Chapter 7
Seven
When we stepped out of the warmth of the lodge, I blinked, trying to adjust to the darkness, but they seemed to adapt much more quickly. We moved through the village, then the fields, to the darkness of the mountain that towered over our town.
None of us went there at night. When a child had been lost in the forest a few years ago, we’d searched frantically, the sun sinking lower like an hourglass running through his last hours.
“You know, we tell all kinds of bedtime stories for children about what’s in this forest at night,” I said.
Maura gave me an amused look. “Do you think they’re stories?”
I hesitated, sure that she was going to judge me whichever way I answered. Something about the judgmental cast of Maura’s eyebrows made me feel like there were no right answers with her.
“What are the stories?” Fieran asked. “I’ve been in a lot of forests that haunted other people’s nightmares. I might be able to tell you what’s true and what’s not.”
Anayla rolled her eyes. “Always bragging. Relationships being forbidden between shifters and mortals makes more and more sense to me with every passing minute.”
I felt a jolt as old gossip and stories I’d heard flooded back to me. Those relationships were forbidden in stories, but those had always felt so distant from my life that I had never thought I’d actually be walking beside a dragon shifter.
“What are you talking about?” Maura demanded airily. “Mortals benefit tremendously from those relationships. They can get all kinds of wishes granted. And Fae and shifters benefit too. In the presence of a worshipful mortal, someone can be as impressed with them as they are with themselves.”
Asrael gave them both a wry look. “We should fan out. Cover more ground.”
Gods, yes. I disliked Maura talking about mortal wishes right before I asked Fieran for a favor. I could never talk to him now within her circle of judgment.
Fieran nodded his assent with Asrael. The five of them moved quickly as they fanned out through the forest without needing to speak a word.
I could barely see Anayla and Dairen as they moved to flank us, cutting through the forest, and then they were lost to the darkness. A sudden flare of nerves brought every sense to life, making the forest feel alive around me. “Can you see them?”
“I know where they are,” Fieran assured me, which wasn’t exactly an answer.
Did they sense each other somehow? It seemed ridiculous that I knew so little about them.
“We could fly, but we might miss something. This way, we can search the terrain and communicate with each other more easily than in our…other form.”
“Should I…” I realized, two words in, that I had no intention of offering to leave his side, and my words trickled to a stop like a shut faucet. The thought of being all but alone in the woods was terrifying.
Fieran shook his head. “Since the dragons come from another realm, just like our monsters, our connection with them helps us sense the rips. The best place for you is by my side, where you can add your knowledge of local geography.” He flashed me a grin. “Lucky me.”
“Lucky you indeed,” I said, amused that he would even say such a thing. No boy in the village ever felt particularly lucky near me, and they were all a pale and insubstantial shadow of a male compared to Fieran.
I’d never been in the forest at night. It was so beautiful. As full darkness fell, night-blooming flowers began to unfurl. The air seemed to shimmer with their ethereal light, and the scent of greenery and of blooming flowers filled the air.
Fieran plucked a luminescent pink flower and passed it to me. “What were those stories?”
I took it and felt a throb of heat—and another of embarrassment—as our fingers brushed. I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do with it. “For one, people say there are plants in here that can grant wishes. As ridiculous as that seems.”
“I know that story too,” he said.
I could have sworn I felt eyes watching me. “And we tell the story that there are monsters in the woods.”
“Well that’s certainly true.”
I gave him a horrified look, though I wasn’t sure he could catch its full effect in the dim light.
“Monsters come through rips, then stay out of sight. Because they need a safe place to recover from an injury without being preyed upon in their own world, or because they need a safe place to nest, or because prey is easier to hunt.”
I didn’t realize I had edged closer to Fieran until my elbow bumped his. I moved away quickly, feeling a sudden rush of embarrassment.
“And, of course, there are the monsters that are native to your woods. Like the night leopards. But they wouldn’t attack.”
“How do you know that?”
Fieran’s hand fell on my shoulder, drawing me closer to him. “How much do you trust me, Cara?”
“Whatever a normal amount is, given that we met yesterday,” I lied.
