“If someone catches you, there’s no telling what they’ll do.” I search the street for signs of the guard. He’s out there somewhere.
“No one is going to catch me,” Ever says with a smirk and more confidence than anyone has a right to possess.
While I appreciate his bravado, he clearly doesn’t understand what’s happening on this side of The Divide. “There’s a guard at the gate and more patrolling the streets. We’re not allowed out of our homes after dusk because of a wolf.”
“Nonsense. No wolf has crossed The Divide.”
“Are you certain?”
A nod. “The forest has been silent, and there are no tracks anywhere near the bridge or the village. Either the wolves sprouted wings, or they have not returned.”
If the wolves aren’t what killed that poor goat, then what did?
My fingers tighten on the sill as I shift closer to where he perches. “Do you want to come in?”
His gaze darts to my darkened room before settling back on me. “I thought perhaps we would do something special tonight.”
“And what is that?”
“Come with me, and I will show you.”
Far be it from me to turn down such a generous offer. I grab my slippers from beneath my bed and then climb out the window behind him. My robe threatens to come untied as I scoot down the roof like an awkward toddler. Meanwhile, Ever saunters to the end of the thatch and leaps silently onto the ground.
If I tried that, I’d probably break my neck.
On my way down the trellis, my hose catches on the thorns, and they must cut me because I can feel wetness dripping down my leg. Isn’t that lovely? Hopefully the blood doesn’t ruin my shift.
Ever offers to help me, but I insist on doing it myself because I am a fool, and by the time my slippers meet solid ground, I have at least two splinters and my knee has been raked clean. Heaven only knows how in the world I’m going to get back up.
Instead of taking the main path into town, Everett leads me through the back field where the tall grasses sway like dancing phantoms. We don’t go left, to The Divide, but right, out of Rosehill. Ever holds my hand the entire time, and although it’s a small thing, my heart soars at his touch.
This is not over.
Is this the night he finally makes good on that promise?
Ever stops suddenly, his nose lifting into the air.
When I do the same, all I smell is grass and cow dung. “Is it a wolf?” Tell me it isn’t a bloomin’ wolf. Although, if I had to face a wolf with anyone by my side, I’m glad it’s Ever.
“I smell blood.” His head falls, eyes narrowed on me. “Are you bleeding?”
He can smell my blood? That’s disconcerting.
“It’s only a scratch.”
Letting my hand fall, he braces his fists on his hips, his expression far too grim for the current situation. “Let me see.”
“No.”
With a beleaguered sigh, his eyes trace my outline as if he can see through the fabric of my robe.
“Even the smallest wound can turn septic, Kerris. Show me so that I may heal you.”
A few weeks ago, his scowl would’ve cowed me, but now all I do is scowl back. “I don’t want to.”
His dark hair tumbles over his furrowed brow when his head tilts. “Why not?”
A lie is on the tip of my tongue, but I stop myself.
