Chapter 62
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Ellery
“Absolutely not,” Scarlet said. “We’ve been in this together since the start, and that’s not going to change.”
I closed my eyes before opening them again. I focused on the displaced amsirah over her shoulder before shifting my attention to my best friend, who was like a sister to me. Dirt streaked her pretty face, and concern filled her brown eyes.
“I have to go alone,” I told her, “but I’ll be back.”
I hope.
“You can’t go after Ryker by yourself.”
“I’m not.” When she gave me a doubtful look, I clasped one of her hands. “I’m not going after him.”
I planned to do something she’d probably disapprove of more, but she didn’t have to know that.
“I have to go,” I told her.
Now that the idea had taken hold, it was growing in urgency. I’d seen the way the forest creatures swooped down on the guards invading their woods… and I’d witnessed the dog turning its back on me.
The forest was making its message clear; it wouldn’t aid us. I didn’t know if that meant it would attack us too, but it certainly wouldn’t help us. It would kill anyone who tried to set it on fire again, and that was it… unless I carried out its wishes.
And we couldn’t have the woods turning on us. We needed the shelter the forest provided, and wouldn’t survive its creatures coming after us. It hadn’t done so yet, and because of that, I suspected it wouldn’t, but I couldn’t risk it.
“I have to go,” I whispered.
I pulled away from Scarlet and hugged her before slipping into the shadows. I didn’t look back as I ran away from the newly forming encampment.
I stopped beside Xanthus, who stared at me for a moment. “I’m going to get him back,” I vowed.
The horse’s soulful brown eyes studied me before he stepped away. My heart ached for him, but nothing would ease his sorrow until Ryker returned and he could be free of this place.
I ran up the hill and past the guards who stood in the shadows without any light to illuminate their surroundings. Light would reveal exactly where they were while hiding anything coming at them.