Page 50 of Secrets and Ruin

“A stranger versus one you know, though…” Landon pointed out.

“A guy who likes his job as a healer versus a fae royal who was despondent from the loss of his wife the last time I saw him. For all I know, Prince Cassius could ask me to kill his father or something insane like that… and we both know how much I like being involved in fae politics.” I gave him a frustrated look.

“I won’t argue. I was looking at it one way, and you were looking at it another. I didn’t think a fae prince would be a big deal, but you do. I get why.”

“Why wouldn’t I? Brion steamrolled your father and me by blackmailing us if I didn’t force Heath to help me, and he did that even though I’ve heard he and Hasan used to befriends.”

“You and Prince Cassius exist in a similar space politically,” Landon answered simply. “Child of the ruler looked at as the next in line or a route to get things done or make something heard by powerful people. Might not be as bad a king.”

I didn’t have a response, except it didn’t change anything, and I didn’t think I needed to say that to Landon.

“It feels like this path never ends,” Landon whispered.

“Can you tell how long we’ve been walking? I was trying to check when I found my phone dead,” I said, looking around. I was getting tired, which didn’t make sense to me. I had been ready to walk all night when we entered the forest.

“No. Can’t really see the sky, thanks to all these trees, and that’s all I can do. I don’t want to go off the path to find a clearing. If we lose the path, I might not pick up Fenris and Niko’s trail again.” He groaned and reached into a small pocket on the side of his bag. “Lemme see if this even works.”

“What?” I looked around, making sure we were still as alone as we had been for some time. That didn’t mean we were actually alone, but nothing was getting close again. He tapped me, and I turned back toward him to see him holding a compass. It was spinning wildly.

“Bad to worse,” I growled softly. “We can’t even properly navigate.”

“I think it means we’ve reached the area of the forest that is in both planes,” he said grimly. “I don’t believe the estate was, but I’m certain we are.”

“Anything else you want to try?” I asked, crossing my arms in frustration.

“Nope. That was my last bet of anything that might help. Normally, I don’t even need to look at it. I find it hard to get lost.”

“Why did you want to try it now?”

“Truthfully? Curiosity.” Landon shoved it away. “It would have been useful if we’re led off the path at any point.”

There was nothing else to do except keep moving and hope we could find anyone. Neither of us spoke again, but I caught Landon looking at the sky every so often, just like I did. I figured he was looking for the same thing—the smallest sign the sun was coming up. It was beginning to feel as if we were under an endless night, and it would never end. My nose was practically numb from the smell of magic in the air that never left, and my head was beginning to hurt from trying to hear every sound around us and judge if it was a threat.

The path finally went through a clearing, and I looked up to see the clear stars in the night sky. With the gorgeous view came a sense of dread, as though it was trying to tell me something.

“Do you think the sun will ever come up?” I asked out loud, feeling like another several hours had passed.

“It has to, eventually, doesn’t it? Maybe we’re just thrown off by the travel… more likely, we’re thrown off by the place.” Landon’s own concern about it was clear now. “I don’t like it either. It feels like we’ve been out here for at least twelve hours. Dawn should have been some time ago.”

“Should have been, yes, but it won’t rise right now,” a woman said, not in the same oddly feminine voice from before. It hadn’t sounded human. This one did.

“Yeah? You want to tell us why?” Landon snarled without looking, still walking forward.

I stopped, though, wondering why the voice sounded familiar. I turned toward it, seeing a pretty woman who reminded me of Alvina, Queen of the Fae. She didn’t appear to be dangerous, but I knew not to believe that. Her long ears and ethereal human form made me think she was Sidhe from Oberon and Titania. In a beautiful gown, she seemed out of place, belonging in a palace, not this thick, dark forest. She looked at me, our eyes meeting as she walked through the clearing. Landon’s curse at my pause told me he realized I wasn’t following him anymore. He was quickly by my side again, but I was looking at the fae, wondering if she would ever answer.

More importantly, I wanted to know what she wanted and how to get her to leave.

“You already know the answer,” she said, smiling at Landon, the eye contact with me broken off for a moment.

“Who are you?” I asked since she didn’t want to give Landon a proper answer.

Slowly, she lifted a hand and snapped her fingers. A spectral steed appeared, materializing out of the air, and she gracefully climbed on it, making me realize I could nearly see through both of them. They were in color but not solid, which disturbed me more. A moment later, a man on his own horse rode out of the tree line. Interestingly, he seemed completely human, dressed in riding gear. The timing of it made me wonder if she had been expecting him to come any moment.

“The hunt continues, love. The hunter has lost his quarry for a moment but still has the bait,” the man said, as if he was just reporting an interesting bit of news. “What have you found?”

“I don’t know. They’re not my concern,” she said, smiling at him. “I found them interesting for a moment, but… they clearly don’t belong here and certainly don’t understand it. Easy prey for something during this long night.”

Something predatory rose up in me, and I knew without a doubt that my eyes went from my human hazel to werecat gold as they narrowed on her. She turned back to us to say something and paused as her eyes met mine, clearly caught off guard by the change.

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