Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
S omewhere in the depths of the forest, the basilisk is already hunting us.
Or rather, hunting me.
On his own, Talan would have no problem escaping this creature, but I keep getting winded, my lungs wheezing. I can fight and throw daggers and control people’s minds. What I cannot do is run like a Fey. I stopped sprinting after about ten minutes.
I’m behind Talan. I walk quickly through the dark woods, twigs snapping under my feet, and try to keep up with the Dream Stalker.
Armed with a bow, Talan prowls with a tiger’s grace. He’s all silence and shadows, a quiet breeze between the trunks. When he catches my eye, he doesn’t give the slightest hint of concern about the primordial monster hunting us.
The fuck have I gotten myself into?
The snow crunches beneath my boots, and the chill seeps through to my toes. Every breath of frozen air sears my lungs, and my heartbeat pounds in my ears.
Barren and gnarled tree branches arch toward each other, a twisted, icy cathedral above our heads. Apart from the sounds of our footfalls, quiet blankets the forest. The silence is more menacing than noise, and fear crawls under my skin.
Am I a spy or a prisoner who’s completely lost control of my mission? As an undercover agent, I should be a manipulator, a puppeteer, influencing those around me to work for my agenda. Instead, I’m fleeing from a fucking basilisk so I can marry a man I’ve kissed once, a man I’m also trying to kill.
Worst game of Kiss, Marry, Kill ever.
The cold air pierces my lungs and stings my cheeks.
Part of me wonders if Talan already knows the truth about me. Maybe this is all a slow torture plan—a punishment to take me apart one piece at a time until I’m left defenseless before him and confess everything.
My lungs burn, the airways tightening. Of course, I don’t have my inhaler.
I gasp. “What’s the plan, Talan?”
He turns, the moonlight sculpting his features—his perfect mouth, the sharp cut of his jaw. He doesn’t seem to notice the frostbitten air. He steps closer and presses his palms on the tree trunk behind me. His intoxicating, masculine scent wraps around me. Heat radiates off his body, warming me. “The plan?” he says quietly. “The plan should have been for you not to mention the venison. The second plan would be for you to move faster than honey sliding over ice, but so far, you are failing at both.”
My heart races. “Well, I didn’t want to anger the gods. And also, I can’t really move that quickly. I have short legs, and I’m incredibly out of shape.”
He coos with mock sympathy, then narrows his eyes, studying me. “Since when did you give a fuck about the gods? The only god you need to worship is me.”
“If you keep talking about yourself like that, I might go look for the basilisk and end it all.”
He leans closer, his breath warming the shell of my ear. “You say you want to be rid of me badly, but I think you’re lying, little farm girl. I haven’t seen it in your dreams—you keep them tightly locked—but I can see it in the way your chest flushes when I get too close. The way your breath hitches. I can hear your heartbeat right now, and your pulse is racing.” His voice drops lower. “Your body warms when I’m near you, calling to me.”
Heat slides through me, pooling deep in my belly. “That’s called dread, Prince Talan.”
A low, dark chuckle. “Is it?”
Warmth licks down my spine. “I think maybe we should focus on the basilisk hunting us right now.”
His gaze dips to my lips, and the heated look in his eyes tells me he’s thinking about a different type of hunt altogether.
A piercing cry rends the air, and all the heat drains from my body. “It’s coming,” I whisper.
He turns his head, and a line forms between his black eyebrows. “Do you know what, my blushing bride? I’m done with your stupidly slow pace. From now on, we’re going to move at mine.”
In a swift movement, he sweeps me off my feet, and his warmth enfolds me, seeping into my body. With me wrapped in his powerful arms, he races through the dark forest.
I press tightly against Talan’s chest. Heat radiates from him, soothing my muscles in the cold. He’s been carrying me for twenty minutes, but he doesn’t seem to be tiring.
I almost feel safe with him, but the basilisk shrieks again, and my muscles freeze. Judging from the sound, the creature is closing the distance between us.
A blood-chilling roar rumbles through the woods, shaking the snow off the trees. Behind us, tree branches snap and the earth trembles.
“It’s getting closer,” I breathe.
“You really have a talent for spotting the obvious.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to the Paimpont River.”
Ahead of us, the trees thin, and a vast, roaring river carves through the cold dark forest. The surface of the water glistens with rose in the pale light of the twin moons.
Oh, gods . “ We’re not going into the river, are we?”
“Legends says that creatures from the Otherworld cannot cross water, and despite its wings, a basilisk cannot fly. All we have to do is make it to the other side.”
Near the river’s edge, he lowers me to the snowy soil. A shiver runs down to my bones. He glances over his shoulder at me, his jaw clenched. “Whatever you do,” he says quietly, “don’t look it in the eyes. Jump into the river, now .”