I could feel him radiating amusement as he pulled me a little closer, wrapping his arms around me. The hard planes of his abs and chest pressed my back, his thick arm circling my waist. For a moment, I was overwhelmed by his nearness, his warmth, the faint scent of soap on his skin.
Then I realized he had me immobilized. Sudden fear spurted through my chest, my heart beginning to race even as I froze.
“Promise me you won’t move.” His jaw moved against my temple. His voice was calm, deep, soothing.
“I won’t.” I couldn’t. His arms were wrapped around me, holding me against his body, which felt as big and unyielding as a wall. But not very much like a wall at all, because I was acutely aware of his heat and of the proximity of his lips, visible in my peripheral vision as he leaned over me.
“Then follow my gaze. A little bit to our left, and then up.” I glanced up at his face, at the beautiful line of his jaw, his long straight nose, those nicely-shaped, lush lips.
His golden eyes studied something up and to our right, and I pulled my gaze away with effort to look where he was looking.
At first, I couldn’t see anything through the masses of greenery; the forest seemed to swallow the silvery moonlight that slanted in amidst the massive branches.
Then I saw glowing eyes, and I jolted in his arms.
He was holding me too tightly for me to really go anywhere.
I stayed still, my heart pounding as I slowly began to pick out details surrounding the eyes.
It was a big cat, its dark fur almost blending in perfectly.
It didn’t move as the moonlight changed, but as the trees shifted slightly in the breeze, and the patterns of shadow and light changed, so did its fur.
It was always invisible, always the perfect predator.
He spoke softly into my ear. “You don’t have to be afraid. It doesn’t want to attack us. And if it did…”
“If it did, you’ve got me anchored in front of you like a shield?” Even I couldn’t quite read my tone.
“Not quite.” Fieran’s voice was low and smooth and amused. Not insulted.
In one smooth move, he pushed me behind him.
His other hand caught his cloak and ripped it off his body, throwing it over me.
The heavy fabric settled over my head and shoulders, blocking my view just for a split second, before I realized that the cloak was transparent but heavy.
I could barely breathe. It was armored, perhaps.
He’d moved in front of me, putting himself between me and the night leopard between one blink of my eyes and another.
There was the sound of movement in the trees above. The leopard, running away.
He turned back to me, his sword still drawn. “You’re too petite to make a very useful shield.”
I scoffed, trying to pretend my hands weren’t shaking as I slid the cloak off my shoulders. It was so heavy. I tried to give his cloak back, holding it out to him.
“If you want to be out here with me, you should wear it.”
“I won’t move very quickly with it on,” I disagreed. “What is it, magic?’
“It’s a very useful cloak. And you don’t have to move quickly.” His eyes seemed to shine in the dark like the cat’s. His night vision was much sharper than mine, just as his hearing and other senses seemed to be sharper. “I’ll protect you.”
Those words sent warmth rushing through my chest. “You do make a habit of protecting mortals.”
“Well. I brought you into the forest. It’s only fair.”
It’s sweet that he was taking responsibility, because I basically forced myself on them. I hadn’t heard one person declare, “Oh, Cara, the dragon shifters desperately need your help.”
Fieran held his hand out to me. “Come on. We’ve fallen behind the others.”
I nodded and went along with him, but I didn’t take his hand. He smiled at me anyway, seemingly unoffended, and rested his hand lightly on the hilt of the long knife he wore at his belt.
We kept making our way through the forest. I felt a little awestruck by its beauty, and I thought about how if I weren’t alongside Fieran, I could have lived my entire life without seeing the night forest and its beauty.
The leopard sighting had reassured me that we had good reasons for staying out of the forest, but it also felt like a loss.
I tried to memorize everything I saw, knowing I would never come out to the forest again at night when I would have to come alone. I only had the chance to see this once, because of them.
Because of Fieran.
The thought made me feel a swell of gratitude.
He paused me with a hand on my shoulder.
I froze instantly, only my eyes moving, tracking back and forth and searching for the danger.
“It’s all right. It’s not something bad. I just saw something that I don’t—” His hands settled on my waist, drawing me with him. “If that’s what I think it is, I’ve only seen one once before.”
We moved through the softening of the darkness ahead of us, as if there were a lantern ahead of us. And then, as we neared it, I could see the shaft of light that stretched to the sky.