Page 158 of Flirting with Darkness

It came closer, and I had no choice but to back away. Much as my instincts screamed to run, I couldn’t; the moment I turned, it would be on me with those huge, pale teeth.

My heel crunched into the gravel. The wolf continued slinking towards me with a low growl. Two yards onto the drive. Four yards. Its growls softened and it let the gap between us open up. Six yards onto the gravel. Eight. Now it only bared its teeth with no sound.

It was herding me back to the house.

I groaned, shoulders sagging. This had to be Granny’s watchdog. I shouldn’t be surprised that she’d have a wolf do that for her.

Sure enough, when I edged up the steps to the entrance, the wolf stopped. It watched as I opened the door and backed into the house.

I hurried to the nearest window.

When I peered out, the wolf was gone.

13

LAST NIGHT I SAW

Islept right through to morning, when House opened the curtains, letting in a stream of sunlight. With a groan, I pulled the blankets over my face. Although I’d fallen asleep quickly after my adventure with the wolf, my eyes were gritty, like I hadn’t slept at all.

Judging by the grumbles coming from Faolán as he sat up, he felt the same. No surprise after his night jaunt.

I pulled the blanket down far enough to narrow my eyes at him. “Where did you go?”

He screwed up his face and knuckled his bloodshot eyes. Dark stubble flecked his jaw and cheeks—actually, it was probably too long to count as stubble anymore. “Uh?”

“I woke up and you were gone.”

His face screwed up even more, and he scrubbed his hair, shaking his head. “I slept right here all night. Not that I feel like I slept at all.” His voice rasped. “Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”

Nothing about it had felt like a dream. Though… the floor had shifted, and the shadows had moved, so maybe?

If he was working with Granny, I didn’t want to alert him to my suspicions, so perhaps it was better not to mention my escape attempt.

“I looked out the window and saw a—”

But nothing more came out, like I was reaching for something that wasn’t there.

“I saw—”

The words twisted just out of reach. It was like the time I got into a fight with Sienna Smith after she’d tried to steal Ari’s ball. I broke her nose, but she winded me, and I’d stood there, lungs twitching, trying to breathe, but nothing came.

I couldn’t even…

What had I been trying to tell Faolán about?

I shook my head. “It wasn’t a dream. I… there was something I saw and I can’t say.”

Faolán made his customary low hum. “The geas. Above the door. I read it, but… I can’t tell you what it said.” He scrubbed his face, jaw flexing. “Can’t even remember it properly—there’s a blur over the words in my memory.”

That was how my brain felt. Even now, as I tried to reach for last night, for the thing I’d seen at the forest’s edge, a fog rolled in, sweeping away the details, until all I could remember was the way my heart had pounded in fear.

With that still on my mind, I washed and dressed, then brushed my hair. If anything, the memories drifted further away. Maybe itwasa dream—they always faded as the day wore on, didn’t they?

Faolán dressed in a crisp grey shirt and close-fitting trousers. Scowling into the mirror, he rubbed at his freshly shaved cheeks.

“You said there was a spell stopping us from leaving.” I wasn’t entirely sure I believed him, particularly not if he was working with Granny.

“Mm.” He combed his hair, each stroke methodical.

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