Page 106 of Song of the Dark Wood

Conor frowned.

“Your aura, it’s brighter than I’ve seen it since?—”

Horror crashed over Conor in a great wave. It couldn’t be true.

He dragged Charlie into the room. The tray clattered to the floor, the teapot and cups shattering with a loud crash. Rowan didn’t stir.

Conor raced across the room to her side. He sighed with relief that she was still breathing.

“What about her?” he demanded, looking at Charlie’s stricken face.

“Hers is faded. What did you do?”

Conor cursed, raking his hands through his hair. “I must have lost control. I must have accidentally sucked out some of her life force when I—” The guilt punched the air from his lungs.

Rowan had tried to meet him as wild as he was, and he’d nearly killed her for it. All she had succeeded in doing was proving for sure how little control he had over himself. He needed to get as far from her as possible as fast as possible.

No wonder he felt so good. He’d stolen from her.

“Calm down,” Charlie said. “She’s fine. She’s only slightly faded, so you must have only taken a little bit. She’ll wake up and be no worse for the wear. You’ll just tell her what happened, and everything will be fine.”

Conor shook his head. “It’s not fine! Everyone in her life has looked at her and only seen what they could take from her. I convinced her that I saw more, and then I did the same thing. I stole something.”

“But you didn’t mean to,” Charlie argued.

“I’m not sure intention matters when it comes to stealing someone’s life force.”

“The lass is quite forgiving?—”

“I’ll not make hope a noose from which to hang myself,” Conor interrupted. “Hope is not for me. I’ll only become a bigger danger to her if I believe it is.”

“I don’t see how you being a martyr for an honest mistake changes things,” Charlie quipped. “Just talk to her when she wakes up. Let her stay a bit.”

Conor paced the room. “No. She has to go. I’m sending her back to the tower. I’m no better than those elders. I’m just as much of a risk to her.”

Charlie grimaced. “Would it be the worst thing if?—”

“I don’t want to doom this woman,” Conor hissed.

He didn’t know how to tell Charlie that Rowan had been let down by all of the people she cared about most. He didn’t know how to explain why he cared. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back. He could not believe he’d been so careless.

“It’s worse because I knew better, and I still let her convince me to do this. She’s dangerous to all of us, Charlie. I don’t need to remind you. I think she knows she can kill me.”

Charlie shook his head. “But you’re safe now. There’s nothing else for you to take from her.”

Conor met his gaze. “Isn’t there? The way I see it, there are two more things I could take from her. Her heart and her life.”

The two stared at Rowan as if they could see through her to her true intention.

“Then let the elders or the Dark Wood have her. Mother’s tits, Conor! Don’t you have any sense of self-preservation?” Charlie said.

“And then what?”

Charlie huffed out a breath and banged his head back against the wall. “Then finish the job. Take all of her life force now. She is a sweet girl, but there’s so much more at stake.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You’ve been dreaming again, haven’t you?”

Conor stared at him and said nothing. Contrary to what he’d told Rowan, he did sleep—and more so lately. He’d only dreamed a couple of times, but that was all it took.

Charlie shook his head. “Well, I have.”

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