Arnoc growled just as Joel jerked against me. Joel screamed. “No! Don’t. Please. They’ll never find me again.”
“I’ll keep you safe, mate.”
“Okay, but I need to stay with my family. Please.”
“I’m your mate.”
“We’re staying with Grym and Miles. That’s final.” Joel’s tone suggested Arnoc had better not argue with him.
“I’ll see that we do.”
“Good dog.”
Arnoc growled. “I am not a dog, but I like the praise.”
“Fine. Good Arnoc.”
“That’s better. Those are gods, Reaper. Only they glow in the dark.”
Miles chuckled. It came out a little hysterical. “A glow-in-the-dark god.”
That made Joel chuckle, too, but his chuckle sounded watery.
“My mate has a musical laugh.” Arnoc seemed to like it when Joel was happy, which gave me a bit of hope, too.
“We are all very close together. I would like it to be just my mate, please.”
“Good Arnoc for asking.” Joel moved to my side. He still had a death grip on my arm.
“My friends call me Arnie. You may call me Arnie if you’d like.”
“Do you think that’s the god who put us here?” Joel asked.
“Donnie Death,” Miles whispered.
“He’d send my hellhound brothers before searching for you himself.”
It was then that I heard the most beautiful sound. Elliot called my name.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Elliot
The path wound through the forest. Aengus’s and Cael’s glow only extended so far. Cael stayed vigilant, but nothing bothered them. If there were animals around, they remained hidden in the dark. We walked along a trail with small pebbles beneath our feet.
I felt Grym as soon as we arrived. His presence grew stronger the farther down the trail we went. I didn’t realize he wasn’t there until we’d entered this realm and he was there again. It brought tears to my eyes. We were getting closer.
When Cael started yelling Grym’s name, I did, too. Cael pulled away, searching a few feet away. With his own light source, he could do that, and looking in a different area of the realm was a good idea. They’d cover more ground that way.
Then the forest shifted, coming to life. It was as if the trees uprooted themselves and began walking.
One tree came straight toward us. I grabbed Aengus and pulled him out of the way.
The noise was deafening. It turned out that trees being ripped from the ground made an actual ripping sound. There was also asqueaking, as though branches were rubbing against each other in the wind, but it wasn’t just one. It was a symphony of them.
I covered my ears.
“What’s happening?” I tried to yell as loudly as I could, but Aengus just shook his head.
