Around mid-morning, they came to a stream that bisected their path. They stopped at it to rest for a while and refill their waterskins. Ena had taken up residence against a fallen tree while she snacked on a pawpy fruit that Gaia had granted her. The season for pawpy fruits was still in full swing since the oval-shaped yellow fruits didn’t fully ripen until around Samhain. The trees were rare, though, and only grew sparsely on the banks of creeks and streams, so she was blessed to have found one, because their fruit were absolutely delicious. The creamy-textured pulp inside was sweet and floral with an ever-so-slightly rancid undertone. They were definitely an acquired taste, but they were highly nutritious. Not to mention, their branches were extremely pliant and were excellent for making animal traps. She wondered idly if she would be able to convinceTy to cut some with his axe and bring them to use at their campsite tonight.
Ena had been so lost in the deliciousness of her foraged fruit that she had barely taken note of what Ty was doing. Standing up to rinse her sticky hands and face in the water, she noticed that he was staring at the stream in a calculating fashion. He walked up and down the bank a few times in either direction, like he was looking for something. Eventually, he came back, a look of decision on his face.
“We’re going to ford the stream up here,” he announced, pointing just around the bend where she couldn’t see. “Crossing it is the quickest way to get where we’re going. There’s some stepping stones and downed logs that should make a fairly easy way across.”
Ena stared at the stream in horror. It wasn’t as big as the River Wry, but it was certainly no babbling brook. It looked quite deep in places and was flowing pretty fast. Did he not remember that she couldn’t swim? What if she fell in? For fuck’s sake, she’d had more than enough of almost drowning, not to mention being sopping wet and cold.
Ty seemed to understand her train of thought. “You’ll be fine, I pro—” He cut himself off suddenly, realizing what he’d been about to say. “I mean, you’ll make it. It’s not that bad,” he ended gruffly. At least he had the presence of mind to not use the “P” word with her anymore. She’d be out of her mind to trust any promise he made ever again.
Ena followed him huffily to the spot he had selected. There were, indeed, a few well-placed stones scattered throughout this section of the stream that would allow them to get halfway across, leading to a downed log that they could use to cross the rest of it.
Ena stared at it cautiously before turning to Ty. “You first,” she said, with a saccharine smile.
Ty gave her a bland look before using his long strides to gracefully step from one stone to another, then, making a small leap, he landed on the downed log before balancing across it to the bank on the other side. He made it look way too easy.
Ty stared at her haughtily from across the stream, his arms crossed, and an impatient look on his face. She recognized this for what it was—another challenge, just like when he’d pushed her to climb the cliff.Are you as brave as me?he seemed to say.Are you going to let me win?He knew she really fucking hated to lose, and she’d never back down from his challenge.
Steeling her courage, she began to cautiously walk on the stones, following the path Ty had taken. They were slipperier than they looked, and she had to use all her concentration to focus on keeping her balance as she stepped from one to the next. She was beginning to feel fairly proud of herself, until she came to the leap that was required to get her onto the downed log. She was significantly shorter than Ty, and therefore the distance would be that much harder for her. She paused on the last stepping stone, the water rushing around her. She looked cautiously up at Ty, who stared back at her, seemingly unconcerned. Fuck it. There was no going back now, she thought.
She launched herself off the stone, stretching her leg as far out in front of her as possible, reaching, reaching for the log. Her foot made it! But just barely, and the log was slippery too. As her full weight landed on the log, she began to lose her balance. She felt her foot lose purchase on the wet bark and her body started to careen towards the water.
Then, something gripped her arm, stopping her fall. Looking up, she saw Ty balancing on the log in front of her, his hand wrapped tightly around her upper arm. Ena reached towards him to steady herself, gripping his shoulder before getting both feet once again on the log and regaining her balance. She staredup at him in surprise. She knew daemons were fast, but Gaia, he had gotten to her in seconds. They both breathed a little heavily as they stared at one another for a second too long.
“Thanks,” Ena breathed. He was entirely too close for comfort. Her body hummed in his presence.
Ty released her arms, but didn’t move away. “Don’t mention it, little viper,” he said, continuing to stare down at her. “Besides, I didn’t want to have to stop and make a fire to dry out your soggy ass again.”
Ena scoffed at him as he finally turned away from her to walk back across the log to the other side. “Don’t call me that,” she said, scowling as she, too, balanced her way across the rest of the log until her feet blessedly landed on the bank.
“What? ‘Little viper,’ you mean?” he asked innocently.
“Yes,” she snapped.
“Why not? It suits you.” The bastard was clearly enjoying this. His wide smile took over his face, in stark contrast to the mean, impassive look he’d been wearing the last week.
Gaia, this man was confusing. One minute, he hated her and treated her like the bird shit on his shoe, and the next, he was cuddling her in his sleep, saving her from a watery fate, and teasing her. Ena did not know what to make of it all, and it annoyed the fuck out of her.
“Because it’s extremely condescending. I’m not ‘little.’ I’m a grown-ass woman.”
Ty made a show of glancing down appreciatively at her rear end. “Okay, fair point,” he replied.
Ena stared at him incredulously, her mouth hanging open. She could notbelievehe’d just done that.
Seeing her face, Ty burst out laughing.
It was the first time she’d heard him laugh like that since…well, since the last time they’d been together. The sound of it transported her right back to when she was seventeen. Ty hadone of those extremely infectious laughs, and the sound of it, coupled with the light it brought to his eyes, and the way his face transformed from attractive to devastatingly handsome when he smiled, tugged at her heart for a second.
She hurriedly looked away, as if blinded by the sun, and had to remind herself where she was. Who he was. She was not seventeen anymore. And maybe she could admit that he was still very good-looking, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Not anymore. Not after everything.
“My apologies,” Ty said, his laughter dying down. “You set me up so perfectly for that joke I couldn’t help myself.” After a beat, he added, more seriously now, “And I don’t think calling you ‘little viper’ is condescending. Vipers are extremely dangerous, even the little ones,” he said, winking at her.
Ena just rolled her eyes at him and kept walking.
***
The mood between them was significantly lighter after that. By the late afternoon, they began to head due west, and found themselves walking directly into an amazingly beautiful sunset. The forest was bathed in an otherworldly golden glow. Ena tried not to notice, but the light did beautiful things to Ty’s face. The red in his beard shone with a warmth she hadn’t noticed before, and his eyes, as always, seemed to reflect the extra light around him, making them even more piercing. The altered light played across the side of his shaved head, making his tattoos appear darker against his skin.
They were so intricate; she’d never seen them this well before. Whirls and dots of ink formed swirling, circular patterns that bled into one another, running across the sides of his skull before wrapping around the back and dipping down onto his neck. They seemed to progress from one to another, as if tellinga story, and she remembered the way they’d continued down his shoulders and arms when she saw him with his shirt off.
