No shit, Emerald Falls . . .
If I made it through the next hour without strangling him, it’d be a miracle.
“Cool. Swim lessons!” My arms flung wide, voice dripping sarcasm as I theatrically snapped my fingers. “Ooooo, shucks! I forgot my bathing suit! Maybe I’ll just head back to grab—” I spun on my heel, but his hand clamped down on my shoulder. He turned me back toward him in one smooth motion.
“There’s a series of caves under the falls,” he said, gazefixed on the misty cascade ahead. “That’swhere we’re going. For today’s training, you won’t need your eyes to see. Just your Soulsayer ability.”
The temperature around us plummeted, like a clammy, cold hand pressed against the back of my neck. My arms tensed before I could stop them, and a shiver slithered down my spine.
Emerald falls were, no doubt, absolutely stunning. The kind of breathtaking that’d be captured in some glamorous travel guide listed as a hotspot for quick dips and drunken fairy fun. But not cave exploring.
I swam here twice before with Aine and Breena. They’d shared childhood tales about the Emerald Caves, cursed tunnels that could suck you in whole, like falling down a bottomless well. The same caves said to house a Gorta beast who’d feast on the naughty, dragging them back to its bed of monstrous Hungry Grass, which would pluck out your entrails like toothpicks spearing appetizers. They’d laughed it off as a spooky children’s tale or a campfire ghost story, but I definitely had nightmares about it all week.
“Umm, maybe we could play hide-and-seek in the woods and skip the whole creepy caves . . .” I scrunched my face warily, already regretting every life decision that led me to stand here.
“It’ll help you?—”
Another voice, unfamiliar and horse, called out from the trees. “Ya ought to run along home.”
I turned to see a slender, elderly man standing near the path we’d just come from. His head was bald, skin pale and stretched over sharp cheekbones. A long, weathered white tunic hung off his frame like a curtain on a wood post. It looked as though he’d stepped right out from the forest—or perhaps never left it. From the state of him, I wouldn’t have beensurprised if hedidlive out there. Starved, protruding bones pressed against the fabric he wore.
I hadn’t heard him approach. And judging by the look on Pogue’s face, neither had he.
“It’ll be moonrise soon,” the man rasped, voice dry as petrified wood. “There’ll be creatures about.” His clouded eyes shifted between us, as if weighing something only he could see.
“Thank you,” I replied, then offered a friendly smile. “We won’t be long.”
Pogue was a statue at my side, staring at the man like he was seriously contemplating throwing him into the waters just to shut him up.
The man slowly licked his chaffed lips. “Say—ya wouldn’t have any food to spare, would ya?” he asked.
“If you want to beg,” Pogue condescended, “find a tin cup and a street corner in the city. Mind your business. Go waste your breath elsewhere.”
I nearly tore a muscle whipping my head around, my eyes wide with shock.
What in the actualhellwas wrong with him! How could he be so callous? So disgustingly rude!
The old man’s head dropped. With slow, dragging steps, his bare, dirt-blackened feet scuffed the path as he turned away.
My heart tightened.
“Wait!” I shouted, already jogging up the trail to him.
I swiftly plucked off my simple, gold-studded earrings. Stepping forward, I grabbed the man’s worn hand and placed them in his palm.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t have any food with me, but hopefully this will help you buy some.” My mouth pulled in apologetically, trying to soften the ache I saw in his hollow eyes. “Pleaseignore my friend’s horrible behavior. He’s—he’stemperamental.” My eyes cut Pogue down, firm and reprimanding.
The man’s bony fingers closed around the earrings. Muddled eyes rose to meet mine.
“Many thanks,” he breathed. With a bow of his head, he glanced at Pogue. The tone of his voice dropped lower. “Perhaps something is eating away at his soul . . .” He paused. “Or will be . . .”
Something eerie swept over his face as his gaze flicked to the waterfalls—to the cave laying beneath.
Then the expression was gone.
I blinked.
What the hell was that?
