Page 30 of From Frost to Flame

Silas couldn’t help but laugh. He felt a bit further for him at that moment. “It’s strange being together again, isn’t it?”

“It is, but I’m still curious what you’ve been doing. I’ve seen all the pamphlets of your many victories and treaties. Sounds like you’ve been busy. Are you on some mission to unite the realms like everyone keeps whispering about?”

“Something like that. Since when do you read the pamphlets or listen to gossip? Are you checking in on me?”

“I skim the political section.” Lex smirked at him as he hopped over a rock. “Don’t go wagging your tail over it.”

He said it with a bratty tone that drove Silas wild and, judging by Lex’s laugh, he knew what he was doing. “Well, since you have no interest in me, let’s talk about you. What have you been up to in Dionysus? There’s always chaos down there.”

“Restoring and conserving art mostly. I worked with Arden, but you already lectured me about that. The sirens had some water sculptures that were exciting to work on. Otherwise, I’ve just been doing the usual vampire things.”

“Are you dating anyone?” He hadn’t planned on asking yet, but his curiosity and protectiveness took over.

“No,” Lex said without an ounce of hesitation. “I don’t enjoy dating much. I’ve, um, been single since we broke up.”

“I see.” Relief washed over Silas. He made a mental note to apologize to Vega. He still suspected something happened between them, but if it wasn’t serious, he would learn to move past it.

“I hear you and Vega are close these days. It’s about time for you two to get together, historically speaking.”

“Did you catch that from skimming the political section?” Silas teased.

“Maybe I did.”

Silas noted the way Lex avoided his eyes and fidgeted with a gold clasp at the end of one of his locs. He could read jealousy on Lex a mile away, even if he didn’t have access to his well of emotions. It was so cute he couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“If I didn’t know better,” he said, leaning into Lex’s ear, “I’d say you were jealous.”

“Good thing you know better.” He rolled his eyes and swatted him away. “I don’t care what you do. It’s your life. If you want to throw yourself into every battle and mate with your Beta, that’s your choice. A cliché one for a werewolf king, but it’s not my business.”

Silas touched Lex’s shoulder and forced him to stop walking. “Darling, Vega and I are not together. I don’t know what you read, but I’ve also been single since we ended things.” Silas laughed at the smile that crossed Lex’s lips. “Not that you care, of course.”

“Not at all.” Lex looked up at him and searched his eyes. “If I did care, would it matter?”

Before Silas could tell Lex it would, more than he knew, a groan from the trees spiked his protective instincts. He pulled Lex into him so his back pressed to his chest. “Castor, you hear that?”

“I did, but I don’t see or smell anything.” Castor stood guard over Julian and Mora, who anxiously held each other close. “There’s nothing up here.”

“The forest is infinite, remember?” Lex said. “It’s not dangerous, it’s just the trees.”

“I don’t understand.” He let Lex out of his arms and immediately missed the warmth of him against his hips. “Wouldn’t an infinite forest swallow all of Vela?”

Lex’s eyes lit up the adorable way they always did when he was excited to answer a question. He wanted to spend the rest of his days listening to Lex explain all the facets of the world he found amazing.

“It’s fascinating, really. When I say infinite, I mean forever-recycling but never expanding. The forest grows and dies rapidly. If you listen close, you can hear trees growing, rotting, falling, and resprouting all over the place. It sounds scary, but it’s just nature moving at high speed.”

“Sounds like a maddening place to get lost in,” Castor said, looking at the forest with a newfound appreciation. “Leave a marker on a tree and it will fall within the hour.”

“Exactly!” Lex bounced with excitement. “Only native creatures are attuned to the ever-shifting landscape. Even the nymphs and fae stay away from their own forest and use its confusing nature as protection. Any enemies trying to enter their realm off the main trail risk wandering in an ever-changing labyrinth. It makes sense that we need a compass to find part of her soul in here. It could sit among the trees for ages and never be disturbed. Even if someone found it, they’d never find their way out. It’s brilliantly planned, but I suppose that’s why she held onto power for so long.”

“Do you think we’ll run into other Death Walkers like her in here?” Julian looked out into the darkness between the trees. “It seems like a perfect place for her to hide.”

“She’s the only Death Walker to ever emerge,” Silas replied. He hoped making conversation with Lex’s family would work in his favor. “It’s unlikely she’ll appear anytime soon.”

“If she’s the only one, where did she come from?” Mora asked.

“If the stories are true, she comes only from suffering,” Lex said as he swatted away gnats. “Allegedly, one fateful night, the fae drowned a thousand humans in a tar pit for sport. When the sludge swallowed the last human, it churned. Out of the black, The Ravenous One emerged fully formed. She stretched her tentacles, straightened her spine, and massacred everything in sight. It was as if she spawned with the sole purpose of slaughtering nonhumans. For a hundred years, she dominated Vela. Death and suffering fueled her strength. I don’t know where the world would be if the werewolves hadn’t sealed her in Tartarus.”

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