Chapter 8 Sleep
SLEEP
My throat starts to ache long before I’m willing to admit it.
At first, I try to ignore it. I’ve gone longer without water in Sombra, but that’s only because there’s a running tap in every home to quench our thirst and fill our baths.
I have a fondness for javitz—or coffee in Human—which is also made with water.
Whenever I’m thirsty, I can have a drink… only not in Noctavara.
We pass streams. Thane off-handedly tells Binx that he’ll toss him in the next one if he thinks of biting him again, but just when I think I should give him a shove into the muddy stream, he offers me his hand to help me cross it.
He does not, however, give me the chance to stop and see if the water is drinkable.
Once I start thinking about how thirsty I am, I remember that I never had anything past the midday meal, either. The thirst is a bigger concern, but I’m going to need to eat soon, too. I don’t even realize how much it’s affecting me until my steps have slowed just enough for Thane to notice.
“You’re dragging,” he point out.
“I’m not,” I reply, the lie scraping my dry throat on the way out. Crud. My words are raspy, my throat pinchy enough that I wince.
His amber eyes flick down to my mouth, then back up again.
Without a word, Thane shoves back his cloak.
Earlier, I noticed the sheathe that holds his blade, but nothing else.
As his hand goes to his waist, I see that he has at least three bundles or satchels attached at his hip.
There’s something else, I notice, and I realize what it is when he pulls free a dark leather canteen, worn smooth from use.
He uncorks it, offering it to me. “You look like you need a sip.”
I hesitate.
Every story I’ve ever read about fae realms flickers through my mind at once. I don’t know whether they’re true or not, but apart from learning that the fae can’t tell a lie, I remember the warning that you should never eat or drink anything that comes from Faerie.
Faerie is the main realm for the fae. Other worlds, like Arcadia or Noctavara, branch off from it; they’re usually neighboring worlds, like how Brille Rouge and Soleil are so close to Sombra, even with a few differences between the types of demons.
I don’t know how many of their rules transfer here, but if I accept his canteen—if I take that sip—and I end up being bound to this world?
No, thanks.
I only hope that’s not the case. I’m not so thirsty that I’m willing to wager my freedom, but it’s only been a couple of hours. What if it takes a lot longer? Days? Moons?
I dart out my tongue, dabbing the corner of my mouth. “Depends. What is it?”
His eyes flicker in amusement. “If I had faerie wine, I wouldn’t be sharing it, if that’s what you mean. It’s water, demoness. Fresh spring water that I gathered this morning instead of risking a bellyache from the shadowed streams in the woods.”
“And it’s safe?”
A corner of his mouth lifts. “As safe as anything in Noctavara can be. Go on. Take what you need. I can always refill it later.”
He has a point. So, snorting despite myself, I take the canteen, careful not to let my fingers brush his any more than necessary.
The water is cool and clean, just like the water from home. I take one swallow, then another, greedier this time, until the ache in my throat eases and my shoulders finally loosen.
When I hand it back, he corks it again, then tucks it away.
I don’t feel any different; other than my thirst being quenched, that is. If I can trust the water, then maybe… I think of the bundles on his waist. “Do you have anything to eat? That’s safe for someone like me?”
“You’re right to be cautious,” he says. “Eating in Noctavara can be… tricky. Just don’t eat any faerie fruit, or accept anything from Queen Celeste, and you should be fine.
” Again, his slender fingers go to his waist. He grabs one of the bundles, giving it a jingle.
Something metal clanks together. “That would be my gold.” The next one makes no sound. “Ah. Here we go.”
Thane removes it from his belt, tossing it to me. The leatherskin pouch has a drawstring. I open it, Binx climbing down my arm so that he can stick his twitching nose inside.
“I borrowed it from a bandit cache. In case I can’t go hunting or haven’t bought fresh food from one of the traders on the main road, I always make sure I have something ready to eat. Dried meat. Cured cheeses. Salted roots. Things that don’t spoil. Have some. Binx, too.”
I already hear crunching as Binx finds something in the pouch that interests him.
