by Jenna Black
We absorbed that unpalatable reality in silence for a moment.
“The long way it is,” I finally said, and tried not to think about how slim our chances were.
* * *
I don’t know how long we traveled that night, though it felt like it was about twelve hours. We all held our breaths every time we had to sneak past one of the Fae houses, but no one spotted us, and eventually the houses petered out and the woods thickened. When the moon disappeared over the horizon, the only hint of light came from the stars. And as if that wasn’t enough to slow us to a crawl, clouds started coming in and the wind started to pick up. In the distance, there was a flash of lightning and a roll of thunder.
“Oh great,” I said as I tripped over yet another tree root. “I’ve always wanted to walk through the woods in a thunderstorm.”
The way my luck was going, I’d be crisped by a bolt of lightning.
The first drop of rain plopped on my nose just a few seconds later, quickly followed by another. When the lightning flashed, the thunder followed more closely on its heels.
“We’d better find a ditch or something to hole up in,” Keane said. “If we stay close enough together, I can stretch my shield spell to cover all of us. I don’t know if it will hold against lightning, but it’s better than nothing.”
“I don’t need your protection,” Ethan protested, all offended dignity.
“Fine,” Keane snapped. “Use your own shield spell. Or go climb a tree and play lightning rod. I don’t care.”
Even in the oppressive darkness, I could see the way Ethan’s eyes glittered, and I hoped he wasn’t going to start something with Keane. Judging by how the wind was kicking up, we didn’t have time for it. The temperature had dropped at least ten degrees in the last few minutes, and the rain that had at first felt almost refreshing now just felt cold.
“Let’s just find that low ground, shall we?” Kimber said, stepping between the boys. She gave her brother a quelling look. “Have you suddenly developed a shield spell I didn’t know about? Because if you haven’t, then you’re going to use Keane’s just like the rest of us.”
“I’m sure I can learn to cast one myself,” Ethan countered, and magical whiz-kid that he was, he probably could.
Kimber nodded. “Yeah, play around with learning a new spell when you’re in a life-threatening situation. That’s real smart. We’ll all be sooo impressed. Right up until you get yourself killed or maimed because you don’t have all the kinks worked out yet.”
Ethan scowled fiercely, but he had to know Kimber was right. He wasn’t happy about it, but at least he stopped arguing.
The rain came more heavily as we scanned the area for somewhere safe we could hole up. The prospects weren’t promising. The terrain was generally flat, and most of the places that looked vaguely shelter-like were actually the insides of trees. The harder the rain fell, the more tempting those hollows looked, but the escalating thunder and lightning reminded us that trees are nature’s lightning rods.
We were getting close to desperate when we found a huge tree that had fallen, pulling up a massive clod of dirt in its roots when it did. It must have fallen recently, since you could still see the hole in the ground where it must have stood.
It wasn’t much, more like a divot when we wanted a ditch, but we all agreed it was the best we could do. The sharp crack and crash of another tree falling somewhere in the darkness had us hurrying into the hollow’s questionable shelter. The wind was now howling, the tone almost musical. I hoped that wasn’t the sound of some bloodthirsty Fae storm-critter out for a hunt.
“Everyone stay close to me,” Keane said, and I felt the spark of his magic starting up.
I sat down beside Keane in the mud and tried not to notice the spark of jealousy that lit Ethan’s eyes. Kimber sat on Keane’s other side, and Ethan plopped down beside me and put a possessive arm around my shoulders.
“Closer,” Keane said, shifting until his hip and leg were pressed up against mine. I didn’t know if he was doing it because his shield spell didn’t stretch far enough, or if he was just trying to annoy Ethan. The tension in Ethan’s body told me how he interpreted the gesture.
Ethan got even more tense—which I hadn’t thought was possible—when Keane put his arm around Kimber and drew her onto his lap. Kimber couldn’t hide her surprise or her pleasure as she cuddled up against him, and I really hoped he wasn’t doing it just to get at Ethan. Kimber deserved better.
