Page 27 of Through the Wicked Wood

Leaning forward on the table, I mirror her posture by propping myself on my elbows. As I hold her gaze, I watch her, and she begins to toy with her fingers and hands under the intensity of my stare. Maybe I’m not the only one feeling this connection after all. Fascinating.

“Okay, fair enough,” I say, tapping my fingers against the tabletop. “When they’re back, you’ll meet the crew. Then, after the full moon celebration, we’ll explain the Stones and the plan for Valebridge. And together we’ll all come up with a strategy.” I settle back in my chair and study her as she contemplates this.

“Together?” She challenges me, raising her brows. The orange of her dress and gold of hair makes her appear ethereal in the candlelight.

“Together, I swear it.” I raise a hand and dip my head in a quick bow. This seems to satisfy her as she lets out a deep sigh, relaxing her shoulders. Slinking low in her chair, she rests her head on the back of it, staring up at the ceiling.

“I have another secret,” she whispers. Her words come out in a slur, and I can tell she’s fighting to keep her eyes open. How much wine did we drink? The dull ache forming in my head tells me it’s been too much.

“Well do tell, Enchantress,” I say, keeping my voice low as I scoot my chair back. Crossing around the table to her side, she rolls her head and looks up at me from her chair as I approach. Her eyes slide down my face and stop on my lips, cheeks reddening as she drags her eyes back to mine.

Lazily, she lifts her hand and grabs my shirt, tugging me down to her. Dropping to my knees I succumb to her request. She pulls me closer, bringing my ear to her mouth. The smell of wine on her lips is intoxicating but all I can think about is how close our bodies are. How hot her breath feels against my skin. How, without the wine, she’d likely have a dagger to my throat if I attempted to get this close.

“Promise you won’t think I’m crazy?” she whispers.

“Promise,” I whisper back through a smile. She lets out a small laugh before rolling her head away from me, letting go of my shirt and facing the ceiling again. Her eyes close and her breathing starts to slow.

“The wolves,” she slurs, “they followed us here.” She goes silent for a moment and I fear she’s fallen asleep. Until she whispers something that raises the hair on my arms and neck.

“And this time, I spoke with them.”

Chapter 15

Elora

“Go, susi.” My mother’s voice didn’t waver as she placed a kiss on my head. “We have this handled, you need to run.”

“I won’t leave you! I can fight!” Reaching for her, I beckoned for my newly awakened magick, but it didn't come.

Cade reached for my arm, dragging me backward to the hidden path beneath an underbrush of trees. “Go, Elora.” I opened my mouth to protest but before I could say a word, his mouth met mine. The kiss was brutal and desperate, my heart sinking when he pulled away. “You must go. Wait for me by the large pine tree,” he said in a hurry. “The one with the crooked trunk, do you remember it?”

I nod, of course I remembered. How does one forget your first kiss? Or the first time Cade’s hands ran over my bare skin. The first time we allowed ourselves to be together.

“Good,” he whispers, “wait for me there. Don’t move. I’ll find you, I promise.” The thought of leaving sent bile up my throat, but I did as he said. Kissing him quickly again, I ran for the path.

As I began the descent down the mountain, something in the pit of my stomach stopped me.

As I turned, my mother’s silver eyes were shocking in the darkness. The others scrambled around her, calling upon magick they hadn’t used in years. Magick that wouldn’t aid them. Wouldn’t help them survive. What they needed was to train. To learn to fight. But of course, they never had the chance.

Arrows from hunters whizzed through the air as shackles slammed around any wrists they could find.

I need to fight. I have to fight, I told myself. And yet, I was frozen in place. My heart slammed against my ribcage. I called for my magick again and again, but I was met with silence. We’d only just performed the Ceremony, and I’d failed to wield it. I failed.

Failed.

A thick layer of static bounded through the air before my mother met my eyes again. And still, my feet lodged in the snow. I dared one last glance, crouching between the bushes, concealing myself the best I could, I begged the Mother to bring me my magick.

Cade fell to his knees, as guards surrounded him. Biting down on my tongue, I covered my mouth so as not to scream out his name. He was a fighter and yet my heart lurched as the snow quickly turned red.

Legs wobbling, I was determined to make my way back to him. But I didn’t make it far before swarms and swarms of men spilled onto the mountain in every direction. Swatches of blue, the Valebridge colors, against the shining white and now crimson snow.

We were outnumbered. How were we so outnumbered? A high shriek drew my attention. My face found my mother’s just as she pulled her blade, pushing off a guard. She smiled at me, just once, before her eyes closed and she sliced her own throat.

My head lolls as firm hands shake my shoulders. I come to my senses slowly, eyes struggling to open. Sorin’s voice wafts through the haze between unconsciousness and reality, but I’m stuck, drifting between the paralysis of my nightmare and the reality of the present.

“Elora, wake up.” Sorin’s voice again. “It was a nightmare, Elora. You’re safe.” Slowly, the haze lifts and my eyes open. Blinking away a few remaining tears, I slide out of Sorin’s grip and sit up, resting my back against the headboard of the bed.

“Take a deep breath,” Sorin commands, sliding his hands onto his lap.

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