AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hustle to keep up, though it all but kills me. “And how will you get in?”
“We have our ways.” He scans the landscape for a hidden enemy. “Ways I won’t tell you now. Spies for the king lie in wait everywhere. You go in and do your job and we’ll do ours.”
“Please be safe.” I speak low so the others won’t hear. “The thought of losing you makes my heart heavy. I can’t imagine losing my mother and my…”
He twists his lip and taps it with his finger. “And what do you call us, Mari? Care to define our relationship?”
Heat rises along my neck to my cheeks. I shouldn’t feel so self-conscious around him. “Friends?”
“Hardly.” Tendrils of his dark hair splay against his hood as he moves forward through this wind-swept world.
There are words I don’t want to say in case he doesn’t feel the same way. He tells me he loves me, says I’m more than a one-night stand, but do I dare speak my own feelings aloud?
“Lovers?” He keeps his eyes forward and a slight tinge of pink stains his cheeks.
The relationship conversation bothers him as much as it does me. I’m happy with our stolen moments and swollen kisses. The thought that I can make his heart nearly beat out of his chest causes my body to overheat—or is it the exhaustion from climbing this massive hill?
“Have you read my note?” He pinches the bridge of his nose, probably trying to hide the remaining pink on his cheeks from Evie, who looks back at us.
“No.” I trudge over the rock-laden path, each step a pure act of willpower. “It’s not like I’ve had any alone time. I don’t want the others to tease us relentlessly with unwanted jokes.”
“Do you think I care?” He lifts me over a large boulder, then skirts a mud puddle. “The way we feel about each other is written all over our faces. We don’t need to hide it anymore.”
Every reluctancy that weighs me down always stems back to Avren. An unmarried, intimate relationship is cause for expulsion. Deprogramming the marks carved deeply into my essence will take time.
He takes my hand, long fingers entwining with mine. “You’re worth waiting for. From the glimpses of the real you I’ve seen, I can’t imagine what it will be like when nothing holds you back from your true potential.”
I draw my hood close to my face to hide my smile.
The bushes grow smaller and eventually disappear as we cross the tundra dotted with arctic moss and tiny purple flowers turned inside out in the heavy winds. We follow the path down into a valley where a high mountain stream runs over a cliffside and into a pool below. The magic I felt when Levi and I were near Mafekadi fills the air in this secluded ravine. Mist pricks my exposed skin, having the opposite effect of what I expect. It warms my chilled bones.
Grayson and Evie stop, crouching to fill their canteens in the pool.
“This is where we must part.” Bastian grips the hilt of his sword, keeping his gaze on his boots shuffling in the dirt.
Levi stands beside me, his head held high as Grayson approaches us.
He adjusts each of our cloaks, brushing dirt from our shoulders. “I can’t believe we’re sending our two babies to confront the king of the Unseelie Court.”
Levi swats Grayson’s hand from his shoulder, narrows his eyes, and wrinkles his nose. “Baby” isn’t the word I’d use either.
“Kidding aside…” Grayson tugs on my earlobe and swats Levi’s bottom. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Keep it on the down-low. Let Cirrus do the talking because you know how much he loves to hear his own voice. The longer you can keep him talking, the more time we’ll have to complete our part of the mission.” He throws an arm around each of our shoulders. “Make sure you don’t get trapped. Seriously. I hear ten thousand years buried beneath the ground really does something to your complexion.”
Levi signs to Grayson without speaking, but I can tell by his face it’s probably a profanity.
“No need to use your potty hands with me.” Grayson takes a swig from his canteen, and his skin changes. Every imperfection—acne, redness, and fine lines—is smoothed over with one drink from the pool. Is it a fountain of youth? “I’m your favorite sibling.”
“Yeah, right,” Levi signs, turning his back on Grayson.
As much as Grayson is kidding around, I don’t want Levi going into the fae world hot-headed. I’m the one who’s supposed to be the savior. I need to take on my role, despite my “baby” status.
“We’re all on the same team.” I take Evie and Levi’s hands.
Bastian follows my lead, snatching Evie’s other hand and then Grayson’s.
Levi won’t look at Grayson as they complete the circle.
Standing here in Fox Glove Crossing, I believe together we have the power to accomplish any task thrown at us. The energy in our circle is palpable, as if the gods of the wilderness are looking down on us, intent on helping us succeed.