“Are you covered?” I asked Ethan, because he was the farthest away from Keane. To emphasize the danger, a heavy branch crashed to the ground just a few feet away from our hiding place. Every time the wind gusted, the raindrops flew parallel to the ground, and the trees were bent practically double. I hoped they didn’t have tornados in Faerie.
“I’m covered,” Ethan assured me through gritted teeth.
“Don’t be an asshole,” Keane said. “My shield isn’t reaching that far and you know it. Sit next to me and put Dana on your lap.”
At first, I thought Ethan’s macho pride was going to get the best of him and he was going to refuse—at which point I’d have had to resort to drastic measures to make him act like a sensible adult. (Don’t ask me what those measures would have been, because I’m nowhere near as good at bullying as the guys are.) Luckily, Ethan didn’t make that necessary, though he grumbled darkly under his breath as he pulled me onto his lap and shifted reluctantly closer to Keane.
The hail started coming down just then, nuggets the size of marbles pounding onto the ground—and onto Ethan’s right leg and shoulder, which apparently were still outside the shield.
“For God’s sake!” Keane snapped. “I don’t have cooties and I’m not going to bite.”
Ethan probably was going to snap right back, but Kimber shifted on Keane’s lap until she could reach out and put her arm around Ethan’s shoulders, pulling him flush up against Keane’s side. Figuring she had the right idea, I shifted my own weight and grabbed Ethan’s leg, dragging it under the shield. If it offended his manly sensibilities to sit so close to another guy, tough! Even the few hailstones that had hit me while I reached past the shield spell to grab him had stung like hell, and they seemed to be getting bigger.
Ethan was totally fuming, hating every second of being forced to accept Keane’s protection. Keane wasn’t exactly making things easier, but at least he hadn’t hesitated to offer that protection, no matter how he felt about Ethan. I rested my head against Ethan’s shoulder, and when that didn’t lessen the tension in his body, turned my head and brushed a kiss across his neck.
His skin felt warm and smooth beneath my lips, and I heard the way his breath hitched even over the howl of the wind and the pounding of the hail. I kissed him again, a little higher, and the angry tension he’d radiated moments ago dissolved into a different kind of tension altogether.
Yes, I was a little self-conscious with Keane and Kimber right there beside us, but Ethan needed the distraction, and I needed the comfort. I let my kisses travel up the side of Ethan’s neck while he conveniently lowered his head and turned his face toward me.
I was wet, I was cold, sitting outside in a ditch during a dangerous thunderstorm, but when Ethan’s lips came down on mine, it was like I’d been momentarily transported to heaven. I didn’t have a whole lot of experience with kissing, but I was sure Ethan was one of the best kissers in the universe. My traitorous mind conjured the image of the Erlking and the wild, ravenous kiss we’d shared under the influence of magic, but I shoved the thought away. That hadn’t been a real kiss, nor had my reaction been real pleasure, not like it was when I kissed Ethan.
Ethan’s tongue was teasingly licking my lips as his arms crushed me against him. I had no complaints, melting into his arms and kissing him back eagerly. His hand slipped under the hem of my shirt. It was a relatively innocent caress, his fingers touching the skin of my lower back, but I felt a little pang, knowing these innocent caresses were all we would ever have. I told myself to l
ive in the moment and not think about it. But I’m not good at not thinking about things, and though the kiss still felt good, the thrill was suddenly dampened—no pun intended. No, Ethan and I weren’t going to get it on here in front of Keane and Kimber even if the Erlking’s bargain weren’t coming between us, but I couldn’t enjoy even this simple kiss without worrying about everything I couldn’t do.
I think Ethan sensed me cooling off, because he sighed against my lips then pulled away, tucking my head under his chin. My throat tightened and my eyes burned, but I refused to cry. Somehow, I was going to find a way to be happy with what I had rather than pining for what I couldn’t have, but I hadn’t managed it yet.
Ethan went tense under me again, and it was as if our whole little make-out distraction session hadn’t happened. From the feel of his chin on my head, I could tell he was looking at Keane, so I turned to look myself, ready to jump in and stop them from fighting again if necessary.