I freeze in horror. I don’t dare look back. Talan unshoulders his bow, then whips out an arrow from his quiver.
I turn, keeping my gaze lowered. Even so, I can see how fucking large the basilisk is. Moonlight shimmers off dark scales and the creature’s serpentine body, its taloned feet kicking up snow as it runs. A mere ten yards away. A low, furious roar erupts from the monster, trembling over my skin, and I catch a glimpse of a forked tongue, of sleek dark wings swooping behind and?—
I feel the lure of the basilisk’s eyes. I want to look up, but somehow, I resist.
Talan looses an arrow. It slams into the basilisk’s throat, but unfortunately, that doesn’t slow it. Talons slash through the snow as the monster barrels toward us.
My blood runs cold. Pivoting, I sprint the last few steps to the river, praying that Talan is right about creatures from the Otherworld. I splash into the frozen water, the bitter cold biting my legs and piercing right through me. A growl rumbles over the frozen forest, and I turn back to see the basilisk still stumbling forward, another arrow lodged in its scales. Only Talan stands in the way.
“Talan!” I shout, desperate for him to run. Why do I want to save this man I’m trying to kill?
I step deeper into the water, the river dragging at my heavy clothing, my teeth chattering uncontrollably. The water is freezing. I take another step and tumble. My body stiffens, and my lungs go still. I can’t move a muscle, can’t swim. My body has turned to ice. Talan told me to escape into the river, but he had no idea I’m half human and break more easily than he does.
A hand finds me and drags me to the surface. I inhale a mixture of air and water, panicking. Talan pulls me close. His nearness and the warmth of his powerful body calm me, and I suck in the cold air. I’m hungry for his warmth as he carries me across the river. We reach the other side at last, and I feel the scrape of the rough embankment beneath my boots.
“Okay,” I gasp. “I can stand here.”
He lets go of me, and I hoist myself out of the water, shivering with cold. My body is still coiled tight with tension, and adrenaline courses through my veins.
Talan pulls himself from the river. “You don’t know how to swim?”
“Not really.” A lie, of course. It’s just that my human body can’t function in ice.
He tilts his head, his gaze lingering a moment too long. My heart rate speeds up. Does he realize there’s more to my story? Before he can press me for information, something draws his gaze, and he turns to look at the basilisk.
The creature throws back its head, howling on the other side of the river. Its dark, scaly wings spread wide, and it roars. The sound of that wrathful cry makes my stomach clench and sends fear to the marrow of my bones.
I rub my arms, trying to unfreeze my muscles and rid myself of the chill. “L-looks like y-you were r-right,” I stammer, shaking like a leaf. “W-we’re safe.”
“Safe.” His voice is a low growl. “I’m not entirely convinced of that.”
The basilisk dips one foot in the water, lowering its head to look at the rushing current. To my horror, it plunges in.
“It seems the legends are wrong,” Talan says, swooping me up in his arms again.
I wrap my arms around his neck. Over his shoulder, I watch the basilisk’s spiked back glide across the river.
“Maybe crossing the river was more of a metaphor,” Talan mutters.
His arms tighten around me as we whip through the branches, and his steady heartbeat thrums against me.
When I peer over his shoulder, I see the shimmering scales of the serpentine basilisk closing in on us, splashing through the water.
“Talan,” I breathe, “can you go any faster?”
We run.
For a while, Talan puts me down, and I run alongside him, sprinting at my full capacity. But there’s no way I can match his insane Fey speed, especially not when I’m half frozen and wheezing in the wintry air. He picks me up again, carrying me through the snowy forest as if I weigh nothing. Icy wind rushes over us as he presses me to his chest. His pace is relentless and utterly inhuman.
I’m cold as the arctic, my clothes frozen, the air biting my skin. My asthma makes my lungs tight, every breath scraping the inside of my chest.
In Talan’s arms, a little of the chill melts away. I look back. He’s put some distance between us and the basilisk.
Maybe even monsters get tired.
Talan stops to listen and glances at the bright stars to get his bearing. In the next moment, he starts moving again. He knows where he’s going, which is good, because I’ve lost all sense of direction.
My eyelids droop, and my teeth are still chattering. My thoughts grow fuzzy, and my frozen fingers sting in the cold.
I don’t ask for him to put me down. I’m too cold to run, barely functioning.
Talan’s soothing voice pierces the fog in my mind, pulling me back to reality. “Almost there, Nia.”
I open my eyes to see a tiny white cottage with crisscrossing dark wood and a little chimney. For a moment, I’m not certain it’s real. It looks like something from an enchanted story for children, a haven popping up just when we need it.
But Brocéliande isn’t a fairytale. The monsters in this world are very real—and one of them is carrying me.