Chapter Twelve
Into the Woods
“Stop pouting and walk.” Stryder pushed against my back, moving me farther along through the woods.
“I’m not pouting.”
“Tell that to your bottom lip.”
“You’re not allowed to look at my lips.” In my haste to put distance between us, I tripped over a raised tree root. My footing was questionable on a good day, even when wearing the proper hiking boots. So being in dress shoes and still in my fancy suit from the ball? Yeah, I was a walking disaster.
“Stumble again and I’ll treat you like a child and throw you over my shoulder.”
I stumbled half a beat later.
He sighed. “Gods, boy.”
“Don’t touch me.” I wiggled away from him.
Stryder arched a brow. “Or you’ll do what? Summon your little demon friend to bite me again?”
“Oreo bit you?”
“You don’t have to smile about it.”
“I’m not smiling.” I turned my face the other way, hiding the not-smile. “But if he did bite you, you more than deserved it.”
“Aye,” he softly said. “I reckon I did.”
His accent clicked into place. It reminded me of Rowan’s.
“Are you from Solynia?” I asked.
“I’m from everywhere.” He grabbed my arm and guided me around the hanging vine I’d nearly walked into. “Though many years ago, I did call Solynia home. I’m surprised you know of it.”
An ache filled my chest. “Someone I love used to live there.”
“Someone you love?” He regarded me, his gold eyes a faint glow amongst the shadows. “Is it the same someone who gave you the dagger?”
“How did you know that?”
“Lucky guess.” He faced ahead, saying nothing more.
We continued through the woods. Geography was definitely not my strength, but I knew we were beyond the castle grounds now and somewhere in the king’s forest. I peered up through the branches, trying to see the night sky. All I saw was black. Not a single glimpse of the moon or stars.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, nearly tripping again.
He sighed. “To my ship.”
“Then where? Haran? King Silas hired you, right?”
He kept his gaze forward, saying nothing.
“No need to confirm. I already know the truth. I just don’t know why. Your story was ridiculous, by the way.” I sneered at him. “My mom wasn’t a whore. She was beautiful, giving, and kind. Something you wouldn’t understand. Asshole.”
“Asshole?” He cocked a smile. “You’re too young to have a mouth like that.”
“I’ll be twenty-four in like a month.”
“Is that right?” Stryder lightly flicked my cheek. “You still have a baby face.”
I tried to bite his hand.
“So vicious,” he said, amused. “But far from wicked, aren’t you?”
“Well, you haven’t seen me in the morning pre-coffee. I make the wicked witch look like the fairy godmother.” I sidestepped a low-hanging branch and got tangled in a vine. To wrangle free, I chopped at it with my arm.
“Keep still. You’re makin’ it worse.” He helped free me, smirk still in place. “What’s this nonsense about fairies? Stories of that sort are for children.”
“Excuse you. It’s not nonsense. No one is too old for fairy tales.
” I continued forward and took a small amount of pleasure when I pushed aside a thornbush and it came back to smack him.
The thorns and I had formed an alliance.
A ceasefire, anyway. “Speaking of stories, how did you lie while under the influence of a truth serum? I heard it’s impossible. ”
“Is that right?” He easily caught up to me, humor lighting his eyes. “Then it must be true. You know your way around a brothel and have quite the gambling problem.”
“Seriously. How?”
As if realizing I wouldn’t shut up until he gave me a real answer, he sighed.
“Years of training. Building a tolerance for poisons and serums alike. The key is to weave a bit of truth in with the lies. You aren’t the king’s son, but you are of royal blood.
And your mother, although not a whore, did give you away when you were a baby. ”
“To protect me,” I told him.
“Motive aside, the truth remains the same.”
I couldn’t argue with that. “But a prostitute? Really?”
A laugh rumbled in Stryder’s chest. “Worked, didn’t it? The prince believed every word.”
“You could’ve said I was a pirate or something else cool.”
“Not even my skills in deception would be enough to make that lie plausible,” he said. “You’re too clumsy to be a pirate. You’d slip on the deck and fall overboard. Yet, I reckon I could’ve spun the tale of you being the captain’s plaything. A cabin boy who satiated the lust of the entire crew.”
“An entire crew is pushing it. Five is about all I can handle.” I widened my steps, trying to get away from him again.
He followed behind me, chuckling softly under his breath.
“You’re cruel, you know. Telling Cedric I was the king’s son. He almost killed me on the spot.”
“I had to play into what he already suspected.”
I stopped walking and turned to him. “What do you mean?”
