Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
T he signs of life were small at first: a touch of green grass shooting out from the earth. A cautious bluebird flitting into the high branches of a tree.
As the sun rose, it gilded the leaves of trees that were larger than any I’d ever seen.
The trunks were so wide that three men could have stood with their arms outstretched and still not reached around them.
Their roots spilled over the forest floor.
With each step, I was certain Kaden’s horse would break a leg, but the gelding was surprisingly surefooted.
Soon the earth began to fill with life. Brambles heavy with berries sprawled beneath immense trees, and birds of every shade flitted from branch to branch. Carpets of moss blanketed fallen logs and stones, concealing the homes of tiny creatures I could hear scampering in the undergrowth.
We grazed on what remained of our provisions as we rode, stopping only to water the horses.
My backside ached from spending so much time in the saddle, but I kept my complaints to myself.
Sharing a horse with Kaden meant it was already difficult to avoid innuendo, with our thighs constantly brushing and my chest thumping against his back with every unexpected bump.
I suspected the others were reluctant to stop and linger over a meal. We were deep in King Alfrigg’s territory now, and Sorsha was the exiled princess.
Not only that, but I sensed that our encounter with the soul eaters had shaken Kaden more than he let on.
The deeper into the forest we went, the stronger the hum of magic became. I could sense it deep within my bones, making my skin prickle uncomfortably.
Though the canopy provided ample shade, the air felt hot and stagnant. By late afternoon, I’d shucked off my leather jacket and twisted my hair into a knot to keep the unruly strands from sticking to the nape of my neck.
Finally, Adriel signaled for us to stop, and Kaden brought our mount to a halt. He joined his royal guard in poring over a map, trying to discern the fastest route to take to reach the Great Oak.
Sliding out of the saddle, I uncorked my waterskin, tipped it back, and got . . . nothing.
Damn.
Peeling my shirt away from my sticky chest, I wandered away from our little clearing in search of a stream to fill it. I didn’t hear running water, but at this rate, I would have made do with a puddle.
Kaden and Adriel’s quiet murmurs faded as I pressed through the trees, watching the birds dip between the low branches. With so much life, there had to be water nearby.
As I came around a small rock outcropping, I nearly cried in relief when I saw a pile of river stones encased in thick vines of wild roses. The round rocks were mortared together to form a structure as high as my waist, and when I drew closer, my suspicions were confirmed. It was a well.
Nearby stood what appeared to be the remnants of a foundation constructed from the same smooth stones. Tall grass filled the interior of what had once been the house, and the vines growing up around the walls were so thick it looked as though the forest had consumed the home.
I only hoped the water was still good.
Circling the well, I found an old wooden bucket, half buried by leaves. I turned it upside down and beat on the bottom to dislodge any debris before hooking it on the end of a rope that lay discarded near the house.
Strange. With the structure no longer standing, the elements should have degraded the rope long ago, if rodents hadn’t gnawed it to pieces first.
Come closer. Come closer.
A chill raced down my spine, but I gave myself a shake. The wind must have been playing tricks on my ears as it rushed over the lip of the well. Riding all day in this heat with so little food was making me delirious; that was all.
Hefting the bucket over the stone edge, I heard a splash as it hit the surface and felt a swell of victory.
I started hauling the bucket back up, and when it came into view, I saw that the water was crystal clear.
Thank the gods.
I was just about to dip my waterskin into the bucket and take a long drink when a strong hand shot out and captured my wrist.
“Don’t.” Kaden’s warning was low and urgent .
I jerked my head up to look at him and found his expression tense.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, both irritated with Kaden for standing between me and a cool drink of water and annoyed at myself for being so focused that I hadn’t heard him approach.
“That well is enchanted. It draws in travelers wandering these woods. One taste of that water, and you’d be driven mad by an insatiable thirst. You’d waste away right here, always in need of another drink.”
“How do you know that?”
Kaden stepped back, staring at the foliage snaking up the sides of the well, which bloomed with vibrant red flowers. I stared at the vines, too, and after a moment, the glamour fell away.