Kimber was cuddled in Keane’s arms in a pose very similar to my own, her head against his chest. One of his arms was around her shoulder, and the other rested lightly on her thigh. There was a little smile on her face that said she was happy to be there, and I knew she was probably thrilled that Keane was touching her like that. But Keane was barely paying any attention to her and was instead locked in a staring match with Ethan. I wanted to slap them both, but I kept my feelings to myself, because if I opened my big mouth I’d only make things worse. The storm might have been getting a little less savage, but the lightning was still too close for comfort, and I couldn’t risk that testosterone would make the boys do something stupid that might get us all killed. So instead, I took one for the team, grabbing hold of Ethan’s head and planting another kiss on him.
My valiant sacrifice did the trick, and Ethan and Keane didn’t try to kill each other. Considering the absolutely rotten day we’d just had, I chose to take that as a good sign.
* * *
By the time the storm died out completely and the clouds cleared, the first hints of sunrise were coloring the horizon.
Keane’s shield spell had more than likely saved our lives. The forest floor was littered with broken branches, some of them slim and harmless, some of them as big as small trees all by themselves. One of those big branches lay across the ditch beside us, where it had come to rest after bouncing off of Keane’s shield spell.
The shield spell had died before the storm had. Keane practically passed out straining to keep it up, but eventually he ran out of strength and we all huddled miserably together in the soaking rain and blustering wind. Luckily, the thunder and lightning had moved on, and the wind wasn’t ripping trees apart anymore.
It was tempting to just lie there in the mud and take a nap. It had been an exhausting night, and none of us had been able to sleep under the circumstances. But we were all too wet and miserable to sleep, and we had to take advantage of the daylight to get farther away from the Sunne Palace and the Queen’s forces. The storm had actually done us a huge favor, wiping out any trail we might have left, but it wasn’t like any of us felt even remotely secure. I didn’t know how far we had traveled in the night before the storm stopped us, but I did know it wasn’t far enough.
We dragged ourselves to our feet and started moving again, trusting that Kimber was leading us in the right direction. In some ways, the going was easier because of the light, but we were all a hell of a lot more exhausted than we’d been the night before, and that made even the Fae clumsy. It didn’t help that the ground was muddy from the storm, sucking at our feet and making everything slippery.
Keane in particular was struggling, having used so much of his energy shielding us last night. Being a typical male, he was unwilling to admit it—especially in front of Ethan—but we could all see the dark circles forming under his eyes, and he was even more unsteady on his feet than I was. By the time we’d walked for a couple of hours, his eyes had glazed over and he moved with all the speed and grace of a zombie.
“We need to rest,” Kimber said suddenly, startling us all because we’d barely spoken two words since we’d gotten started this morning.
“We’re still too close to the palace,” Ethan immediately protested. “We can’t afford a rest, not when we sat there not moving for hours last night.”
Kimber was about to retort, but she fell silent, her face going pale.
“What?” I asked, looking frantically around. “What is it?”
But then the rest of us heard it too: the baying of hounds in the distance. Not anywhere near distant enough, either.
“Shite,” Ethan and Keane said together, and I didn’t have anything better to add. I doubted a mortal bloodhound would have much trouble catching our trail, and I knew that Fae hounds would be even better at tracking than mortal ones.
“Is it my imagination, or are they getting closer?” Kimber asked in a small voice.
“They’re getting closer,” Keane said. “Come on, we’ve got to run!”
It wasn’t hard to catch his sense of urgency, and we all took off running through the trees, painfully aware of the baying of the hounds growing louder. There was no way we were outrunning dogs, but we weren’t going to just sit there and wait for them to catch us.
“Would your shield spell keep the dogs from smelling us?” I panted at Keane as we ran. Not that I thought he had enough strength to cast it after last night.
He shook his head. “I wish.”
I turned to Ethan. “You got anything?”
“Nothing!” he said, grabbing my arm and urging me to run faster.
