Chapter 30
Cahir
The night sky was waking with the first set of twinkling stars, and the sand slipped beneath their feet as they entered the mist of the Heath Forest, where the thick fog smelled like a blanket of damp moss.
He could hear the soft song of crickets and see the partial moon illuminating the giant oak trees.
Their tops clamoring for the freshness of the sky two hundred feet above.
Deep red sap oozed down their trunks and gathered on the forest floor, where claw marks had torn into them, leaving scars that bore the weight of sorrow in the darkness.
Seda slept all the way through the dunes and had just woken up.
He had spent hours watching her peacefully sleep as he held her, taking in the small details of her perfect face, like the freckle on her chin, the pink tint on the tip of her nose, and her pale eyelashes.
She had one eyelash that stuck out to the left of her right eye.
He wanted her to sleep longer, to heal and rest. He felt a profound sense of relief as he held her, and he was happy that she felt safe enough to sleep.
Cahir approached a large rock covered in moss and gently lowered Seda onto it. She moved her injured ankle and curled her toes. He watched her hand go to her lips to bite her nails nervously, then she lowered it before they connected.
“Thank you for carrying me. I’m sorry to be a burden,” she said to him.
He almost wanted to laugh. If she only knew how he felt to have her back with him.
She would never become a burden—ever. “I would carry you all the way to the Wisps and beyond if you’d let me,” he smirked sideways at her.
Cahir observed her cheeks flush pink despite the darkness, and she averted her gaze, concentrating on the bleeding tree.
“What is this place?” she asked.
“This is the Heath Forest. We need to be careful here. Hailecs roam these woods,” Ruel said as he walked up to the rock, panting from the long hike.
“What are Hailecs?” Seda asked, her eyes becoming wide with fear as she scanned the dark woods. Cahir placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, and she glanced up at him before quickly looking back at the haunted trees.
“Evil forest spirits that camouflage themselves as your desires to lure you away. If you see one, they could use their magic to enchant you. We need to be careful here,” Kalon said as he approached the rock and set down his bag.
He sat beside Seda on the rock, their legs touching, and Cahir felt a flash of annoyance.
He shot him a warning glance, but Kalon winked at Cahir and left his leg where it was.
“Are you thirsty?” Kalon offered Seda a flask of water.
“Thank you,” she said as she took the flask from his hand and took a sip. Cahir watched her drink from the flask and ground his teeth together. He should have offered her water.
“Let’s set up camp here,” Benny said as he stepped out of the gloomy darkness, walking with Roya, Ferona, and Feich.
The group set up a small campsite and lit a fire.
Ruel, Ojore, and Seren went to find something to cook, while Roya, Ferona, and Feich took to the skies, watching for any danger.
Cahir had no desire to leave Seda’s side.
He, Kalon, and Benny found ways to stay focused where she could see them.
He constantly found himself gazing at her, checking to make sure she was alright, and scolded himself whenever he had trouble not staring at her exposed legs.
He really wanted the chance to talk with her privately, away from prying eyes.
As the night wore on and they settled down to rest, Cahir got up to find a place to relieve himself. Roya remained in the sky, taking turns with her siblings to watch guard from the air, as Seren took turns with Kalon, watching from the ground.
He made his way around a large, bloody tree and unzipped his pants. The cool, misty air stung his exposed skin as the fog wrapped around his thighs.
“Cahir?” He looked around and saw Seda taking steps toward him, her leg limping painfully.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked, quickly zipping his pants back up. It was too dangerous for Seda to be alone out here at night.
“I had to find you.” Her long, silky hair sparkled like starlight in the darkness, and his eyes locked onto her full, rosy lips.
“Do you want to talk? I’m so sorry I could not protect you at the Wyrd. I’m so, so sorry. I will never live that down.”
She looked at him quizzically. “I missed you so much. I thought about you the entire time.” She walked a distance away from him and sat down on a large, decaying log, patting her seat, inviting him to join her. He stepped toward her, grateful for the chance at privacy.
She gazed at him with heavy-lidded eyes, and Cahir drowned in her beauty.
Her lips. Her breathtaking amethyst eyes.
He began to move toward her, the only thing in his line of sight.
“I want you, Cahir,” she whispered, her mouth moving in slow motion as she spoke. He watched her tongue slide across her lips, and his body responded instantly, his pants growing tight with desire.
