Page 28
Daylight made everything clearer.
It didn't make it better.
"I miss the lights," I told Ashter.
He looked back at me before shoving his entire head into a hollow log.
"Thank you for your contribution."
We went deeper.
I didn't choose a path so much as let my feet do it. I knew this part of Gledhi well enough that thinking wasn't required. The trees thickened, and the sounds from the distant road disappeared until there was nothing left but leaves shifting overhead, water somewhere to my right, and Ashter crashing through vegetation with none of the stealth he was capable of when he wanted it.
For the first time since leaving my room, I stopped wondering whether I was allowed to be where I was.
That might have been why I didn't hear the person behind me.
A hand closed around my upper arm.
My body moved before thought caught up. I caught the wrist, stepped across the body behind me, and dropped my weight while pulling the arm over my shoulder. Whoever had touched me left the ground with a startled curse and hit the forest floor hard enough to knock the air out of their lungs.
I released the arm and spun, one hand already reaching for the knife at my thigh.
Alex lay flat on his back among the leaves.
For several seconds we just looked at each other while his face twisted and he dragged in a breath.
"Shit, Jade."
I moved my hand away from the knife.
He lifted one hand toward me. "Something that tiny shouldn't be able to do that."
"You grabbed me."
"I touched your arm."
"From behind."
"I noticed the problem somewhere between your shoulder and the ground."
Ashter trotted over and lowered his head toward Alex, looking far too pleased about this.
Alex turned his face to him. "Don't you start."
Ashter sneezed directly into his face.
I would have enjoyed that more if anger hadn't started spreading through my chest.
I looked back the way we'd come, then at Alex again. "How long have you been following me?"
His expression changed.
"I haven't."
"You're in Gledhi Forest directly behind me."
"Yes."
