He looked at me. “You’re different. And if that’s what you want, I’d do it with you. I’d follow you anywhere, Odessa.”
I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”
He let me lean on him. As I did, I felt the quiet swell of his heart, and with it, the familiar pang of guilt. The weight of how much unconditional space it held for me was still hard to carry. Those lingering doubts, the whispers of not being enough, hadn’t left me yet. I wasn’t sure they ever would.
“I want to see Brier Len again,” I confessed. “It’s been years. One day I was there, and then I was just gone. I miss it.”
“Then we’ll go,” Raithe said. “Just say the word.”
“I will.”
We sat there for a while, just letting the stillness hold us. I could’ve stayed like that, watching the sunlight dance across the surface of the water, letting the moment stretch on forever.
But it didn’t last.
I felt the shift in Raithe before I saw it. His body tensed beneath me, his breath caught, and then he was sitting upright, alert, scanning the trees behind us. He rose quickly, his eyes dark. That’s when I felt it too.
A presence. Power, both familiar and unfamiliar, like something half-remembered. It brushed against me like a word on the tip of my tongue I couldn’t quite name, or a scent I’d known once but couldn’t place. It stirred something instinctual, something old.
Raithe reached out, his hand tight with urgency. “We have to go, Odessa. Now.”
I stared up at him, confused, but took his hand anyway. “What’s going on?”
He didn’t answer. Just pulled me to my feet and turned us sharply away, leading us quickly through the trees. His face stayed composed, but I could feel the panic simmering beneath it, ready to snap.
We were walking, then practically running.
My heart was pounding, and nothing made sense. What could shake him like this?
I yanked against his grip, trying to slow us down. “Raithe, what is it? What are we running from?”
Still, Raithe said nothing. He just kept pushing forward, and I could feel his emotions boiling beneath the surface. He was furious. Outraged, even. The anger simmered in his blood, but he kept his face calm.
Something was wrong. The forest around us was changing.
The faster we ran, the stranger everything became. The forest seemed to stretch out around us, paths looping back on themselves. It felt endless, as if the woods were resisting us, twisting to keep us trapped. I could feel Raithe’s fury start to shift, turning into frustration. He knew what was happening. I could sense it in him.
So why wasn’t he telling me?
Then the air turned thick, almost like smoke. It clung to my skin,hung heavy on my chest. It weighed me down, made it harder to breathe, harder to move. Every step was more difficult than the last. It felt like sinking into the earth. My legs turned to lead and I couldn’t keep up.
Raithe noticed. He turned back, alarm flickering in his eyes. “Odessa, I know it feels heavy, but you have to keep moving. We have to keep going.”
I tried. Gods, I tried. But exhaustion was wrapping around me, pulling me under. My breath came short, and a pressure began to build in my mind, compressing my thoughts like a vice.
“I—I can’t,” I said, wincing. “Something’s wrong, Raithe.”
Raithe cursed and pulled at me again, but I wouldn’t budge. My legs were locked in place, my body heavy as stone. My thoughts felt thick and slow, like I was trapped inside a fog I couldn’t think through. I didn’t know what was happening, only that I’d never felt anything like this.
I stumbled to my knees and collapsed onto the forest floor. Almost immediately, roots began winding around my ankles, snaking up toward my thighs. Raithe’s frustration shifted to full-blown panic. He dropped to the floor, gathering me into his arms, trying desperately to lift me, but the roots held tight. He couldn’t break their grip.
Then he cupped my face in his hands, his golden eyes locked onto mine. “Odessa, you need to listen to me.”
My vision was still hazy, but he gave me a shake, just enough to snap my focus. My eyes widened, settling on his.
“I thought I’d have more time to prepare you,” he added quickly. “But there are many things about Torhiel you have yet to learn. You have to stay focused now. Find whatever strength you have left.”
He hesitated for just a moment. “Remember when I told you there are more of us? More demigods? Well, one is coming. He’s old. He’s powerful. And he’s dangerous.”
