Page 44 of Song of the Dark Wood

“But what about the balance? Won’t things go wrong if I kill the god of death?” Rowan asked.

“I have the power to replace him with a new god of death.”

The Mother made it sound so simple, but Rowan was still skeptical. Gods didn’t grow on trees as far as she knew, and she’d spent her whole life learning about the importance of balance between the realms.

“How?”

“Death is the pause before life. I’m the goddess above—the Mother of all life—and I can elevate another to take over. Best of all, we can strike a new bargain. One that doesn’t require sacrificing a young woman or the rule of elders.”

Rowan’s jaw dropped. “Is that even possible?” Hope swelled in her chest. She hadn’t even considered approaching the Mother to change the bargain because she did not know how to. Now she was offering exactly what Rowan and Aeoife needed.

“Of course it is. If there’s a new god of death, I’d have to make a new bargain with him. He may even be so grateful to be elevated to power that the souls could be led by a group of huntsmen. Do this and the possibilities for your future and Aeoife’s are endless.” The Mother’s gaze flitted to Finn. “Anyoneyou desire.”

Rowan flushed. “I don’t know what I want. I’ve never had a chance to want anything but the chance to live.”

“Well, now you do. You have a week to figure it out. Here’s a sheath. You can keep it on your thigh, and that way you’ll have it if you run into issues with any of the elders as well,” the Mother said. “If you show them the dagger and its markings, they will know to remember that you are a sacred vessel.”

Rowan didn’t know why she still felt hesitant. The goddess was offering her everything she’d never let herself want. Maybe that was the entire problem. Rowan’s father used to say if something seemed too good to be true, then it was, but she didn’t need to trust the Mother to know this was her only viable option. Conor had been proven a liar the moment she found Orla’s bloody cloak. Her back was against a wall, and any option that didn’t mean her certain death sounded good, no matter how far-fetched her success seemed.

“I’ll do it,” Rowan said.

The Mother cupped her face tenderly. “I knew you’d do what’s right. You have a good heart. I’ll keep you safe as much as I can in the Dark Wood. You shouldn’t be disturbed by a monster like that again. You have my blessing with that dagger. Be safe. Be courageous. Be decisive. And, of course, keep this our little secret. I’m sure you’re eager to trust someone, but until we know where everyone’s loyalties lie, it’s not safe. We wouldn’t want the Wolf to find out, and people talk.”

The goddess kissed her forehead, and Rowan didn’t know why it brought tears to her eyes. Her faith always felt fleeting, but now she felt a renewed reverence.

“I have to go, but I’ll see you soon. In the meantime, think about what you want,” the Mother said.

Rowan nodded. Between one blink and the next, the Mother disappeared in a flash of brilliant golden light.

Rowan stood suspended between the trail and the town, staring down at the goddess-blessed golden dagger with the power to end all of her suffering.

11

CONOR

The first evening stars punched through the darkened sky as Conor paced back and forth at the gates of Wolf’s Keep. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so tense. The week before, he’d known his mistake the moment he’d kissed Rowan’s skin. It took every ounce of self-control just to calmly walk away from her. Once she’d gone, he’d spent the rest of the night so feral with unspent lust he could do nothing but burn off all of the heat with anger as he searched the woods. He’d spent hours shredding demons and monsters that had escaped the Underlands, furiously trying to figure out how and why they’d managed to escape.

Conor gazed down the trail toward Ballybrine, wondering how long he had before Rowan appeared. He loathed the way the magic affected him and how hard it was to keep his hands to himself.

When he snapped his fingers, the torches by the gates burst to life with crackling flames, casting flickering shadows over the edge of the woods. Charlie still hadn’t returned from his scouting mission, and Rowan was late. Conor squinted into the dark, worried something was keeping both of them. The blighthad shaken up the monsters of the Dark Wood much more than Conor had anticipated. The shadows stretched menacingly toward the edge of the trail as the flames grew. After so many years, the gates seemed like too much—like he’d built them while trying too hard to seem threatening. In the early days, fear had served him, but now it seemed an old tool that had outlived its usefulness.

“Thinking of a redesign?”

Charlie’s voice startled him. The reaper stepped out of the Dark Wood to the right of the trail.

“How is it?” Conor asked.

“All business,” Charlie teased. “The blight has spread into the Ashand Orchards.”

Conor nodded. “That’s farther than I expected. How is the mood in the village?”

Charlie shrugged. “The whole town seems on edge. I’m not sure if it’s bad enough that the elders of the Mother will be willing to bargain with us.”

Conor shook his head. Though they’d never seen a blight before, he’d seen more than once how the people of Ballybrine responded to things that felt threatening. Their fear often transformed into violence. There was always upheaval when a Red Maiden died, but that transition coupled with the blight had stirred a frenzy.

“No. They’re stubborn,” Conor sighed. “It will probably have to get worse before they consider it. Was there any talk of Rowan?”

Charlie smirked. “Not much. Certainly, there’s gossip about why you haven’t taken her to bed, and there’s some speculation that something is displeasing about her.”

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