Page 127 of When the Woods Go Silent

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

TORRENCE

I sense Julianna in the woods before I see her.

Somewhere between the entrance to the blood mines and her favorite outcropping of ice-riddled caves, she waits for me like a ghost in the darkness.

She’s haunted me my whole life, never content if I have even a scrap of happiness she could ruin.

“Hello, son,” she says, and the word sounds like a curse in her mouth.

“Arlo? Really? I’ve done everything you asked here, yet you still felt the need to spy on me?” I hiss at her, trying like hell to tamp down my fury. I don’t need a real confrontation, not now. No matter how Ruby’s blood made me feel, I’m nowhere near strong enough to take her on.

“And a good thing I did. Look at the mess you’ve made. Arlo had to kill all those gobbelins for you, and then you went and ruined him for me. He’s no good to me dead.”

“I was going to take care of it.”

“On your own timeline, I presume? Because you certainly weren’t willing to jump on my command.” She gives me a falsely sad smile that reeks of self-pity. “The truth is plain here, Torrence. I can’t trust you with my troops, so you’ll stay here - underground - and Idris will move into your place in Haret. It’s so embarrassing that I can’t rely on my own son. I trainedyou all those years, and for what? I’m not even confident you can manage the mines now, but there are so many incompetent gobbelins. I’ll be soguttedif you turn out to be one of them.”

A growl rumbles in my chest as she goes on and on, but really, I’m acting. Her martyr act hasn’t worked on me since I was a boy. I don’t want to return to Haret yet, and I couldn’t care less about commanding an army. I trust Idris to do what needs to be done for our secret plans, and now I can stay close to Ruby, protecting her.

“You never intended to let me lead,” I bite out, trying to look wounded. I need to playact for her a little longer to keep her suspicion away. Julianna smiles, toying with a lock of her black hair.

“You’ll never know my intentions again, unless you can prove your worth to me. I should have kept Declan.”

She makes a pitiful, self-indulgent sigh, but I’m way beyond being hurt by her petty comparisons between my twin brother and me. Declan chose the fae over us, and she couldn’t have kept him if she wanted to.

“I’ll give you this last chance to show loyalty to me, Torrence. Take care of the girls in the bookshop - they know too much. Kill them or turn them into blood slaves, I’ll give you that single choice. But by the Goddess herself, if you fail in that task... Well. Let’s just say you don’t want my motherly love to run dry.”

I glare at her, knowing damn well she’s never had a motherly instinct in her body. However, this does tell me Julianna is threatened by Ruby, and doesn’t believe either girl is the changeling. My mother has always wanted to be the only woman I depend on, and I’m certainly closer to Ruby than I’ve been to any woman since we fled the fae after Rinna’s death.

“I’m perfectly capable of handling pets, Julianna,” I answer. “Idris is a good commander, but you know the design and process of the mines only works so well because I made it so.”

In fact, they work so well that I’d never dream of turning Ruby into one now. I didn’t intend to become attached, but I’d rather see Ruby die than become a blood slave.

Julianna is right about one thing. Humans - Ruby, to be exact - are dangerous.

Not in the way magic is dangerous. But her innocence. Her joy in life. Her excitement.

For the first time since we escaped Aralia, I feel hope. Even my plans for Magriel are made of desperation and determination.

Even more thanGoblin Market, Ruby has shown me that a different life might be possible. A softer one, full of joy and pleasure, far away from cruelty and violence.

A life where I could be more man than beast.

“There’s no time for you to cart around a forest princess. Get her under your thumb, or I’ll gut her in front of you,” Julianna warns, growing impatient with our silent standoff. “Either way, she’ll die. Slaves only last for so long, and she can’t feed you forever, darling.”

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