Page 53 of Song of the Dark Wood

“Please don’t stop,” she sighed. “No one ever touches me like this.”

Conor winced as if the words hurt him the same way they did her. She instantly felt pathetic, like a stray dog waiting to be kicked for being so desperate for love.

Instead, he continued rubbing her back, his body taut.

After a while, he pulled back to look at her. She followed his gaze, and her hand flew to her neck. A bandage was wrapped around the wounds the monster had inflicted. Conor’s eyes lit momentarily with hunger, but he shook his head and shuddered.

“What happened? How am I still here?” she rasped. “I thought I was dying?—”

“No, lass, you just lost some blood and passed out.”

Her mind was foggy. Her head ached. “Conor, how did I survive?”

“It was the strangest thing,” Conor said. “Charlie and I had just spotted you when you flew from that monster’s arms like he’d thrown you. He took off. Charlie gave chase, but he didn’t want to go far when we didn’t know how hurt you were. We got to you in time.”

“Who was that?” Rowan asked.

Conor’s eyes glowed with fury. “His name is Valen. He is a parasite who lives off the blood of others.”

“Is he the evil you’re holding back?” Rowan asked.

Conor sighed. “Among many others and one much worse.”

“He killed Orla,” Rowan choked out.

“I suspect he did, yes.”

“What is he?”

“A powerful demon of sorts.”

Rowan paled. Cade was a demon. Did he want to do that to her? If so, why hadn’t he? She’d been young and vulnerable when they met. Perhaps the urge had been suppressed until she became Red Maiden. Hehadbeen distant recently. She shook her head, trying to shake away the bad thoughts.

“Is that what you want to do to me?” Rowan asked Conor.

“No. Rowan, I’m sorry I lost control. Your blood is just a much more potent version of your scent, and you smell like—” He sighed. “You smell irresistible.”

“How are you keeping control now?” she asked.

“An herbal tincture that helps tame the urge. It’s still there, but it’s not nearly as powerful,” Conor explained.

“How does it work? How do you devour me?” she asked.

He shook his head, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“No,” she said firmly. “I almost died. Tell me how this works. I refuse to walk into the woods while you keep me in the dark. Tell me how it works.”

“I don’t. That’s how it works for you. I don’t devour you, and you live out your term.”

“Conor, I’ve already been attacked twice on the trail where I’m supposed to be safe,” she said. “I think you need to decide right now if you’re going to trust me or not. If you don’t, I’m going to die much sooner than we both would like.”

“Twice?” Conor asked. His eyes were incandescent, blue and gray swirling like storm clouds in his irises.

Rowan realized her mistake too late.

“When? How did you get away the first time?” he asked, his eyes full of suspicious anger.

“My second ferrying. Cade,” she lied.

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