If he wasn’t sure before, this convinced him he had indeed saved a stupid human. She went in after he warned her. It wasn’t his responsibility to see to her survival. But again, he couldn’t make himself leave.
Was it because she willingly trusted him? Or because he knew she would be killed if he didn’t go after her?
Cassiel groaned in frustration. Damn the fates, and damn him for being the fool.
He flew across the chasm and landed by the boundary of the cliff. His knowledge of Lykos Peak made him hesitate. He had to retrieve her beforetheytook notice.
Cassiel rushed through the trees and bumped into Dyna. Her startled shriek rang in his ears.
“Quiet!” he hissed.
A shaky smile rose her lips. “You came.”
“Against my better judgment, which you apparently lack.” He held out an arm to keep her from going any further while he observed their shadowed surroundings. They stood in a dark glade enclosed in thick foliage. Sweat sprouted on the nape of his neck, and his heart raced with the receding light. “We must go. This territory belongs to the were-beasts.”
“Were-beasts?”
“Yes, also called shapeshifters, wolf-men, or whatever you know them as from where you’re from.”
She frowned. “We call them werewolves.”
“Then you know what they are.” So as not to touch Dyna directly, Cassiel grabbed her hood and pulled her back the way they came.
“I’m not leaving.” She slipped out of her cloak.
“Bloody hell, I should have let you fall over the cursed cliff.” He pitched the cloak on the ground.
She huffed. “I cannot leave without Zev!”
“Be quiet or you will draw the beasts right to us,” he snapped. What was so important to risk her life to find this cousin? If he came here, he was surely dead. “Night is falling and I do not have a weapon.”
He gripped the flute, remembering it was made of silver. It would do some damage to a were-beast—in close range. No, he would not risk that.
“We are leaving.”
Dyna stood firm and crossed her arms. “I need to find my cousin.”
Cassiel was finished with this nonsense. “Listen, stupid human, either you come with me or I’ll leave you here alone.”
Her eyes stretched wide and her complexion paled, her breathing growing quick and heavy. “Please don’t leave me in this dark place,” she begged. “You don’t understand. I must find him.”
A brisk breeze caressed the beads of perspiration on his nape and continued east. Dread sank in Cassiel’s stomach. That wind carried their scent.
The trees were so still Dyna’s hitched breathing sounded loud in the quiet. There was no mistaking the threat creeping into the chilly air as the last of the light washed out with night’s arrival. Thin shafts of moonlight trickled through the branches, and in the far reaches of the woods, a howl broke the deafening silence.
Cassiel snatched Dyna’s sleeve and hauled her away.
“My cloak!”
“Leave it.”
“No!”
“We can’t stop—” A low, menacing growl halted him in place. A chill skittered down Cassiel’s spine. Slowly, he inched his head and glanced over his shoulder.
There, from within the depths of the bushes, were two yellow eyes watching them in the dark.
Chapter 6
