With another glance at Adriel, I wait for Roman to reach me and then I fall in beside him while Malia and Taniya slip in behind me, followed by the wolves.
Koda brings up the rear and I cast frequent glances back at him. He remained silent during much of the confrontation with Jareth, but his declaration that the demon isn’t anything like our father tells me he’s hurting.
Hopefully when we restore Jareth’s soul, that pain will ease.
I remain conscious of our surroundings as we continue deeper into the forest. The shape of the trees begins to vary, not all of them like pine trees anymore.
Very soon, we turn onto a path that is lined thickly in bamboo, at the end of which we step into an oasis filled with every kind of tree I can imagine. Elms, oaks, beech, and jacaranda trees, some of them in bloom, and none of them with foliage that matches their colors on Earth. The jacarandas have pale-violet trunks with peach-colored flowers. The oaks have aqua trunks with soft pink leaves. Some drip with vines while others spread their branches across wide, mossy patches.
When we step beneath the shade, a weight lifts from my shoulders. A weight I didn’t know I was carrying until this moment.
The light of this world was wearing me down.
Not so for Malia, who reaches up to run her hand across the low-lying branch of a jacaranda tree. A cascade of bell-shaped peach-colored flowers releases at her touch, several floating into her hair.
With every step she takes, she seems more full of life.
“This place is perfection,” she says, drawing Adriel’s attention.
He reaches out to pluck a flower from her hair. His scowl indicates that he hasn’t forgotten the way she challenged him, but his expression slowly shifts until he seems more perplexed than anything else.
“I wish we had time to laze in the grass and watch the clouds through the branches,” Malia finishes.
Her awe of this world is a little contagious and I can’t help my smile as I glance up. The sky is more obscured here and because it’s not so bright, I can appreciate the shape of the clouds, which are the fluffiest white. The light breeze brings with it the scent of soil and greenery. Lavender and rose are the most prominent, and I can’t deny that the aroma is as calming as Malia’s power. This world reminds me of Earth—but an Earth untainted by pollution and chemicals.
My wolf’s senses were dulled by fatigue, but now she revives a little. As I continue, I find that the wild beauty of this place is reminiscent also of the Wilds itself, and I inhale the air even more deeply, sensing Roman doing the same. Nothing can compare to his home, but this grove is soothing to my frayed nerves.
Adriel takes a long look at Malia as he leads the way. “Given that you have such obvious respect for our world, it surprises me that you didn’t try to contact us before you attempted to enter uninvited.”
“Contact you? How would I do that?” she asks, lowering her gaze from the flowers to scowl at him as she walks.
“Your magic would lead the way,” Adriel says, as if it’s simple. “Your actions on the lake prove that your hybrid nature allows you to bond with the essence of Stella-Astrum and that your power can work within our environment.”
My sister opens and closes her mouth a few times, as if she doesn’t know how to reply. She glances back at me. She was the only one of us who could access her power at the lake, defying the angels’ defenses, but it must be as unclear to her as it is to me how she would have signaled our arrival ahead of time.
A wry expression settles onto her features as she says, “Even if I knew how to contact you in advance, you would not have let us in. It would have merely given you time to strengthen your defenses against our arrival.”
He shrugs. “Perhaps. Or possibly your power would have prevailed. With training, you could become even stronger in your use of light magic.” His voice is low and rumbly as he leads us through the trees. “There is much we could teach you here.”
Malia swallows roughly, her throat visibly moving. “I supposeyouwould be the one to teach me?”
The softer expression Adriel briefly wore vanishes. “Unlikely. I’m an archangel. I lead the warriors and have no time for teaching. Showing you to the library is the most I would manage.”
“Adriel is one of our most fearsome warriors.” Haldi pipes up from behind us, as if we should take note. She seems more relaxed the further we travel away from Jareth. She’s even stopped giving Koda dark looks. “We are lucky to have Adriel’s presence this day.”
“Very lucky,” Malia mutters.
Adriel’s lips twitch for a moment before he once again wears a stoic expression and continues without another word.
Despite the promise of a place to stay, I can’t forget that we are demons in an angels’ world. They seem prepared to tolerate our presence for a short time, but they are not our friends.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
The cabins that sit among the trees are a welcome sight. There are three, each set close enough that we’ll be situated within a quick walk of each other, but far enough apart that it won’t feel like the huts are on top of each other.
“Each cabin is similar inside,” Haldi says. “I will have food brought to you for each meal.”
She eyes my demon wolves cautiously. “Please be aware there are animals in this forest that may appeal to your wolves’ appetites, but they are not to be hunted. We do not kill here.”