“Your resemblance to the royal family.” Stryder touched a strand of my hair. “Golden locks, fair complexion, and emerald eyes. There’s no denying it.”
I inched away from him. “Just because I’m willing to talk to you doesn’t give you the right to touch me.”
“Oh?” His attention lingered on me.
“Yeah. Because you’re still an asshole,” I said, voice shaking with a sudden spike of anger. “You hurt my friends. Prince Sawyer, Finnian, Ban, and Sir Noah. They could’ve died because of you.”
“Don’t take it personally, kid. I was just doing what I had to do for the job.” Stryder pushed against my back again to force me to move. “But I find it interesting how your anger stems from my treatment of them when you’re the one I nearly killed. Those scars are proof.”
I touched my chest. “You can’t even see them.”
“I don’t need to see them to know they’re there. My magic caused them. It leaves behind a distinct scent.” When he focused ahead again, there was a tightness to his jaw.
Did he feel… guilty?
“How much do you know about me?”
“Enough.” He slowly exhaled and stared up at the branches we passed beneath. “Nocturne has history with your family.”
“You killed my dad.”
“I had no part in killing him. That was before my time.” His expression turned grave. “I’ve only heard stories.”
“He died protecting me, and it didn’t even matter.” Pressure enclosed my sternum. “King Silas is relentless.”
“If you knew your potential, you’d understand why.” Gold eyes found me within the shadows of an oak tree. “You radiate the purest energy I’ve ever felt. The power in your blood is unparalleled.”
“This is all so confusing. I don’t feel powerful or special.”
Stryder faced the trees ahead of us. “You’re more than special, kid.
The poison used on the king is one of the strongest we have.
A single drop would kill a full-grown monstrous boar.
He drank five. It should’ve been a horribly gruesome death.
Blood oozing from every orifice of his face—mouth, nose, and ears. You spared him that fate.”
“Me?” I halted in step. “I didn’t do anything.”
“But you did.” He turned to me. “I reckon our mistake was putting it in the coffee.”
“Because coffee is the nectar of the gods and purifies everyone it touches?”
“No.” His lips twitched. “Because you made it.”
“I don’t understand.” The understatement of the century.
“Don’t fully understand it myself,” he said with a frown. “All I know is there’s power in your blood. What I told the prince in that regard is true enough.”
“Does King Silas really want to sacrifice me in a blood ritual?”
“Enough questions.” Stryder grabbed my arm again and encouraged me along. “Keep walking.”
I glanced at the surrounding trees. Was Rowan hiding somewhere nearby, waiting for the right moment to intervene?
Did I want him to be?
Stryder was insanely powerful. I dreaded to think of him fighting any of my men.
Swords were no match against fire spells.
Briar could perform spells, but his skills lay in green magic, growing plants and healing people, not hurting them.
Rowan’s shadow ability, what I’d dubbed the Bone Crusher, was deadly, but he could only use it once.
And Lake was strong and moved swiftly, but all it’d take was one powerful blast aimed his way to…
No. I needed to save myself this time.
I stumbled my way through the foliage and vines. Thornbushes caught on my pants, and my shoes slid on the occasional scatter of damp leaves. Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them back. This wasn’t the time to cry. I needed to form a plan and find a way out of this mess.
Find my way back home.
“What’s that sound?” I asked, hearing a rushing in the distance. “A stream?”
“If you say so.”
There’d been a stream nearby when I’d first met Oreo. Not far from it had been the king’s road. If I could reach it, I could…
Never mind. I was technically an escaped criminal. Being seen on such a public route wouldn’t be a good idea, let alone waving someone down and asking for help.
“Why do this?” I asked, desperate to put an end to this hellish night. “If it’s for the money, I can pay you.”
His brow arched. “You’ll pay me, will ya?”
“Yep. Just name your price. Whatever you’re being paid, I’ll double it. The café makes decent profit. Surely, with what I have saved up, I can make enough to cover the rest. It might take me a while, but—”
“Have you forgotten you’re a wanted man?” he reminded me. “Unless you have my weight in gold just lying around somewhere, I’m not interested. Capturing you is a guaranteed payday.”
“Please.” My voice shook. “There has to be some bargain we can make. Muffins for life or something.”
“Begging won’t do you any good, kid. Besides, I hate sweets.”
“You sound just like Rowan.”
“Stop talking and walk. I tire of your voice.”
One glance at him made me think it was for a different reason. A deep frown marred his brow, as though he felt a tad guilty. Unlikely it was enough to change his mind though. Greed conquered even the best of men.
Back to my original plan, then. Making a grand escape. The king’s road was out of the question.