Feeling drunk, he stumbled on a root and fell to the mossy ground. “I fucking want you, too, Sed. For so fucking long,” he slurred. He got up, his mind still reeling. The world started to spin around him, blurring out of focus.
“Come to me. Come with me, Cahir. I need you,” he thought he heard her say as she giggled. He didn’t know which way she was, but he kept walking toward her voice. Desire consumed him whole, and he felt himself throb.
He saw her from a distance and turned her way, but he kept losing sight of her in the thick fog.
“Where are you?” he lazily called out, his hand instinctively reaching over his hardened length and squeezing it through his pants. A low growl rumbled from his throat.
He craved more; he needed her.
Sharp teeth sank into his shoulder as a powerful force slammed into him.
The pain jolted him awake, snapping him out of his haze.
The ugliest creature he had ever seen pinned him to the ground.
He held the monster away from his face, preventing the elongated, sharpened teeth from sinking into him again.
The smell of death surrounded him as a Hailec snapped in his face, its transparent body flickering in and out of view.
Its skin was wrinkled and rotting, its eyes sunken and hollowed out in darkness, and its limbs were long and skinny with swollen joints.
He threw the Hailec off of him, causing it to flip over on the ground, and stood up, quickly grabbing the sword strapped to his back.
It quickly straightened itself and lunged again, coming for his throat.
He raised his sword into the air, readying for the satisfying kill.
Roya flew down, shifted, and sliced through its too-thin neck with a single long, extending claw. Its head dropped to the floor with its snarled expression illuminated by the moonlight.
“I thought you were smarter than that!” She turned to him and seethed, flashing her teeth at him in an angry snarl.
“I had that thing!” he yelled back, setting his sword back down.
“No, you were too drunk in love, you fucking fool.” She glared at his tented pants and then at the blood trickling down his arm. “Look at your shoulder.” She nodded to his injury, and he looked down at it.
Fae blood trickled down and dripped from his fingertips.
“Shit. I have to hide this. Is there water around here somewhere?”
“Why don’t you just show her who you really are?” she questioned in an exasperated huff.
“She would never trust me again. I cannot do as you did and show her. She would ask me more questions than she did of you, and I can’t answer them. Not yet. Once this fucking deal is over with the Wisps, I can do that.”
Roya stared at him for a bit and then said, “As you wish. However, I know that it will happen eventually. It is best to be as honest as possible now before this whole thing gets any worse. Follow me.”
He followed her to a stream and then rinsed the blood from his shoulder and arm. The cuts were quickly closing up, thankfully.
The chilling sound of a man’s scream echoed through the night. Roya and Cahir turned sharply to the left, where the sound had come from.
“More Hailecs,” Roya whispered. She quickly shifted into a Corvid and flew off in the direction of the scream.
Cahir ran after her. He jumped over large roots and rocks, cut around tree trunks, and stepped through vast patches of ferns. Roya came into view, holding onto a bloody body, a dead Hailec by her side.
Ruel was injured and coughing up blood, with bite marks all over his neck and deep scratches running down his body. His clothing had torn across his chest, and his blood coated the front of his shirt, where only scraps of it remained.
“Let’s get him back to the Camp. There could be more out there hunting us right now.” Cahir picked up Ruel’s body, who groaned in pain, and quickly carried him back to the others.
When he entered the area, everyone was alert. Kalon had his sword out and was standing near Seda.
Thank the gods.
Seda saw Cahir and stepped forward from her spot. “What happened?” She looked down at Ruel, and her eyes widened.
“A Hailec attacked Ruel,” he answered.
Seda gasped and attempted to get closer to them.
“Stay here, Seda. Let them tend to him,” Kalon said to her. She took a step back, standing next to Kalon, who placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She did not shirk away from him. She nervously bit her nails and looked at the bloody body of Ruel in Cahir’s arms.
Cahir growled low in his chest but focused his attention back to Ruel.
Benny ran up and looked at him. “Fuck,” his face paled. “Put him here.” He grabbed a small blanket and laid it out on the ground. Cahir placed Ruel down, and he groaned loudly in pain.
“My daughter. I saw my baby,” Ruel panted as pain ripped through his body. Cahir and Benny looked at each other.