Page 61 of Song of the Dark Wood

Sarai grabbed her hand. “I believe you.” She spiraled a finger into one of her dark curls as she considered their options. “Maybe you should tell the Wolf.”

“That’s what Cade said,” Rowan sighed.

“Then why don’t you?”

“Because no matter how he reacts, there’s no way it doesn’t blow back on me,” Rowan said. “Either Conor blames me for the elder’s behavior, or he acts on it, and then the town blames me for the Wolf being dissatisfied enough to take it out on an elder. People are already upset enough with the blight. Tension is high in the village, and everyone looks at me in my white dress like I’m letting them down. I’m daily confronted with hundreds of stares that just remind me how I’m failing them. This morning, there were three more blighted trees in Ashand Orchards. A manyelled at me when I was on my way here that if I ‘wasn’t so frigid and stuck-up, the town wouldn’t be at risk of starving.’”

Sarai wrung her hands together. “I know you’re right, but I hate that there’s nothing I can do.”

“Sarai, we’ve never been able to protect each other. I don’t expect that of you, just like you don’t of me. We do what we can when we can.”

“Wouldn’t you feel the same?” Sarai challenged.

“I’d want to burn down the temple if that happened to you,” Rowan said bitterly.

“I know.” Sarai smiled. “I will think on it. There has to be a way to protect you. Demon’s bargain or not, Elder Garrett is only mortal.”

Rowan nodded. It was a comfort to share the burden. To know there was another person who held the righteous anger with her. A burden shared was easier to carry.

“That’s not it, though, is it?” Sarai asked.

Rowan laughed. “How do you do that? It is so unnerving how well you read me.”

Sarai smiled in satisfaction. “You can’t hide from me, Row. I’m all-knowing.”

“Conor kissed me,” she admitted.

Sarai squealed. “How was it?”

“It was—” Rowan took a breath and tried to settle on a word. “Consuming.”

“And what of Finn?” Sarai asked.

“It’s not as if I could choose Finn if I wanted to.”

“And that’s the only reason you won’t give that poor boy your heart?”

Rowan sighed. “No. Sometimes I feel like Finn looks at me and doesn’t see me at all. He sees someone who needs saving, whom he can project all his fantasies upon. It will always bebetter than any real opportunities he has because it exists purely in his head.”

“You might be too hard on him. I think he can learn,” Sarai said.

“Maybe,” Rowan sighed.

“That’s not important now, though,” Sarai said. “I want to hear more about your Wolf.”

Rowan explained all that had transpired in the Dark Garden, the monster on the trail and the bite on her neck, and what happened afterward.

“He kissed me like he was losing his mind, and then just as suddenly as he started, he stopped and practically threw me across the bed,” she groaned.

“Sounds like you drove him crazy,” Sarai laughed.

“Then I followed him downstairs and found him playing this beautiful song on the piano. I don’t understand him at all. I don’t know what he wants or why he’s fighting against this. Everything I ever learned made it seem like the Wolf couldn’t wait to get his hands on me. Now, half the time, it seems like he’s afraid of me, and the other half he’s indifferent.”

Her mind flashed to what the Mother had told her and the blessed dagger strapped to her thigh. She wanted to tell Sarai about it, but the Mother asked her to keep it a secret, so she said nothing.

“It sounds like he just needs more time with you. Why don’t you ask to stay a few nights? I’m sure if he has more time to spend with you, he will find you irresistible,” Sarai said.

Rowan considered it. “Maybe you’re right, and I’ve just been overcomplicating things.”

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