As the illusion dissolved, I saw that they were not wild roses, but dark, thorny vines with black leaves that held an oily sheen. The water in my bucket wasn’t clear and clean. It was filthy and smelly, with bits of green scum swirling toward the bottom.
Then something white near the base of the well caught my attention, and I squinted to make out the shape of what my instincts told me I’d find.
Bones — mortal bones, by the look of them. At least half a dozen corpses were tangled in those sinister vines, the sunken pits in their skulls staring blankly at the sky.
I shuddered.
“Things are not always what they seem in the Ravenous Woods,” said Kaden.
“There are no demons, but the forest is full of illusions, which makes it just as dangerous. Always look twice at what you see, and never go near still water. Most of the lakes in these woods are enchanted or inhabited by creatures that are old and powerful. The streams are fed by the snowmelt from the Oranthan Mountains, so those are usually safe, but . . .”
He offered me his waterskin, and I took it in my trembling hands, sinking down onto a fallen log. My heart was thundering in my chest, and my legs were shaking.
Once again, Kaden had saved my life. I’d been telling myself it was because he needed me, but the last few days, I’d begun to wonder if that was the truth.
The demon I’d come to know was not the male who’d spoken with such cruelty back in Adraeis, and something he’d said prodded at my intuition.
Things are not always what they seem.
The fae couldn’t lie, but they were masters of deception. It was the reason those growing up in the mortal realm were brought up to distrust them.
A bargain was never as simple as it seemed, and faeries were skilled at telling half-truths and spinning illusions with their words.
As I replayed our conversation in my bedchamber in Adraeis, I realized he hadn’t actually told me anything.
When I’d asked if he’d killed my mother, he hadn’t responded with a simple yes or no.
As I pulled at the threads of our conversation, the story he’d so carefully woven began to unravel.
Do you want to know if she fought me when I dragged her to the Otherworld?
Did you want to ask me if she suffered ?
Do you want to know whether I enjoyed the sound of her screams when my father broke her?
Questions. And more questions.
At the time, I’d been so furious with Kaden that I hadn’t looked past the mask he’d worn. I’d been so angry — so blinded by my own hurt and rage — that I’d been ready to believe he was as monstrous as he claimed.
But . . . what if he wasn’t?
Lowering the waterskin, I stared up at Kaden, trying to see beyond the beauty to the male beneath the mask.
Was he the cruel demon prince, or was he my protector who’d burned that demon alive?
“Did you kill my mother?” I asked in a low voice.
Kaden went utterly still. “You already asked me that. You have your answer.”
“Don’t —do that,” I snarled, fury bubbling up in my chest and lacing every word.
“You don’t get to deflect or answer my questions with more questions.
” My voice shook, and I clenched my teeth together so hard I heard the molars grind together.
“I deserve to know the truth. Tell me what really happened.”
Kaden’s face paled, his stormy eyes swirling with such turmoil and sadness that for a moment, I wondered if I wanted to know.
Lowering his head, Kaden took a deep breath and said, “I didn’t kill your mother — not with my own hand. But I am responsible for her death.”
At those words, a cold fist closed around my heart and squeezed.
He sighed. “My father has spent centuries hunting down Coranthe witches. Sometimes, he would send his lieutenants to collect them. But as the witches’ numbers dwindled, they became more cautious. Secretive. More difficult to find. So he began sending me.”
My stomach clenched, and I felt sick.
“When I brought the witches to Dorthus, a demon called Fleshtalker would torture them until they agreed to do his bidding. He’d burn them.
Drown them. Maim them. Whip them. He’d use their own memories to weave horrific dreams that would haunt them even when they slept.
Some broke within days. Others, weeks. Eventually, though, they all begged for death.
Most of them tried to tear down the veil, using up every last drop of their magic and driving themselves mad before they either died or found a way to end their own lives. ”
Bile rose in my throat. I had just been in Dorthus. I’d probably stood over the rooms where those witches had been tortured. Where they’d died.
