Chapter 43

CHAPTER 43

Upon seeing us, Evander runs even faster. He's at us in an instant, leaping and changing his form midair. He lands heavily on two feet and takes three steps to close the remaining gap between us. I don't remember opening my arms for him, but clearly I did, because he crashes into me, pulling me up into his crushing embrace. I squeeze him just as tightly, bury my face in the crook of his neck, and inhale his scent.

"You made it," I breathe. Relief relaxes every muscle that was holding me upright. I lean into him for support, head spinning. "You're really here."

"I told you I would come." Evander pulls away, smoothing my hair away from my face. It's gone wild from the swim and the run. Sticks and mud probably cling to me as they do to him. Yet, I'm certain we've never looked more beautiful to one another. "Nothing will keep me from you ever again."

"Conri?" Aurora asks, bringing me back to reality. I ease away from Evander, waiting for his response. The severe expression that furrows his brow and fear that fills his eyes—that he tries to hide but I see with clarity anyway—doesn't give me much confidence.

"He's coming. I managed to convince him that you'd probably be heading back across the Fade since you learned the name of the spirit of the Fade when we came across."

"How did you do that while also managing to convince him to let you come here?" Aurora folds her arms. It could come off as skeptical of Evander, if I didn't know better. She's afraid.

"He couldn't be in two places at once. And he wants to be the one to find you." Evander doesn't have to expand on what it would mean if Conri did. The grit to his tone says enough. "So, that being the case, I encouraged him to go to the place you most likely were. But we also couldn't rule out this possibility."

"Send you as his right hand," I finish. Evander nods. "You're absolutely certain he went toward the Fade?"

"I broke away from the rest of the pack but waited just beneath the ridge for a while. No one followed."

"We should still move quickly," I say. I can't shake the feeling that Conri might be coming for us both. I realize I might carry that feeling forever. Even when Aurora is reunited with her power, he will always hunt me, as the woman who took her from him—who took his power. If he breathes, I'll probably never be truly safe. "The faster we get out of lykin territory, the better."

"Should we go into the mountains?" Aurora looks toward their frosty peaks, ghostly in the last dregs of moonlight against a lightening sky. "Conri wouldn't dare follow there. He wouldn't even think to look."

"He wouldn't think to look because he would, rightly, assume that we wouldn't dare go there." Evander shakes his head and frowns up at the mountains. I wonder if he's remembering the stories his father told him of the monstrous vampir they hunted. "The passes through the mountains are long lost, and who knows what vampir might still be lurking. It's safer to stay in the forest."

"Then let's keep going." I step away, beginning to walk.

"It'll be faster if you both ride," Evander says.

I pause. "Both of us?"

"Wouldn't we be too much of a burden for you?" Aurora is as skeptical as I am.

Evander chuckles and puts his hands on his hips, flexing the broad muscles of his shoulders and back. "You don't think all this is just for show, do you?"

Before we can object again, he transforms, trotting over and sinking to the ground. Aurora and I exchange a look and a shrug. I mount in front, Aurora behind me. It is tight with both of us astride. But there is enough room.

Evander stands. With two of us, he can't run at full pace. But he is right about moving faster than we would on foot.

I grip his fur and cast one more worried look over my shoulder, past Aurora. There's no sign of Conri or any other lykin. Which means I need to focus on what's ahead.

The sooner we see the great walls of the elves, the better.

Evander keeps his pace past the hours of dawn bleeding across the sky. I am blinking away fire from my eyes. My lids have never felt heavier.

Finally, he sags to the ground by another ruin of his former kin and Aurora and I dismount quite ungracefully. We three drag our feet into the structure. I think it's the last one before we'll be relying on my own huts. If we move too quickly to need them, then all the better.

The collapsed house has created a sort of lean-to against the tree, supported as much by the moss and tangling vines as the trunk itself. Evander hovers in the opening as Aurora and I collapse.

"Evander?"

"I'm going to keep watch." His eyes scan the woods for any signs of trouble.

"I'm sure it's all right. We haven't seen anyone all night." My exhaustion must be wearing down my better sense because I can't believe those words came out of my mouth after the fear that has gripped me for hours.

"I'll keep watch." He kneels next to me and presses his lips into my forehead. "Sleep, love."

"We should keep moving again soon." Aurora yawns, resting her shoulder and temple against the tree trunk. Even as she says that, her lids are going heavy.

"I'll sleep two hours, and then wake me. You can get two hours after," I say. Evander doesn't argue and simply nods.

The two hours pass in an instant. But the moment Evander shakes my shoulder, I am alert. After whispering that all is well, we trade places and I keep a vigilant watch over the woods.

In the daylight, they're as idyllic as I remember. Sunlight filters through the canopy, playing on ferns and dancing with butterflies. It's hard to imagine these woods as a place for violence or danger. But I know all too well how deceiving looks can be. How easily something sinister can hide beneath the veil of beauty.

After another two hours, Aurora and I are on Evander's back again. We keep moving.

I can feel the invisible thread that guides me through the woods. Through the trees, I can vaguely sense its origin. We're not that far from the last town of the lykin. Another day, another night of brief sleep and tired eyes watching out.

"We're almost to the forest's edge," I say optimistically.

It's late in the afternoon and I've otherwise lost track of the days and hours. All that I can focus on is getting out. Pushing through and escaping this nightmare.

"Truly?" Aurora shifts behind me, as if to get a better look.

"The final town of the lykin—the one shared with the vampir—will come into view soon," I tell her. "From there, we're out of the woods."

"And less protected."

"But out of lykin territory."

"Into a no-man's-land where no king rules that would stop Conri's pursuit of us." Her words are grave and exhaustion has me almost snapping at her for the pessimism. But I know she's right. And the worry comes from a good place.

"We aren't safe until we're behind the wall of the elves," I agree.

" If the elves agree to help us." She leans heavier against me.

"They will," I insist.

"How can you be so confident?"

I shift my grip on Evander, worried that my instinct on the matter will make me sound foolish. "Their queen, she's a witch like me—a human in a world that wasn't made for her. And the Elf King is from the line of first kings in this world, is he not?" I try to remember everything I've learned of Midscape over the past months.

"He is. His forefathers made both the Veil and, later, the Fade," Aurora admits.

"Then he'll know your importance. He won't turn his back on helping you." It's the same reasoning Evander gave me weeks ago when we were last in the woods. The logic our entire escape is pinned upon.

Aurora rests her cheek against my shoulder with a small sigh. "I am glad we met, Faelyn. I forgot what it was like to be so optimistic."

"No, you didn't." I categorically object to her sentiment. "You were the one to escape first. That meant you believed there could be a better future. You had hope. And what is hope if not the natural conclusion of optimism?"

She just hums, rather than wording a response.

A smile cracks my lips as the town comes into view through the trees. But the expression immediately drops as a shadow moves in front of the buildings. Then several more.

Evander stops and snarls.

The figures were wolflike, but some change into men and women. There are ten of them. But I suspect there are many, many more than that in the woods around us.

"Hope?" Conri's voice carries through the forest that suddenly seems to hold its breath. He steps forward, emerging from shadow and into a beam of sunlight that makes his usually softer features seem harsh. Angled. Dangerous. He holds out his arms. "Behold, your king, your hope. The best you can hope for is that he is merciful." Even though we're too far for me to see the details of his face, Conri angles his head slightly. I know he's looking down at me, his mouth twisted in disgust. I can feel it. "So, if I were you, I'd start begging. Now."