“This wasn’t exactly what I meant with fighting,” he drawled.
“I’m not the one doing this,” I said.
“I didn’t say you were.” His head went from side to side. “Now get me out.”
The bond roiled when I hesitated.
I pursed my lips. He didn’t like me pretending to debate whether to help him. Probably because he could feel there was a small part of me that actually did.
“Do I need to remind you that if I die, so do you,heir?”
“No,” I replied. “It’s the only reason I haven’t killed you yet.”
“Liar.” His laugh was cut short when the bars tightened, folding in closer around him.
“No,” Darcke barked as if the tree towering above us would listen. “Get the fuck off me.”
Horror slithered along my skin when smaller roots came up from the ground, winding up Darcke’s legs and torso until he was held firmly in place, unable to move even an inch.
If he could have killed me with his glare, he would have. “This is your fucking fault.”
“How is it my fault?” I asked as I tried to approach him.
A branch snapped down, and I yelped when it slashed across my cheek.
Fuck, that hurt.
Looking up, I tried again. More branches came down, and each one whipped at me, leaving red marks across my hands andarms as I used them to protect my face. Our mare neighed, her feet stomping against the ground. Thankfully, we’d tied her far enough away that the branches aiming for me weren’t a danger for her.
“If not for you, I wouldn’t have been in here,” Darcke growled. “And I would have had my fucking axe so I could chop this asshole into firewood.”
The tree roared, and the ground shook so violently I threw my arms out not to fall over.
“Maybe don’t threaten the forest when they have you captured?” I snarled.
“Get. Me. Out,” Darcke growled. “Or I swear…”
I was going to tease him until I felt a tiny seed of something glacial build in my chest.
“Are you worried?” I asked as I ducked for another branch coming for me.
“Of course I’m fucking worried,” Darcke hissed as the roots twisted farther up, capturing his arms and folding them tight against his body. “This tree is about to either bury me alive or rip me apart, and you’re not doing anything about it!”
“I’m trying!” I had to roll to escape another branch coming down.
“No, you’re not!” The cage crept closer to Darcke, the bars weaving over his head. “Why is it getting smaller?” He tilted his head up. “What the fuck do you want from me?”
Another roar split the night. Then the wind picked up, howling through the forest and blowing leaves and dust into my face until I had to shield my eyes from it.
“Use your fucking magic,” Darcke growled. “Rip it apart!”
More gusts whirled, racing between the roots and branches until dust layered everywhere, the air so full of pine needles and leaves that it was becoming hard to make out Darcke and the cage that squeezed around him.
“There must be another way.” I tried to swallow the panic, but it continued to claw up my throat until it clogged.
“I know you’re pissed.” The roots wove up Darcke’s neck, and I could feel them taunting him—closing in so that he struggled to draw breaths. “But Ihadyour back. I was protecting you! This… you’re going to have me killed!”
A wave of terror consumed me—closed in on me like the cage crushing my second.
