Page 92 of Song of the Dark Wood

He knew it wasn’t just him. She’d already shown him over and over that she had far too little fear when it came to him, even after he’d admitted exactly what would happen if he took her to bed.

She yanked her arm away, but as soon as he tuned into his power, his mind came alive with her new fear. No longer was itdisappearing. Instead, he saw her tied to an altar, held down by elders in some sort of gruesome ceremony.

“What the fuck is this?” he gritted out, lost in the illusion.

“It’s what will happen if I go back a virgin,” she said. “So, if you don’t mind, I’d prefer to make the only choice available to me.”

Conor wanted to strangle the life out of every man who’d taken what little joy she held on to. There was no end to her courage, but he wouldn’t abide her making the best bad choice. He had never taken a woman to bed who didn’t want to go, and he had no intention of starting now.

It put Conor face to face with the thinghefeared—that she’d never want him for real or that he wouldn’t know if she did. It was one thing for her to think she wanted it, or to want the way he made her body feel, or to want it because the alternative was worse, but it was another thing entirely that he couldn’t strip her indoctrination from her. She would never be neutral when it came to him.

“How dare they!” he growled.

“They’re scared, Conor,” Rowan huffed. “I’m not excusing it, but they’re worried about the blight. It’s healed here, but it’s still along the fringes of the Dark Wood. It’s still in the Ashand Orchards. They think that this will stop it and satisfy you. You don’t know what it’s like in the village right now. People yell at me every time I walk through town. I’m afraid of what they say to Aeoife. The elders and the people of Ballybrine think something is wrong with me and that you don’t want me.”

Conor swallowed hard. Charlie had informed him of the tension, but Conor had no idea things had spun so out of control.

“You know that’s not true.”

Rowan laughed bitterly. “It doesn’t matter what I say, Conor. They don’t listen when I speak. Such is the nature of the men who make the rules. It doesn’t occur to them that anyone elsecould know more than they do, even if they’ve never met you or set foot in the Dark Wood. Elder Garrett has taken issue with me from the beginning.”

He knew he should take a breath, but Conor raged like a wildfire with no thought of the ash.

“I’ll be happy to straighten that out for them right now.”

Rowan grabbed his arm, trying to hold him back. “Conor, no—stop! This won’t affect you, and it won’t make it better. It will only make things worse for me,” she pleaded.

He wasn’t hearing her anymore. He shrugged her off, taking one last glance at her over his shoulder as he tore out of the garden.

He ran blindly down the trail toward Ballybrine, Rowan’s terrified face frozen in his mind. He hated the men who’d made her feel powerless, objectified, fragile.

It was archaic and ridiculous for him to feel so possessive of her. She didn’t belong to him—and yet also she did. Their fates were tied together, wrapped in each other like roots. He felt a responsibility to her.

He didn’t care what Rowan said. He couldn’t let an elder threaten to take what was his. The moment common men thought they could take from the gods was the moment he lost his power entirely. He didn’t care what kind of bloody mess he left or who would clean it up, as long as they remembered who their fear belonged to.

24

ROWAN

Dread hung like a chain around Rowan’s ankles as she made her way down the path toward Ballybrine. She had no idea what awaited her, but she could assume it would be gruesome.

When she finally reached the place where the trail met the town, several huntsmen and Elder Falon were waiting for her.

“Lady Rowan, please forgive us our mistake,” Elder Falon said, his eyes cast downward.

Her gaze lingered on a fresh bruise on his throat. She tried to pretend it was normal for him to extend deference of that title, but it was typically reserved for Maidens who had completed their service. Elder Falon could barely meet her eyes.

“What mistake was that?” she challenged.

The elder shifted. The rush of power was heady, and she almost smiled. Instead, she kept her face placid as she looked over the men. She stayed calm until her eyes locked with Finn’s. He looked stricken.

“Lady Rowan, there’s something you should see,” he murmured.

She walked by the elders and followed Finn into the temple. Several hunters trailed behind her. The energy song around thegroup pulsed frenetically. They were afraid, and their fear was contagious.

“What happened?” Finn whispered.

Rowan peeked over her shoulder. The hunters trailing them gave her a wide berth.

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