Chapter 25 Lore
TWENTY-FIVE
Lore
I TRAILED A few steps behind the surly Fae male, my attention sweeping over every inch of our path through the island.
It was much larger than I’d realized.
After only walking for a solid thirty minutes or so, I no longer heard the waves crashing against the shore.
I was hoping to find some way to leave a few markers for Sloth, so I stomped on a few patches of wildflowers, saying a silent apology, and accidentally tripped and snapped a twig off a branch or bush here and there.
My tour guide was more observant than I liked.
“Unless you wish to be chained to my side, stop that.”
“Stop walking?” I shrugged. “Fine. Please feel free to continue without me.”
He shot a glare over his shoulder.
Then his lips curled upward, revealing a grin that immediately set me on edge. He really needed to work on his friendly face.
He summoned several ropes of vines. “Attempt to leave a trail again, and these will be your new accessories.”
Wonderful. He was a gardener from hell with a bondage kink.
He resumed his unforgiving pace across the island, and as much as I hated to admit it, the landscape unfolded like a scene from a fairy tale, with ancient trees stretching their limbs skyward, their leaves a vibrant jewel-toned green.
It felt like a whole new world from the one I’d washed up on.
Giant ferns unfurled along the trail, and rocks blanketed in velvety moss dotted the ground.
Of course, there was the occasional skull, which I studiously ignored.
After what I estimated to be an hour or possibly even a month of more walking, and absolutely no polite conversation, we approached a babbling brook.
Its melody was a soothing backdrop to an otherwise tense journey.
The whole time we’d been walking, I couldn’t help but think of those skulls, picked clean to the bone, and wonder if I would be next.
As we got closer to the stream, I nearly dove in.
I hadn’t had anything to drink since the battle with the sea monster and the exhausting swim to the shore, and my throat ached from how dry it was.
I dropped to my knees, cupping my hands to scoop the pristine, ice-cold water into my mouth, feeling the refreshing liquid quench my desperate thirst.
Normally, I’d be worried about ingesting bird or bug poo, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
It was like the nectar of the gods.
After I’d slaked my thirst, I splashed a bit of water on my face.
My skin stung and itched from the dried salt, and I was seriously considering jumping into the stream, when the Fae decided to dazzle me with more of his signature charm.
“Enough,” my best friend snapped. “We’re going to be late.”
I was obviously destined to fall in love any second now.
Hopeful suitors the realms over would weep in jealousy at my good fortune.
“Perhaps if you were a decent tour guide, you’d share basic information on where we’re going, what to expect, maybe inform me if I need to be presentable.”
His teeth ground together so loudly, I heard the sound over the running water. If he wasn’t careful, he’d crack a few of them in half.
Then he’d really have something to glower about.
“Maybe you’ll find that out when we get where we’re going. Or maybe I’ll snap your neck and end our mutual torment. Now, move.”
My gaze narrowed on him.
“If this is the beginning of some enemies-to-lovers romance, it seriously fails in reality. There is nothing remotely appealing about your attitude.”
He gave me a look that said he had no idea what I meant and didn’t care to find out, then abruptly turned on his heel and stormed down the trail.
I fantasized about tripping him for a solid twenty minutes. Much to my dismay, my magic didn’t help that daydream manifest into reality.
Though I suspected if I called Teddy back, the little shadow would happily do my bidding. The thought warmed me. It was nice to have a diabolical shadow pet.
As we ventured deeper into the enchanted forest, the path began to gently slope upward. The ground here was almost completely covered with a soft carpet of moss and fallen leaves, and the air smelled of the earthy scent of the woods.
For a few blissful seconds, I forgot I was forcibly being escorted to a secret Faerie lair.
Birds called to one another from the treetops, and if I closed my eyes, I could pretend I was on a pleasant hike through the woods with a bag of books and picnic supplies. Like dark chocolate raspberry jellies.
I would commit homicide for one.
Preferably, the Fae male would be my victim and I’d live happily ever after once I’d disposed of his corpse.
Honestly, I’d work up an appetite after all the grave digging and would demolish the whole bag of jellies. I hoped daydream Lore had the foresight to pack a fizzy pink drink to quench my thirst.
A strawberry lime spritz would pair nicely with the raspberry jellies.
