I had abandoned my good sense. My eyes nevertheless strayed to him. Araki had spadefuls of good looks. At some point, he’d lost his hair tie, and his hair hung in soft waves that reached his broad shoulders. Perhaps it was because his skin was so smooth and flawless. He appeared fae-like, although not entirely. He possessed another bloodline. His violet eyes had not ceased glowing since we entered theforest, but the more our eyes locked, the more enchanting, rather than strange, they seemed. It was almost the same light as the fungi growing on the trees. With that power swirling on his skin and the magic of the forest surrounding me, I could almost imagine he belonged in a place like this. The rich brown tunic he wore as an undershirt was undone at the top, revealing a glimpse of chest hair. My fingers itched to touch it, to see if it was as wiry as the chest hair I’d felt on other men. I’d indulged these feelings at the ball—after all, I was looking to seduce him away, and genuine attraction was easier to work with than the hate I felt toward him—but here, alone in this forest… I didn’t want to feel drawn to him if I couldn’t trust myself in this situation.
“Are you going to keep staring?” he looked at me with a tilt of his head.
My eyes locked with his. His intense gaze made me shiver. I laughed, flippantly throwing my hair over my shoulder to cover up how unsettled I felt.
“I’m just deciding the best way to kill you once I’ve broken your Union spell,” I said sweetly, then gestured for him to continue.
“I do hope you plan to kill me quickly. I’d do the same for you.” Araki smiled savagely.
My smile disappeared as fury ignited once more inside my chest. I could easily ignore his good looks if it weren’t for how he looked at me. That was the reason for my confusion. He didn’t look at me like I was an assassin. He didn’t look at me as though he was a wicked, magic-stealing king who murdered innocent people for his greed. And I could not ignore the event with the Cupiditas.
I had seen the sadness in his eyes as he gazed at the spirit. I felt the compassion he had for it. The creature had created its fate, had bound itself to its greed so tightly it couldn’t escape. I pitied the thing, but he had seemed to… I couldn’t put it into words. Nor did I want to. And worse, I’d heard the prayer Araki murmured, wishing the Cupiditas would find peace in the After. I didn’t understand. Given what I knew about him, I expected he’d consume the spirit and steal its power, making himself stronger rather than pray for its eternal welfare. Could it all be an act to make me lower my guard?
“Go on,” Araki gestured for me to proceed. “I think it’s time for you to take the lead.”
I hesitated, uncertain. He could remove the spell and stab me in the back if that was what he wanted. Except, undoing a spell required magic, too, and even something as simple as that would be twisted in the forest. Turning my back on my enemy went against every instinct, but I reasoned that I wanted him to drop his guard around me. Araki carried immense power, and when I brought him to the Nightshade, we would have to subdue him. It would be best if I knocked him out upon our arrival, so he wouldn’t cause us any trouble.
I eyed him as I started past him, but my foot caught on a slimy patch of moss. The shoes I wore were for dancing and were already giving me trouble. My twisted ankle screamed out in pain as my leg gave away. Instinctively, I threw out my arms, grabbing onto the nearest thing to keep me upright, Araki. My arms wrapped around his waist, clutching him to keep myself from falling. One of his arms slid around my shoulders, helping me to stay on my feet. He pulled me upright, our bodies close together. His doublet slipped off my shoulder, revealing it to the chill air. His gaze lingered on my bare skin for a moment beforeI steadied myself. Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I braced myself for a cutting insult.
Araki looked away. I hurried and pulled the doublet over my shoulder, tugging my shift over my butt since the bloomers I wore weren’t made with modesty in mind. Then I took point and started to walk the path. The fungi were steadily growing dimmer. Were they connected with the sun somehow? I pondered the question for a little while. If all magic was connected through the forest, why wouldn’t the forest be linked to other things? I’d heard different tales about what magic created the sun. When I was young, Mother had told me stories of mighty heroes that tamed magic and gave it form. Perhaps they had lived in a twilight world like this one and had caught the sun and intertwined it with the forest to give travellers a chance at survival. The last I’d been up to the canopy; the sun was starting to sink in the west. The night was almost upon us. The dimming light of the fungi indicated that their light was borne of the sky. Whatever fashion that connection was, we would soon be in darkness.
“There.” I pointed to a small thicket. The bushes grew densely packed, but there was space under them for us to lie down. “We’ll be able to hide there to sleep.”
Araki surveyed the thickets. “I would prefer to get off the trail for the night.”
“The further we leave, the easier it is for us to get lost. Listen.” I tilted my head to the side and listened carefully. Like a river, the faint sound of water rushing reached my ears. The river sounded like it was far away. I wasn’t sure.
“Whether it’s night or just because the forest has decided to start playing tricks on us, we can’t trust our sense of direction. We have to keep our markers in sight.”
I thought Araki would argue, but after a moment, he nodded. “We’re creatures of magic, too. It makes sense for the forest to play tricks with our minds.”
Surprised rippled through me. Creatures of magic. I was human. I could take magic but I wasn’t magical myself.
He caught my look. “What is it?”
I looked away. “Nothing.”
The thicket was just high enough off the ground to slide beneath it. It would keep us from prying eyes, and with a few fallen branches in front of the thicket, we’d protect ourselves from being spotted on the path. But as I was settling down to rest, laughter suddenly burst through the air. I knew that laughter. My eyes widened as I saw Nala skipping down the path. I opened my mouth to call out to her, starting to push myself up. What was she doing here? But a hand covered my mouth, holding in my call.
“Spectre,” Araki whispered in my ear.
Nala—no, not Nala, the spectre—stopped in the path. Now that he’d pointed it out, I realized it wasn’t her. My heart ached as she bent to pick a flower from the side of the path, beaming. I couldn’t ever recall seeing Nala so happy. Her young face was light and carefree in a way that nobody in the Nightshade looked at. It was as though I was looking at a possibility, an idealized version of her. I missed Nala even though it had only been a few days since Priestess Opaline had sent me on my mission. More than I thought I would. Seeing herhumming to herself, her red hair tied back with a blue ribbon, wearing a blue checkered dress complete with a pale pink pinafore only highlighted it.
The spectre skipped on, singing as she went. Araki relaxed and removed his hand from my mouth. He gave me a quizzical look, and I turned my face away. I wasn’t about to tell him who Nala was. A surge of anger went through me as I realized he’d have been able to feel the loneliness that had engulfed me while the spectre flitted by.
“Specters mess with your head,” Araki said, and despite my anger, I was grateful he wasn’t asking any questions. “It’s what makes them so dangerous. They pick the most important person in your life… if they target you, you forget all the reasons why that person shouldn’t be there, and you follow them to your death.”
I curled away from him. I knew all that already.
