Page 31 of Song of the Dark Wood

ROWAN

Rowan hurried into the Dark Wood, her cloak billowing out behind her. If Aeoife woke before Rowan made it home, she might panic. Rowan would need to race dawn back to the tower. She’d just entered the strange, tunneled trees when a movement to her right made her freeze.

Cade burst forth from the tree line.

“Rowan, what took you so long?” he asked breathlessly.

“I was busy with the Wolf. Come on—walk and talk. I need to get back before Aeoife wakes up.”

Cade fell into step beside her. “I tried really hard, but I couldn’t cross over the boundary into Wolf’s Keep. So I guess that’s good. You won’t run into any demons in there. What was it like? What happened? How was the Wolf?” He stopped short, grabbing her arm. “Did he?—”

Rowan shook her head. “He didn’t do anything except give me hot cider and whiskey, and then I fell asleep. I got to meet a reaper, though. His name is Charlie. He was actually really nice, and get this?—”

Cade’s eyes were wide with horror. “You fell asleep!”

“That’s what you found most compelling about my tale?” Rowan laughed, walking faster.

“That you fell asleep in the lair of the god who is supposed to devour you? Yes, Rowan. That is my first concern,” Cade said, running to catch up with her.

“It was fine. He let me borrow his robe to stay warm, and he seemed harmless?—”

“He’s not,” Cade said. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to an abrupt stop.

A distinct air of danger clung to the Wolf. She wasn’t naive enough to believe that just because he hadn’t hurt her tonight, he never would, but she’d lost one of her only allies when Orla died.

If she wanted to protect herself and Aeoife, she needed to use every resource she could. The Wolf was tamer than she expected him to be. He was also her only real means of figuring out the mystery of the blight and what happened to Orla. She didn’t trust him completely, but she trusted him more than the elders. Most of all, she trusted herself and her ability to sneak around. She knew she could figure out what happened to her friend and, hopefully, how to avoid the same fate.

She met Cade’s worried gaze. “You know, for a demon who spends a lot of time convincing me he has no heart and no feelings, you seem awfully worried.”

Cade frowned. “I don’t have a heart. Just because I’ve learned how to act human doesn’t mean that I am. It also doesn’t mean I couldn’t wander until I find someone else to talk to. I just prefer talking to you.”

Rowan ruffled his hair. “I love you too, Cade.”

He smiled despite himself. “Row, seriously. You need to be careful about who you trust. You shouldn’t trust anyone completely—even me.”

“I don’t.”

Cade had never given her reason to doubt him, but in her heart, she knew she could only rely on him to serve himself. Most of his interventions in her life had been for his own amusement, but something had shifted the day he saved her from Elder Garrett. She didn’t know any other demons to whom she could compare his behavior, but Cade seemed strangely attached to her.

They walked on in silence.

Rowan’s mind spun wildly. She’d expected Conor to, at the very least, kiss her. Now she wondered if she’d done something wrong. She’d been dreading his touch, but now she felt strangely offended that he didn’t find her appealing enough to even kiss her.

She stopped. Perhaps he wasn’t even attracted to her.

“What’s wrong?” Cade asked.

A violent flush crept up Rowan’s neck, and she shook her head. “Nothing.”

“That’s not a nothing face,” Cade challenged.

“Do you think that I’m pretty?”

“In a boring human way—sure. You have the hair and the eyes, and, you know…the rest of it,” he said, gesturing broadly to her body.

She frowned, and he rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Rowan, I think you’re lovely. Though I’m not sure I’m an authority on beauty as much as jealousy. I covet you the way I covet all things that belong to someone else, so it may just be envy that makes you lovely to me.”

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