He nodded.
Gently, she placed her palm on his brow. “Look at the big tough fae, finally needing my help.”
His lips quirked. “Funny.”
Orelia shrugged one shoulder and smirked. “I know.” She sat so close to him, occasionally catching whiffs of his intoxicating scent on the wind, trying to ignore how it always made her heart quicken.
When she moved her hand to his cheek, Vade closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.
Orelia sucked in a breath at the unexpected response.
Black eyes quickly found hers again, seeming a bit abashed.
Her light faded as the cut sealed, but she kept her hand on his cheek, uninterested in removing it. Orelia searched his eyes, finding she didn’t want to look away. He could be irritating and harsh, but sitting here now, he wasn’t the infamous Death’s Shadow. He was just someone who needed help, and for once, she could do something he couldn’t.
She found herself looking at his mouth, wondering what his lips tasted like. A daring woman would have gone for it, but Orelia had yet to find the courage. She wanted to be bolder, braver, but she couldn’t find it in her to make a move.
Vade watched her closely, and she swore there was a spark of desire in his eyes. Perhaps it was just the sunlight playing tricks on her.
Vade was the one to quickly put distance between them, leaving her sitting on the ground, feeling like a fool for thinking he might be interested in her. She rubbed her arm and tried to shrug off the embarrassment.
“Oh, shit,” Vade said.
The tone of his voice made her stay rooted to the ground. “What is it?”
He slowly turned, eyes focused on the forest, barely breathing. “We’re in the Greywood.”
twenty-three
Hundreds of pale birchtrees surrounded them. The interwoven canopy cast the space in sharp shadows she hadn’t noticed before, lending the appearance of dusk though it was still a few marks ‘til.
A notch on a nearby tree moved, and Orelia froze. She stared at the dark spot, realizing the black nobs weren’t notches, they were eyes. The single notch blinked, and she gasped.
Every birch in the immediate area was covered in dark, watchful eyes.
“What the fuck?” Vade mumbled, noticing them too.
“I guess it’s safe to say you’ve never been here before,” Orelia asked, her voice hiking up.
They both watched the forest as it watched them. She listened intently for sounds belonging to the vicious creatures said to occupy the forest, but only an eerie quiet greeted her. In fact, she didn’t hear anything at all. No insects. No birds. Nothing.
Her racing heart thumped in her ears. “Do you think that’s why the eagle left us alone? Maybe it didn’t want to come in here.” A strange chill slid over her skin.
“Maybe itcouldn’tcome in here,” Vade said. “What in the hells?” He looked at his seidr axe, but it was only the handle, nothing more than a thick stick, and the white light was nowhere to be seen. He shook his weapon like the double-headed blades would appear, frowning when they didn’t.
The sword she held onto was now only the hilt, also missing its blade and seidr light. Vade took the weapon from her, shock in his wide eyes. “Tredablo, this isn’t good. We need to get out of here. Now.”
Orelia checked the seidr dagger he’d lent her to find it missing its sharp teeth.
Vade sheathed both unresponsive weapons on his back, freed two steel knives from his belt, and set out in the direction they’d come from.
She palmed a different dagger and followed him, the two of them breaking out into a brisk jog. Thankfully, they hadn’t strayed too far into the forest, but the longer they ran without the birch trees turning back into palms, the more concerned she became.
The canopy seemed to close in, darkening the path, branches reaching for them. Thankfully, her stamina had increased, her breaths less rough as she wiped a line of sweat dripping down her temple.
Vade eventually slowed to a stop. “We should have made it out by now.” His forehead glistened, worried eyes meeting hers.
“Maybe we went the wrong way,” Orelia said, knowing it wasn’t true. They’d been jogging for minutes, far longer than it should have taken to retrace their steps. Something was wrong.
