ChapterNine
Mirren
As it turns out, I’m not much faster on the road than I was in the woods. Much of the pavement has crumbled, giving way to the tendrils of nature that have forced their way through. As if the woods themselves are determined to overtake all signs of civilization, ancient and cunning as they are.
I spend the better part of the afternoon jumping over large plants that have sprouted through the cracks and skirting my way around gaping potholes where the pavement has buckled completely.
To my infernal irritation, Shaw moves with the same lithe grace he had in the forest, though his mood has soured considerably. He no longer teases me with that arrogant smile dripping across his lips and as the day wears on, doesn’t deign to speak at all.
In fact, he’s hardly looked at me since we started on the road, his eyes moving everywherebutme. His gaze is restless, and his body is coiled tightly as a spring. It’s unnerving, how he constantly seems poised for an attack, as if at any moment someone will jump from the trees and accost him.
I can only hope.
No matter how I slow my pace, Shaw matches it, never allowing me to fall behind him. I don’t mistake it for an act of kindness; he doesn’t trust me at his back. I may have overplayed my hand by pressing into the one weakness I saw, but I don’t regret it, not when I realized Shaw’s avoidance of the road was an avoidance ofpeople.People I can possibly convince to help me escape his grasp.
Shaw halts suddenly. His fingertips press into my skin like a hot brand, gripping my upper arm and pulling me still. His whips his head behind us, his eyes narrowing on the empty road.
I open my mouth, but before I can find words, he hauls me by the arm and pulls me roughly to the side. “What are you—"
“Hurry,” he hisses, before shoving me unceremoniously into a small ravine that borders the road. I awkwardly tumble forward into a prickly set of wildflower bushes. The branches pull at my hair and sting my cheeks as I scramble to get my feet beneath me. Before I can even protest, Shaw jumps into the ravine after me.
“Are you mad?!” I seethe, but he presses a finger to my lips. A warning. The unexpected touch shocks me into silence.
He shimmies closer, pressing his body against mine until the bushes hide us both from the view of the road. My heart beats wildly against my chest, and for an absurd moment, I wonder if Shaw can feel it. I’ve never been so close to another person, unless you count our first meeting, when he tackled me to the ground, which I do not. We’re close enough the warmth of him radiates through layers of clothes, as if he burns twice as hot as a normal person. Or maybe it’s my own skin that feels like fire? Like I am branded with the touch of him.
This close, the scent of peppermint and woodsmoke is much stronger than the lingering hints on the cloak I wore last night, but it’s the other scent that swirls around me now, the one I wasn’t able to place. It is subtle and pleasant and its—itshim.How strange for a person to possess a scent unique only to themselves. Perhaps everyone has one and I never realized, having never stepped into their personal space.
I shake my head, clearing away thoughts of Shaw and what he smells like. It doesn’t matter if he smells like fresh baked pastries, he’s a morally corrupt fiend who’s abducted me. And he just pushed me into a ravine without so much as a barked warning.
Still, there is something about what flickers in his eyes that keeps me quiet. Something likefear.And if there is something that makes this fearless Dark Worlder hesitate, maybe I should hesitate as well.
Moments drag on, and still, Shaw remains crouched behind me. The planes of his chest press against my back, hard and unrelenting. He’s unnaturally still, his breathing tempered, even as I shift and fidget in front of him. My joints ache fiercely, and I am just about to damn the consequences of his wrath and jump back onto the road when I hear it.
Thunder.
As the minutes pass, the roiling growl of a storm severs into individual beats, as varied and powerful as the rhythm of a drum. “What is that?” I mouth at Shaw.
He gazes fiercely in the direction we were headed only moments earlier. “Something spawned in the Darkness,” he answers, a grave whisper so soft it is more of a susurrus against my ear than a sound.
The sound moves closer, the pavement vibrating with each beat. It isn’t thunder or drumbeats. It’s the fall of footsteps.Hundredsof them.
My breath catches. People are coming. Hundreds of people I can lose myself within.
They appear over the small incline of the road, men and women clad in khaki uniforms much like my own. Thick soled boots lace up their calves and large guns are tucked under their armpits, moving in time with the sway of their synchronous bodies.
They aren’t just people. They’re soldiers.
I’ve never heard of a Dark World army, or anything that would denote any semblance of order. But here they are, plain as day and marching toward me.
I hazard a glance at Shaw who hasn’t moved a muscle. He doesn’t look anything like the casual, arrogant man I’ve come to hate. Any trace of bravado has given way to an abject wariness. His lips, too lush to be fully masculine, are set in a tight line and that muscle feathers in his jaw. The Dark Worlder who is not afraid of anything dreads whoever is in that army.
And if Shaw doesn’t wish to be seen by them, I do. I know from his predatory stillness and the shortened temper of his breath that if I can get to that army, he won’t follow. It isn’t just hesitation that lines his body. It’s fear.
Because an army means order and what could possibly be more directly in contrast to the wild cacophony that is Shaw’s barely controlled chaos? Whether he’s afraid of punishment for one of his numerous crimes or of being drafted into the army itself, I have no idea. It hardly matters. Whatever it is that keeps him leashed, that mutes his burning flames, I have to bet on.
I slowly let out a breath as the front of the army passes. These soldiers are shabbier than those who come after them, denoting some sort of rank. I’ve no intention of rousing the leaders and potentially being taken once more, so I need to move when the middle marches by. Slip into the crowd and disappear as fast as I can. Hide myself away until Shaw gives up.
The massive cloud of noise shakes the ravine. My shoulders tighten, readying for the right moment.
