Page 29 of The Other Side of the Mirror

“They couldn’t have been just anyone.” Bash’s warm breath grazed my cheek as he finally looked at me. “We could ask around when we get home. See if anyone recognizes their descriptions.”

I couldn’t stop the flicker of longing at the easy way he said ‘home’. He casually moved his hand toward mine, but I pulled away before we could touch. I didn’t miss the quickly stifled disappointment in his eyes. My immediate regret made my stomach twist painfully, but I wouldn’t go there with him again. Not when he would ultimately push me away, so sure I was meant for another.

Part of me knew I was running away from him rather than trying to throw myself toward my supposed destiny. Acknowledging the feelings that had grown so quickly they had left me off balance and reeling even as I retreated from them…from him. Because I knew in my gut that if I were capable of having my heart broken, Bash would have the power to break it. And I couldn’t take the chance of enduring yet another loss. Not when our days together were already numbered.

If I were to ever fall in love, it would be the result of truly knowing I was safe. Of trusting someone so much that my instinct to protect my wounded heart finally faded away. Of realizing the reward was so much greater than the risk.

And, as he had made abundantly clear, it wasn’t meant to be him.

Bash had fallen asleep, our heads still next to each other, our feet in opposite directions. But I stayed awake for far too long watching his chest rise and fall, attempting not to feel like we were two magnets being inexorably drawn together. Slowly, I counted my breaths, the sound of them merging with Bash’s as I fell asleep without realizing it.

When I woke to the chilled air of dawn, I realized we had angled toward each other in our sleep. Our hands had drifted forward, barely a hair’s breadth apart. I stayed like that for an endless moment before turning away.

But even with my back to him, I couldn’t get rid of the image of his hand still reaching out to mine.

Chapter14

Eva

We silently broke down our camp, the smell of damp moss and the sweet fragrance of fiddlehead ferns drifting through the trees. Bash lifted me easily up onto Smoke’s back before I could protest. Leaning forward, I pet the soft underside of his neck as Bash gracefully mounted behind me. I flushed at the feeling of how his body fit against mine, trying not to lean onto him as I shifted my hips forward…then frowned as I heard what might have been a groan from behind me.

Training with Rivan after breakfast had been efficiently brutal, and my thighs were already screaming from an array of lunges and dodging. He had merely grinned when I accused him of being a schadenfreude-loving bastard after our fifth set.

Between that and the days of riding, my muscles were too tired to stay tense indefinitely against the lull of Smoke’s easy rhythm. Soon I found myself relaxing into the hard warmth of Bash’s chest, trying not to relish the safety of his arms around mine.

Bash gestured at the dew-drenched branches of a tree, boasting a smattering of round, reddish berries. “Rowan trees.” He spoke quietly, as if not to disturb the lingering mist. “That means we’re getting close to Imyr…less than a day out now. They supposedly give protection to those near them and keep travelers from getting lost.”

But as I looked around, I spotted an empty gap in the trees where it looked like the color had been leached away. Only a pale, sickly patch remained; the rowan trees withered into stumps.

“The curse,” Bash explained, leading Smoke away from the desiccated earth. “It’s spread even here.”

I fleetingly wondered if the curse had also leached the tree’s protection before ridding myself of the fanciful notion. Bash’s arm brushed against mine as he adjusted the reins in his hands, and I stiffened at the now familiar jolt of his touch. I could feel the breath of his subsequent sigh where my braid had pulled my hair away from my neck, prickling against my bare skin.

“Are you okay? You’ve been quiet this morning.” Bash’s warm breath in my ear made my core clench uncomfortably, and I hoped he couldn’t sense the effect he had on me. He shifted in the saddle behind me, and I clenched my teeth, the undulation of each step of the horse underneath us not helping matters in the slightest.

Being pressed against Bash’s muscled body as we rode had been a test in control; today even more so knowing he was someone I couldn’t have and shouldn’t want. But my traitorous body noted every point of contact with his own, as if it had memorized his in those turquoise waters.

The mere thought of his lips on mine made my head spin and my heart pound, and I found myself needing to push the thought away before I did anything we would both regret. A trembling heat had gathered under my skin, even as I tried to deny its existence to myself.

“I’m fine,” I gritted out, unwilling to elaborate any further. Not when I was worried his fae senses could somehow feel the want building within me, hear the sudden shallowness of my breathing. Not when he was simply bringing me to another. Someone whom I would supposedly fall so deeply in love with that anyone else would pale in comparison.

And I didn’t know which part of that scared me more. Being helpless to guard my heart against some prince I had never met? Or leaving the three fae who had become so much more than travel companions somewhere during this adventure together.

Bash leaned forward, so close that his breath tickled my ear. I tensed as his frame flushed against mine. “Eva…”

I didn’t have time to think about the fact that he said my name and not hellion. Something like a living rope wrapped around my waist, dragging me off Smoke’s back before I could even scream. I slammed against the ground, landing hard on my side. My breath flew from my lungs as another warm rope wrapped around my ankles, pulling me swiftly into the fragrant rowan trees. I could hear Bash yelling orders as he, Yael, and Rivan crashed through the foliage behind me—but not quickly enough. My legs jerked upwards, my fingertips clawing the ground as I was whisked upside-down, trying in vain to grab on to something.

Two glowing golden eyes met mine, a creature crafted of nightmares. I might have thought it a panther if not for the six spiderlike legs, though each were tipped in long black claws. A set of twin black tentacles protruded from its shoulders—the source of the living ropes that held me—each covered in coarse black fur. It leaned its giant head down toward me, revealing hooked, yellowed fangs as it snarled.

Automatically unsheathing my dagger, I reared back to strike, but my friends were there first. The creature flew back in a blast of air from Yael. Before I could be dragged along with it, Bash’s sword sliced in front of me—so close I could feel the displacement of air from his swing—cutting through the tentacle still wrapped around my waist. The creature roared, unwinding its hold on my ankles. I fought the urge to cover my ears at the horrendous sound as I plunged to the ground.

Shadows caught me, gently depositing me onto my feet.

“Shadowbeast,” Rivan spat, ducking under the remaining furry tentacle as the beast leapt toward him. The earth itself moved upward, pulling the creature’s giant paws down into the ground. But the shadowbeast shimmered strangely, then disappeared before melting out of the shadows a few yards back.

“It shouldn’t be this close to Imyr,” Yael exclaimed, sending a wall of air at the creature as it barreled toward her. “Not now that we’ve reached the rowans.”

“Do you want to tell it that?” Bash shot back.

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