Page 26 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom
I wanted to ask more, but it was clear he didn’t want to discuss it further. Not because he didn’t trust me, but because he didn’t trust the forest not to listen.
Chapter 7
Vareck
The clearing looked safe. That was the first red flag.
Evorsus didn’t do safe. It did alluring. Inviting. It seduced the senses with a welcoming whisper,rest here, even as every survival instinct I had screamed not to let our guard down.
Thick, lush grass blanketed the ground like velvet, soft and dry enough to sleep on. Trees rose around us like stained-glass walls, their jewel-toned leaves shimmering beneath the moon. Everything glowed faintly green, violet, and sapphire. It should’ve been peaceful. The perfect place to rest after many hours of walking.
It was anything but.
Meera walked around the clearing, near the tree line. Too close to the shadows. Too far from me. The tension that had coiled between us all day snapped taut again.
She hadn’t said much since the shift into Evorsus. Not about the realm. Not about the thread. Not aboutus.
Which was fine.
Mostly.
Except it wasn’t, and I was full of shit.
Every move she made—every glance, every breath—felt like a decision not to close the chasm between us. I tracked her fromthe corner of my eye, both hating the distance and embracing it myself.
Meera wasn’t sure how she felt about the mate bond. It was my job to convince her to accept it. Tostay.That was easier said than done when we were traversing the most dangerous hell realm.
With every step, it became apparent that Evorsus had taken an interest in her. The roots themselves had moved out of the way after Meera tripped and rolled her ankle. The branches lifted just so, making it easier for her to cross underneath them. She’d fallen twice during our trek before I found a suitable walking stick for her—yet another thing that appeared right when she needed it. The realm itself was accommodating her body while simultaneously wearing her down.
I wasn’t sure if she noticed it. If she did, she didn’t say anything. The last thing I wanted to do was make her panic when there was literally nothing we could do about our current situation. So I watched. I listened. I guarded.
She dropped her backpack with an unceremonious thud, exhaling as she stretched and rolled her shoulders. Crouching, she rummaged through the sack and pulled out a thin blanket and a package of dried beef. With mechanical precision, she laid out the cloth, her movements sharp and deliberate despite the exhaustion I knew was weighing her down.
“You’re brooding,” she said, sitting down and leaning back on her palms.
“Brooding?”
She gave a vague shrug and brushed a sweaty lock of ginger hair away from her face. “Ya know, sulking but manly-er?”
The corner of my mouth twitched. “Manly-er?”
Meera pursed her lips. “Are you just going to repeat everything I say? If so, this conversation is going to get old realfast.” Her voice edged toward sarcasm, but she sounded more annoyed than anything else.
I sighed. “I’m not brooding. I’mthinking. Namely about how to get us out of here once we find Sadie.” It wasn’t a lie. I was thinking about that. Maybe not at this exact moment, but Meera made it clear she didn’t want to talk aboutusand while it frustrated me, I knew I’d get nowhere if I pushed it. I was coming to learn that my fiery mate had to do things in her own time.
“Oh,” she said, straightening her posture. “I suppose that’s fair. I’ve mostly been focusing on finding Sadie but once we do, we need a way back—to Earth or Faerie. At this point, I’m not picky.”
I inclined my head, listening to the forest around us. “How much water do we have?”
She reached for the canteen hanging loosely from her shoulder and gave it a little shake. “About half. Do you think there’s water nearby?”
I nodded. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here while I go searching for it though. Not when these realms have a nasty habit of changing.”
Meera cocked her head, considering my words. After a second, she reached for her walking stick and used it to climb to her feet once more. “All right. Let’s find it. I’ll leave the blanket here, so we have a way back to the clearing.” She noticed my frown and added, “I can track it. It’s a convenient skill to have here when I can’t tell right from left and everything looks the same.”
“Will you let me carry the backpack this time?”
“I already told you I’m capable of wearing it,” she said, jutting her hip out and using the walking stick to lean on.
