Page 26 of Tisak

Holdingtight to Florin’s hand, I followed right behind him as he navigated through the restless camp. The moon seemed to be on our side—hiding itself behind a layer of clouds. Torches threw haloed light in the paths between tents, but Florin kept us tucked in the shadows as much as possible, somehow knowing when to move and when to stay to avoid detection.

He pulled us to a stop between two tents, our cloaks blending into the darkness of the gap, and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. Two shifters walked out of the tent across the path. Before the tent flap shut, I caught sight of a man laid out on a table with red and blistered skin, so badly burned it was blackened in some places. There was a stripe of red hair among the burns on one side of his head. Oh goddess, was that Nica?

“Florin,” I whispered, anguish twisting my guts and bile rising up my throat. I’d done that to him. I’d hurt him so badly he wasn’t even recognizable. How… how could I ever apologize for that? How could he—or Wey or even Braz—ever forgive me?

I was a monster.

He looked at me. All I could see beneath his hood was the shine of his eyes. “We have to keep moving, Theon.”

“But, Nica—”

“Is healing and will keep healing.”

“How could I have done that?” I demanded, voice louder than it should have been, but the panic swirling in my chest felt the same as losing control. I didn’t know how to stop it. I yanked my hand from his. “You need to get away from me. I can’t hurt you, too!” I turned and ran, eyes burning and lungs seizing.

“Theon!” Florin’s voice reached me just as I darted out from between the tents, crossing the path, and running between two more. I didn’t know which way I was headed, only that thick forest surrounded the camp on all sides. I wanted to get lost in it. Lost and away from everyone I loved.

Oh, Nica. Part of me longed to turn around and go to his side, but those wounds. I’d done that. How could any of them ever forgive me? The camp was right to want me gone. I was a danger to everyone there.

I hit the treeline at a dead run. Low, thin branches lashed at my face. I hissed as one dragged across my cheek, no doubt splitting skin, and kept running, keeping my head bowed enough to protect my face and watch where my feet landed. Not that it helped with the darkness so much thicker beneath the trees.

My foot caught on something—a root or a stick—and I went down hard on my front. Air whooshed out of my lungs at the force, and I lay there stunned. For all that I’d just fallen hard enough to bruise myself, the next breath I took was less panicked—until I heard Florin’s voice.

“Dammit, Theon.” Florin gripped my shoulders and helped me sit up. “Are you hurt?”

I sucked in another breath and realized for the first time that my cheeks were wet with tears. Taking stock of my body, I moved my arms and legs, feeling the ache from the impact but no worse pains. “I’m not hurt.”

Florin let out a hard breath. “Good. For all that you just went tearing through camp, it doesn’t look like anyone’s following us yet. We need to keep moving.” He stood. I couldn’t see his face clearly in the dark, but I could hear the smirk in his voice. “Of course, you’re going the wrong way so we’ll have to make a wide circle around since I don’t think going back through camp is a good idea.”

“Florin, you shouldn’t—”

He knelt again, so quickly it startled me. “What part ofI won’t be parted from you, didn’t you understand?” Gripping my shoulders, he gave me a little shake. “I love you, Theon. And I know the others love you, too, but they can’t help you right now. I can.”

Reaching up, I clasped my fingers around each of his wrists. “You really believe they’re real? That they might help me?”

“I believe we have to try.” He ducked his head, thumbs rubbing my shoulders. “You were right about you being dangerous.” I couldn’t stop myself from tensing up. “But the danger that worries me is what this magic will do to you without control.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off.

“What happened to Nica is horrible. I’m not saying it isn’t, but we could arrange circumstances so that you didn’t hurt anyone else. What we can’t do is keep the magic from burning you up inside if it’s left unchecked.”

A fresh wave of tears spilled down my cheeks. I felt bruised all over, but the tender ache of my heart, bittersweet and so grateful, was by far the most potent. “I love you, too.”

Leaning in, Florin pressed his soft lips to mine. The kiss was gentle, chaste, and everything I needed in that moment. My lungs filled with cool night air as Florin pulled back and stood, reaching his hands down to help me to my feet.

As soon as I was upright, he tensed. “Quiet,” he said in a whisper.

I stood silently beside him, barely daring to breathe. It was a long moment before I heard what he’d already picked up on. Footsteps. Heavy ones. And moving in our direction. Where his hands were still on my arms, Florin maneuvered me up against a thick tree trunk, putting us deeper in shadow. He stood in front of me, somehow shielding me from the forest with his smaller body. The footsteps drew closer.

“Theon! Florin!”

Braz.

He wasn’t yelling when he called our names. His voice was more of a loud whisper. Now that he was closer, I could tell he was on the opposite side of this big tree from us. He took a few more steps and called to us again, his voice breaking in the middle of Florin’s name.

“Florin! Theon!”

A shudder went through Florin’s body. I dropped my chin, trying to see his face. Trying to catch his gaze with mine. Of course, in the pitch black beneath this tree, I couldn’t see anything, but the air between us felt tense—charged with a longing I knew we were both feeling. Could we really ignore him when he was so close? Leave him worried and alone in the middle of the woods?

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