“They’re too scared to pity me,” he growled. “You might take a hint.”
“What’s the fun in that?” I said, repeating him from earlier.
When he didn’t start walking, I sighed.
“Nowyou can go,” I said.
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to walk away and leave you room to run for it.”
My nails dug into him. His dark chuckle said he’d meant to affect me.
Finally he started walking, going just as slow as before. I stepped gingerly, my eyes scanning, ready to fall to the side if my foot caught rather than fall against him. I didn’t want any more bodily contact than was absolutely necessary.
“What about that?” he said, stopping.
“What?”
“That!”
I scanned first one side for a glow, and then the other. “I can’t see where you’re pointing.” I turned to look behind just in case. “I don’t see any...”
My words drifted away as I noticed the emberflies begin to move. They started slowly, as though a heavy breeze were blowing them right. And then they picked up speed, getting out of the area, scattering every way but one. The way danger was obviously coming.
The events of the night before flashed through my mind. The emberflies scattering, the presence, the hallucination.
I dropped my hand from Alexander and took a step back. I could not imagine how I might’ve accidentally dosed myself, but just in case, I didn’t want any touching. I wasn’t sure what would be worse: danger finding me or sharing one of those hallucinations with Alexander.
“See it—“ He cut off as a wolf howled in the distance. I heard the soles of his shoes scrape against the ground. He swore softly. “Run. Hide! Don’t go home. Find a secure place and wait until I come for you.”
“Wh-what?” I said stupidly. What sort of danger would keep me from going back to my cottage, something dangerous enough that even Alexander was afraid of it?
Something rustled, like fabric being stripped.
“What do you see?” I whispered urgently, alarm rising within me.
The emberflies cleared away and hands grabbed my arms. Foul breath washed across my face.
“Go,you stupid bitch. What are you waiting for?” He shoved me.
Not expecting it, my feet tangled in the vegetation underfoot, sending me to my hands and knees.
“Idiot,” I heard before a sort ofwhoosh. Footsteps on a smaller scale pattered across the ground. He’d shifted into his wolf form and was hurrying away.
“Don’t leave me!Wait,” I hissed, reaching around to grab the lantern from my pack.
I found it quickly and didn’t waste any time in setting it to glow, getting up while I did so. Seen easily for a decent distance through the trees, it would act like a beacon. Without it, though, I was a sitting duck. I couldn’t even hurry to get away, especially since I’d lost the thread of what direction we’d been heading.
The indigo glow highlighted the area around me. My breath was loud in the sudden stillness.
Hide? Where the hell was I supposed to go? Any shifter or forest beast would be able to smell me if I stayed outside. If I couldn’t go home, I doubted I could go to the work shed. No one in this village would take me in, especially if danger followed.
There was only one place I could think of. Only one safe space I knew.
I took off at a jog, light held low, focused on the ground. I’d be damned if I would fall this time. My ankle had been miraculously healed the night before—the issue likely (hopefully) conjured by my mind in the first place—but I would not let it happen this time.
Trees seemed to ghost by me in the darkness. My breath came in fast pants. A few bushes caught my eye in certainconfigurations that looked familiar. Ferns were interspersed within the plants, and I recognized a bush with purple flowers.
Left! The path to Granny’s was left.