“Sixteen years ago, my father found your mother. He knew she was living right outside the Quarter, but he didn’t know where. So, he sent me to retrieve her. I am very good at finding people, particularly those with magical blood.”
Just as he’d found me.
“She wasn’t hard to follow. She wasn’t like you. Didn’t have your instincts. I tracked her to your house.”
Horror clanged through me at his words. He’d been to my house?
“I saw you, playing in the backyard. You were maybe seven or eight.”
A haunted look came into his eyes, and for a heartbeat, Kaden looked every minute of his five hundred years.
“I have done horrible things, Lyra,” he choked, not meeting my gaze.
“But stealing away a child’s only parent is .
. .” He shook his head. “Anyway, I left. I returned to Dorthus that evening and told my father his information was wrong. That there was no Coranthe witch living in the Quarter. At least none that I could find. At first, I thought he’d overlooked my deception, which was not technically a lie.
That perhaps he’d give up this wretched mission and stop hunting witches.
But then Adriel told me he’d sent Fleshtalker to look for your mother. ”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Fleshtalker has a . . . unique ability among demons. All he has to do is touch someone to see their memories. I knew that if he got his hands on your mother, he would see hers. See you . He might not be able to tell that you were a witch from her memory, but he would waste no time in tracking you down to find out.”
Kaden rubbed the back of his neck, and I got the feeling he didn’t want to continue. “I also knew the realms could not afford for a witch to be successful in dismantling the veil.”
For a long moment, the only sound was the rush of blood in my ears. Part of me didn’t want to know what happened next, but I knew I’d never forgive myself if I passed up the chance to learn the truth.
“Fleshtalker would not stop until he’d found the last Coranthe witch. He is undyingly loyal to his king. So, I sent one of Mirabella’s vampires to find your mother first. To make it look like a frenzied attack so my father would not be any the wiser.”
He swallowed. “I stayed nearby. Watched it happen. Your mother didn’t know how to shield, so I went into her mind.
I made her go someplace else, mentally. Took away her pain.
Her terror. I made it so she didn’t know what was happening.
And at the moment of her death, I replayed one of her sweetest memories — walking on a beach with a little girl. ”
My throat burned. My cheeks were wet with tears, and my heart ached at the thought of my mother dying in that wretched alley.
“Then, when she was gone, I took her by the hand and led her to the banks of the Adraeis River. I smuggled her into Dorthus myself and brought her to rest in the Valley of Light.” His voice broke.
“I told myself I was giving her a merciful death, sparing her years of torture and suffering. That I was saving her little girl, whoever she was, and allowing the poor woman to rest in peace.” He shook his head.
“I’ve done a lot of reprehensible things, Lyra, but taking your mother from you might be the thing I regret the most.”
Silence fanned out around us, broken only by the whisper of the wind in the trees. My throat was on fire, but inside, I felt numb.
The loss of my mother was an old grief — one I’d carried with me my entire life. At times, I used it. For the anger that honed my resolve like a blade. For the strength to survive one more day.
I’d grown up believing her death had been a senseless act of slaughter. Random. Tragic. Anonymous, in a way.
She’d merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time, or so I’d been told. To whatever vampire who had killed her, she’d been just another warm body to sate his unending thirst.
But now, knowing that she’d been killed in part to spare my life . . . I didn’t know what I felt.
Sorrow? Guilt?
I shouldn’t have felt gratitude for the demon who’d ordered her murder — who’d filled her last moments with a quiet peace to spare her years of suffering.
I shouldn’t have felt relief at finally knowing why she’d been taken from me.
And yet, I did. That wrecked me more than anything.
“Thank you,” I rasped. “For telling me the truth.”
I didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t know if I was angrier than before. I didn’t know if Kaden’s actions made him monstrous or merciful.
All I knew was that I couldn’t stay here in this clearing.
Getting to my feet, I handed Kaden his waterskin and stalked back through the trees, my chest aching despite the weight that had lifted from my heart.