10. The Girl with Stormy Eyes
THE GIRL WITH STORMY EYES
T he forest had darkened by the time we stopped to make camp, a soft blue glow from the night sky slipping through the thick canopy of towering trees.
As I looked skyward, I could almost make out the two massive moons amidst the stars through breaks in the branches high above us.
They were magnificent. The trees here were gigantic compared to the ones in the Mortalrealm, so high that I wondered if the branches danced with the glittering constellations. Or perhaps I was just so small.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed as we trekked through the wood, and I tried my best to remember the direction the cave was in, clinging to the hope I could find my way home to Mama and Papa, to the boy whose coat was the only piece of home I had left.
Rhyas was settled up against the trunk of a large tree as he surveyed the camp.
A few other fae settled in around the fire, the other children they had carried still unconscious on the ground at their sides.
“Why won’t they wake up?” I asked .
“They’ve been put under a spell,” Rhyas said, his face unreadable as he pulled something from his pouch. “They won’t wake until we make it to Nastra.”
My brows furrowed. “Why did I wake up?”
“You’re unlike the other children,” he said. “The beast within you does not tame easily.”
I eyed him wearily. How did he know I was a shifter of House Thiríon?
“I can smell it on you, sense the beast slumbering,” Rhyas explained, as if seeing the unspoken question in my eyes, and held out a piece of dried meat. “Hungry?”
My stomach was hollowed out from the days of near starvation after the darkling attack, and my mouth watered at the sight of the meat. I took it without question, shoving it into my mouth, and groaned at the salty taste.
He chuckled and continued eating. “How old are you?”
I swallowed the last bite and was nearly ready to beg him for more. “Eight.”
Sadness flitted across his face. “I’m sorry.”
My body stiffened, and I lifted my gaze to him. Sorry?
“Try to get some sleep. We leave at first light,” he said as he settled against the trunk, tugging his hood over his eyes before folding his arms across his chest. “And don’t think of wandering off unless you want to get eaten.”
I swallowed and took in the forest surrounding us, the darkness too thick, the animals too quiet.
What creatures lived in these woods? I leaned into the trunk next to him, pulling the boy’s coat tighter around me as I closed my eyes just enough to look like I was trying to sleep.
It didn’t matter that there might be creatures out there; I only needed to sneak past them.
I just needed to wait until Rhyas and the others fell asleep.
Then I could slip away.
It was a couple of hours before his breathing settled into a slow, even pace, and the rest of the camp had quieted.
One of the fae had stayed awake, watching the camp.
I pretended to sleep, lids cracked just enough to watch him.
He would rise periodically to walk the campsite, and the next time he did so—his back turning to me—I glanced to Rhyas, whose eyes remained shut.
My pulse thrummed in my ears as I quietly eased away from the trunk, gaze locked on the fae male as he stepped away from us.
Then, I slipped into the dark of the forest.
I could barely see around me, the silence of the forest unnatural and unnerving.
My feet were light as I stepped carefully through the darkness, my heart pounding as my ears narrowed in on every nearby sound.
The moss cushioned each step as I wandered, returning in the direction we’d come, and I nearly tripped over countless roots and stones in the dark.
A branch snapped nearby, and I froze, my heart stuttering as a low growl rippled from the darkness .
Oh Gods... Oh Gods, oh Gods!
The instinct flitted across my thoughts, senses heightening as the beast bristled deep within me.
Run.
“Girl?” Rhyas called from the darkness.
I glanced over my shoulder, unsure if I should run toward or away from him. No. He was no protector. I wouldn’t be safe with him. Before I could linger longer, before I could see what hunted me, I took off, feet barely meeting the mossy ground as I ran for the cave.
A snarl reached my ears as I gasped, pushing myself forward.
“Where are you, girl?” Rhyas shouted, his voice growing closer, almost concerned.
Light stretched into the forest at my back as their torches painted the forest in a warm glow. Whatever pursued me shrieked, but I didn’t look back, didn’t risk falling or being captured. The trees parted before me, and the cave came into view. My heart soared.
Home!
Run faster, little one!
Moss turned to stone as I entered the cave, that terrible magic reaching for me as I neared what I could only assume was the veil—the border between the Mortalrealm and the Godsrealm.
“Stop!” Rhyas’ voice echoed through the cave.
Would he follow me this far, or would he give up?
Would he chase me into the Mortalrealm? I couldn’t be far from the veil.
Its presence danced over my skin like a whisper of wind.
As I began to feel hope that I might escape, icy dread washed over my skin, instinct flaring so hard and fast, my body nearly collapsed on the cave floor.
A hiss echoed from the dark depths of the cavern, and I stopped breathing as something slid into view through the tunnel, blocking my path. I couldn’t move, my body frozen.
The pounding of Rhyas’ feet was nearly drowned out by my pulse pounding in my ears as the massive creature met my gaze.
Its body was a mass of scales and shadow, its tongue slipping from its lips as it sized me up, its six slitted eyes—the eyes that had watched us as we’d passed through earlier that day—promised death.
The creature’s head rose, lips parting to reveal fangs as it hissed at me, ready to strike.
Rhyas slid to a stop in front of me, his hand rising as the creature’s head shot forward. “I have Eris’ blessings, Scylla!” he shouted, his voice echoing to every corner of the cavern, fear painting each word as it left his tongue. “Eris’ blessings!”
The creature halted before it could crash into us, stretched jaws inches from devouring us both. Its six glowing eyes roamed over him, as if assessing him, before it lowered its head, coming so close that I stopped breathing as I gripped Rhyas’ shirt with trembling hands .
Scylla’s tongue slipped from its lips briefly, flicking against Rhyas’ extended hand, which I noticed was inked with something. His body was tense, chest heaving as he stared down the beast. A hiss slipped from its throat before it turned and slithered back into the dark depths of the cave.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe as I stood frozen behind him.
Rhyas whirled and grasped both my arms. “You fucking idiot. What were you thinking? Do you have a death wish?”
My vision blurred, my knees threatening to give out beneath me.
“I told you to stay with me! You’re safest with me!” When I didn’t answer, he groaned, his head falling forward as he let out an exasperated sigh. “Come on, we need to get back to the others.”
He took my hand, and I couldn’t bring myself to fight him as he led me out of the cave and back toward the camp. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I stumbled at his side, my attention latched onto the cave as it slowly vanished from sight.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’d let you go back if I could.”
His pace seemed to slow, as if he was considering something, and he glanced down at me before kneeling to my level. “Do you remember your name?”
I frowned. Why would I not remember my n?—
All thoughts eddied out of my mind as I tried to recall my name. The name my parents had given me was...gone, as if it had never been mine to begin with. My hand slipped from his as I clutched my head, racking my brain, scrambling for the name.
L—
Ly—
Oh Gods . How could I not remember my name? Rhyas winced at the look of terror on my face.
“They took your name,” His pity-filled eyes lingered on me, as if he understood my fear. “There’s no going home for you. You belong to Arden now.”
Dread crawled over my skin at the thought of what awaited me.