The slope’s incline became more steep and less gentle and drew me back to the here and now, though I still had graphic thoughts of murder flitting through my head.
The dead Fae walking glided effortlessly up the terrain, his boots barely making any noise, while I trudged behind him, my mind conjuring images of him tripping over a hidden tree root and tumbling to his doom.
A girl could dream.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy above, dappling the ground in contrasting shades of light and shadow that grew brighter as we approached the forest’s edge.
Once we arrived there, a breathtaking sight awaited us.
I stood there, mouth agape like a true mortal peasant, and stared at the aching beauty.
A hanging bridge woven from thick, twisting vines and rope spanned a deep ravine that led to a castle unlike anything I’d ever imagined.
It was a colossal structure grown from the heart of a tree that looked like it was as old as time, its bark walls spiraling upward, blending seamlessly with the branches and leaves high above. Each giant branch had a balcony that was partly covered with a leaf roof.
I would love to have a room with a balcony where I could sit in the sun and read to my heart’s content.
I had no idea how the Fae had managed to build the castle, complete with turrets and battlements, from a tree, but I figured magic was involved.
I attempted to sidestep the Fae to get a better look, but he swiftly yanked me back by the fabric of my tunic, the sudden force making my heart skip a beat.
For a second I couldn’t tell if he was about to toss me into the ravine.
Now really would be a wonderful time for my magic to make him sprout a tail for me to strangle him with.
“This way.”
His voice was as hard as his grip on my poor shirt.
With increasingly violent thoughts filtering through my head, I followed my lovely companion down a serpentine path that meandered through the dense forest and skirted the edge of the ravine until I no longer saw the giant gash in the earth.
After a few minutes of brisk walking, the trail finally opened to reveal a waterfall cascading into a steaming-hot spring.
It was another undeniably beautiful sight.
Mist hung in the air, and the sound of rushing water echoed against the cliffs that curved around the falls.
My gaze shifted from the sparkling water to the Fae, who wore a stonelike expression. I’d never met someone more unpleasant.
It was obvious he hadn’t brought me here to discuss our favorite antiheroes. I needed to bathe before being presented to whoever ruled the tree castle.
The ultimate in Faerie lairs.
No matter how appealing the idea of getting clean was, the thought of doing so under his scrutinizing glare sent a shiver down my spine.
“Strip,” he commanded.
Romance truly was dead.
“Are you capable of speaking in full sentences?”
His lips curled into a cruel, mocking smirk.
“Take off your clothes. Or I will be forced to do the task myself.”
I took a step back, wondering what circle of hell I’d fallen into now.
Thankfully, the look he leveled me with was not remotely sexual, but still, there was no way I would do what he’d demanded.
“I’m not getting undressed with you standing there staring like a serial killer who’s imagining flaying my skin off.”
He advanced toward me, each step more menacing than the last.
“If I answer one of your questions, will you get in the damned water?”
Honestly, I’d be getting in either way because I was uncomfortable, but if he wanted to offer up information, I wasn’t about to turn it down.
Plus, this established that I wouldn’t simply roll over and heel every time he tossed an order out.
“You’ll answer truthfully?”
“Yes.”
I considered what would give me the best clue about which story we were in. He hadn’t offered his name yet, and I figured he wouldn’t.
Fae, like the Princes of Sin, were touchy about that sort of thing.
I needed to figure out what this test was and do everything I could to mentally prepare for it.
“What am I getting ready for?”
His smile raised the hair on the back of my neck.
Apparently, he’d been hoping I’d ask that particular one.
“You’ll be participating in a hunt, darling. Now, bathe quickly. We have much to prepare for and the fun begins at midnight.”
“An actual hunt?” I asked.
He inclined his head.
Oh, crap. His horrid personality, the haughty disdain, the hunt. The tree castle was different from the original story, but I knew exactly what book this was.
Hunted by the Horsemen.
It was an interconnected story set in the same universe as Silverbeak’s Wrath.
I flipped through my memories of the plot. I’d read it a few times, but on my rereads I usually skimmed until I got to War’s point-of-view chapters.
He was everything right about morally gray love interests.
Confident, just shy of arrogant, dominating in the bedchamber, and completely unapologetic about his very skewed moral code. He was driven and goal oriented. Never mind that those goals could destroy realms.
I stopped myself from internally swooning and focused.