Me? I’m more curious about what Thane just said. “What exactly is a bandit cache?”
Thane shakes his shoulders, letting his cloak fall back in place.
“I told you, Alana. There are plenty of creatures that haunt these woods. Some of them are like me. Bandits. We have a code. We help each other when we can. That’s the caches.
If you have extra meat you can’t carry, leave it behind.
If you need a new cloak, someone might have one for you. It’s how we all survive the woods.”
I want to ask him why they’d even want to. Trudging through the dark woods, avoiding any unseen beasts that might think that we’re a snack… there has to be more to Noctavara than that.
However, before I can ask—or because he can sense I’m about to—Thane pulls his hood up, covering his dark curls, his handsome face, the knowing look in his amber eyes.
“Eat up,” he says shortly. “We should probably find another cache to restock before the moon goes down.”
And, fledgling bond or not, I know instinctively that the matter is closed.
For now.
About an hour or so later, we stop near a cluster of roots that rise out of the ground like knuckles, thick and gnarled. The air here is colder. The bark of the trees is paler, almost luminous in the moonlight.
Thane lifts a hand, signaling me to stop.
I do, immediately. My sudden pause rouses Binx. The ungez was snuffling softly, wrapped around my neck, lulled to sleep during the last leg of our trek. Lifting his head, he makes a questioning sound.
I kind of want to do the same.
Thane scans the area once, then twice. Only when he seems satisfied does he step toward one of the trees, trailing his fingers over the trunk.
“This is far enough for tonight,” he announces.
Already?
“We’re stopping?” I ask. “Why? We’ve only been walking for—”
“Long enough,” he cuts in. “You’re not used to Noctavara.” He gestures over his head at what I assumed was the moon until he says, “The sun will be setting soon. Dark will follow. It won’t be safe to continue walking and, besides, you’re tired.”
“I’m not—”
“You are,” he says, “and so am I.”
I’m more surprised that he admitted it than that he’s grown tired at all. Still…
“I need to keep going,” I insist, softer this time. “Rafe—”
Thane’s gaze sharpens. “If you push until you collapse, you won’t survive long enough to find him. Immortal or not.”
The bluntness of his words hits like a slap, especially after Mom put ‘dying’ and ‘Noctavara’ in my head at the same time earlier today.
After a moment, I swallow the snappish retort I wanted to let out and, instead, I nod.
“Fine,” I manage. “We stop.”
Thane gives a small nod in return, like we just negotiated a treaty instead of the fact that we’re probably both too exhausted to argue anymore.
He steps away from the tree and gestures toward a patch of ground where the strange grass looks thicker. Softer.
I hesitate.
“Do you want me to lay out a blanket too, demoness?” he asks with a hint of a smirk.
I glare over at him. “I don’t know what you have,” I say, allowing myself to snap this time. “And I didn’t realize you meant we had to sleep outside.”
“What you see is what I have,” he says, gesturing at his belt. “I can gather more supplies in the morning, but this is everything.” He pauses. “Bandit, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember,” I mutter, shaking my head. “It’s fine. We’ll be fine. Right, Binx?”
Binx makes a soft sound of agreement, more for my sake than Thane’s.
I lower us carefully, skirts gathered in my hands so I don’t snag them on the roots.
The ground is damp, but not so cold that it cuts through the woven fabric made for me from the best seamstresses in Nuit.
Still, I can’t relax fully. My shadows curl closer to my boots, like they’re trying to shield me, while Binx hops down from my shoulder and circles once, twice, before curling up on my lap with his tail wrapped around his body.
His white eyes remain open, watching the dark.
Thane stands a few paces away, scanning the trees again, and I realize he hasn’t sat. He hasn’t even shifted his weight like he’s preparing to join us on the ground.
“You’re not going to get some sleep?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Thane glances at me. “You are.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
He pauses, then gestures upward.
It takes me a moment to see what he means. The branches above us are thick. High. Some of them stretch out like platforms, broad enough that someone could lie across them if they were…
If they were fae.
