I needed to worry more about myself. “So…you want to go home? Then why chain me like a dog?”
“Because if I don’t, someone else will. There’s a spring up ahead,” he said, brushing dirt from his palms. “You could scrub the muck off. If you like.”
My eyes narrowed. “Alone?”
“Of course not.”
Gods, I wanted to get clean, but not with him watching.
My cheeks flushed. “Only if you turn around.”
He smiled—cold but amused. “Fine.”
“Fine,” I echoed. “Untie me.”
He hesitated, then unwound the vine from my wrists. His thumb traced the deep marks it made on my skin. Red light flashed, and thelines vanished.
I didn’t thank him.
I just prayed he wouldn’t follow me into the spring.
“We’re almost there. Keep close.”
Kairos had stayed within elbow’s reach during the walk, but now he seemed alert.
A glowing creature perched on his shoulder, balancing on the leather strap of his sword harness.
“What is that?” I blurted.
“Sprite.”
“Children of light.” I gasped, reaching out to its purple body. “Are they dangerous?”
The sprite tilted its miniature head at me.
He gently nudged it off and it drifted away, joining the others. “Not unless you disturb their hives. Then they’ll swarm you with bites.”
Another zipped by. It circled me, then darted off, leaving a faint pink trail in the mist. The tiny creatures danced around us.
“Are you worried about other animals?”
“There are worse things in these woods.” Kairos stepped over a creek. “Wraiths. Spirits. Runes that make you forget where you are.”
“Traps? Or defenses?”
“Both. If we’re separated, get off the ground. Some trees are old enough to repel runes. Dryads might help.”
“How do you know that?”
He shrugged. “Experience.”
He moved like someone who’d fought his whole life—graceful, brutal, always half a breath from violence. Maybe he was a mercenary. Fae like him passed through Skalgardsometimes. They traded their services for armor, weapons, and whatever provisions they needed. Or they bartered in flesh.
Kairos stopped, and I bumped into him.
The forest had quieted. No bird calls, nothing. I inhaled, straining to hear what made him freeze. His hand drifted to his sword hilt, and I followed his gaze to the trees.
Just darkness and?—