I was already stumbling from exhaustion, and I was never as graceful as the full-blooded Fae anyway. When I tried to eke a little more speed out, the tip of my shoe caught on something, and I went sprawling. Ethan was there hauling me to my feet practically before I hit the ground. I managed one more hunched-over stumble-step, and then went down again, realizing I was still tangled up in whatever I’d tripped on.
And that was when I noticed the tendril of ivy wrapped around my ankle.
“Come on!” Keane urged, he and Kimber coming back to me as Ethan tried again to yank me to my feet.
The ivy didn’t let go, and soon a sea of it flowed toward us, creeping out from behind bushes and crawling down the trunks of the trees.
I swallowed a scream as the ivy leapt into the air, tendrils raining down around us, forming a dense green wall, trapping us. Familiar, needle-sharp thorns sprung from the vines, though the Green Lady made no attempt to prick us with them.
“Be still and be silent,” a disembodied voice ordered us, and I don’t think any of us was inclined to argue. Not with all those thorns pointing our way. I slipped my hand into Ethan’s as we crouched within the shelter of the ivy. Beside us, Kimber was clutching Keane’s arm, and he was looking a little wild-eyed.
The baying of the hounds drew nearer and nearer, and I felt the vibration of hoofbeats, though I couldn’t hear the horses over the racket the dogs were making. It sounded like the dogs were right on top of us.
Suddenly there was a rustling sound and a dog gave a high-pitched yip. The baying stopped, replaced by anxious-sounding whimpers. Moments later, I finally heard the sound of hooves. The horses came to a stop, and a man’s voice shouted, “Let us pass.”
“You will pass when you have paid the toll,” the Green Lady said.
I’d assumed this was the same Green Lady who’d accepted my blood sacrifice, but her voice sounded subtly different.
The man made an impatient sound. “We have no suitable sacrifice to offer, and we are in pursuit of a fugitive from the Queen’s justice. Let us pass!”
“Come back when you have a suitable sacrifice,” the Green Lady said. “Until then, you will go no farther.”
The man said something I figured was probably a curse, though I didn’t recognize the language.
“You are impeding the Queen’s justice!” he said, all offended-sounding.
“I am within my rights,” the Green Lady r
eplied. “There is no requirement that my tolls be extracted only upon roads, and I choose to extract one here. Surely you do not begrudge the land its nourishment.”
There was some grumbling. Our pursuers most definitely did begrudge the land, but none of them was stupid enough to say so. Depending on how thoroughly tied the Green Lady was to the land, she probably could make the lives of anyone who annoyed her pretty damn difficult.
“The fugitives you are aiding plotted the assassination of the Queen’s granddaughter,” the lead pursuer tried again. “Every moment we spend arguing increases the chances that they will escape the punishment they deserve.”
It was only then that I realized the Green Lady was hiding us so thoroughly that our pursuers didn’t even know we were there.
“Then you’d best hurry back with your sacrifice, don’t you think?” the Green Lady said, and there was no missing the hint of annoyance in her voice. Her leaves rustled, and I imagined she was making an impressive display of her thorns.
The man cursed again, but soon afterward, we heard him stomp away. Then we heard the hoofbeats as the riders retreated, taking their chastened and whimpering hounds with them.
When we could no longer hear the echo of the horses’ hooves, the Green Lady’s vines receded, forming themselves into a tall woman in a flowing green gown.
“I will delay them until the sun goes down,” she said. “I would merely have waited until they brought me a sacrifice, but their arrogance and rudeness requires they be taught a lesson. Their hounds will be unable to scent you until I allow it.”
I swallowed my urge to say thank you. “Would it be rude for me to ask why you’re helping me?”
“You gifted my sister with the treasure of a willing sacrifice. As you have seen, the Sidhe are no longer as gracious about providing sacrifice as they were of old. It is time to remind them of the importance of good manners.”
“Is there any chance you could help us get to the standing stones without being caught?” Ethan blurted.
Kimber’s eyes widened, and she punched Ethan in the arm. “Shut up, Ethan!” she hissed.