If they were used to this world.
“You’re sleeping up there,” I say flatly.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“So I can watch for danger,” he replies, like it’s obvious.
I scoff. “So you can run if you see something coming.”
His eyes narrow. “So I can kill it before it gets to you.”
My stomach goes tight, the bond strengthening just a little more at his honest words. He means it. If some kind of threat finds us in the shadows, he’ll protect me. He only just met me, but for reasons I can’t understand—and only hope are the same as mine—the fae is willing to keep me safe.
And that’s not all.
As I keep an eye on him, Thane shrugs out of his cloak. Before I can even guess what he’s about to do, he drops it in my lap, earning a squeak from Binx as it covers him.
His lips twitch, swallowing his grin. “Here. This should keep you warm.”
“Won’t you be cold?”
“Nah. I really only wear it so that I can skulk around the woods without anyone seeing me. I’ll take the high ground tonight. It’s better that you have the cloak ‘til morning.”
I don’t argue with him. Lifting it off of Binx, I run my fingers over the heavy fabric. “You know, they told me that Noctavare was home to fire demons.”
“We’re fae. A sect of the Seelie with an affinity for gold. But since we’re not supposed to leave, those who do—”
“Like the slavers?”
He nods. “They don’t bother concealing their golden skin with cloaks. All it takes is a little glamour to give them horns when they’re… hunting. And there you go. Fire demons. Here in Noctavara, we can be who we want to be.”
“Like a bandit?” I ask, spreading the cloak out on my lap. It holds Thane’s heat, carrying his scent with him. Something sharp and spicy and him.
Godsdamn it, but it smells amazing.
“That’s right, demoness,” he says before jerking his chin at me. “Comfortable?”
I ignore the return of the slight tease to his voice. “Yes.” I pause, my instincts suddenly screaming to say ‘thank you’, because my mother raised me with manners even if the duke’s laws can be weird and the fae’s rules are even weirder.
Thane’s expression sharpens, like he can see the words forming on my tongue.
“Don’t,” he says.
I snap my mouth shut.
Binx makes a sound that might be an ungez laugh. Considering I can sense his amusement skittering down our soulbond, that’s exactly what it is. Looks like he’s forgiven Thane for dropping the cloak on top of him.
Thane gives me a satisfied look before he moves.
One moment he was standing in front of me. The next, he’s stepping onto the roots, gripping the bark with hands that shouldn’t be able to cling to the smooth silver wood, and then he’s up, disappearing into the branches like he belongs there.
I stare upward, oddly nervous.
Thane settles on a thick branch above me, not directly overhead but close enough that if he moves, I’ll hear the shifting of the leaves.
His silhouette blends into darkness except for the faint gold glow of his skin, but it seems to dim compared to how strong it was hours ago.
Almost as though the shadows of the Shadowed Woods are swallowing him whole.
Amber eyes watch me from above.
“Sleep,” he calls down to me, tone shifting again, the command softer now. “Your friend needs you rested and alive.”
Rafe.
Where is he now? Is he safe? Have the slavers fed him or have they bound him?
Will I be able to take him from this realm when I find him?
Am I fooling myself that I am? I thought it would be as easy as walking into Noctavara, grabbing Rafe, and going home.
Nope. Now I’m leaning back against a tree with a fae bandit in it, my parents have no idea where I am—though, considering it’s Noctavara, that’s probably a good thing for Mom’s nerves—and I’ve never felt less immortal in my existence.
But Thane is right. I need sleep.
I close my eyes. My shadows curl closer, Binx already snuffling his snores as he snuggles against Thane’s cloak.
I try, but I don’t fall asleep immediately.
Whether it’s because I can sense Thane’s presence over my head or because my instincts are telling me to go to him, to curl up next to him, to tell him he’s my mate…
without the walking to distract me, all I can think of is what’s going on with Rafe and Thane, and I don’t know which one is worse.
Eventually, exhaustion and worry win, and I can only hope I’m not making a fatal mistake, trusting Thane Aurex.