A Dawn of Onyx (The Sacred Stones, #1)(42)

Easy.

I slipped behind a handful of trees and inspected the forest floor. The grass was high and unkempt, and it was hard to see among all the clovers and dead leaves and tiny crawling bugs that looked like little seeds.

But around the corner of one thick oak, something reflected a ray of sunlight. I flicked my eyes back to Kane, but he and Griffin and the others were still looking around the area of the attack, discussing what they thought had happened.

I ducked behind the oak and knelt to the ground. Sure enough, slimy, shimmering goop was slathered over the roots of the tree. Unless this was the scene of some kind of unicorn intimacy that I did not want to be privy to, burrowroot would grow here the night of the eclipse. Adrenaline zipped through my system. After all these years, I had finally found something that could actually help to heal my mother.

I stood up and tried to memorize the area. About twenty paces off of the clearing, below the largest oak tree, and the clearing was thirty minutes on horseback into the forest, to the east of the keep.

I could find this spot again.

“I think we’re done here,” I heard Kane say. “Arwen, what are you doing?”

I stiffened and rounded the oak. “Just looking at the flowers.”

The soldiers heeded orders and hopped back atop their steeds. I let out a sigh at the realization that I was headed back to Shadowhold. It was a gorgeous day, the woods no longer felt so terrifying, and I would give almost anything to skip another spring afternoon spent in my room.

Kane’s gaze held mine. “What is it?”

My face flushed. What a silly thing to concern myself with. “Nothing.” I made my way back to our horse. But Kane stayed put.

“Try me.”

I observed him cautiously. He had been uncharacteristically kind to me today. I was sure it was a ploy of some sort, but maybe, just maybe, my attempt at charm had worked better than I hoped.

Here went nothing. “I wanted to… stay. For a bit.”

“Stay,” he repeated. “In the woods?”

I nodded brightly. “It’s beautiful out. And nice and warm, finally. Do you think there’s a pond somewhere around here?” I spun around and listened for the telltale gurgling of a babbling brook.

Kane’s mouth twitched up at the corners. He was weighing, debating. Then, he said simply, “Fine, let’s go find you a pond. Griff, we’ll meet you back at the keep.”

Griffin made no move to leave.

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back in one piece,” I said with a grin. I couldn’t help the spark of joy from my gamble paying off.

“I should bloody hope so. We only have one king,” he said. There wasn’t a trace of humor. There never was with the commander.

He held firm, staring at the two of us until Kane said pointedly, “You heard the woman. I’ll be in safe hands.”

Griffin’s hard face was a mask of reluctance, but still, he turned his horse and trotted off, leaving Kane and me alone in the woods.

Melodic, chirping birds swooped overhead, and a warm breeze brushed my hair into my face. I combed it back self-consciously.

Kane’s eyes lingered on me.

The clearing was suddenly far too small for the both of us.

I fidgeted under his gaze. I had no idea what to do with my hands. I wondered if he could tell.

This had been a truly terrible idea. What was I thinking?

“Come on.” He broke the strange energy with a laugh, and headed off through a worn path in between the trees. I followed close behind him, my heart still thundering in my chest.

I turned back to spy his horse grazing in the glade where we left him.

“Will your horse stay put there?”

“Yes.”

“What if one of the creatures that live out here finds him?”

Kane stepped over a protruding tree root and motioned for me to do the same. “He’ll be fine. He’s very fast.”

“What if one of them finds us?”

He stopped short before spinning to face me. “You have a lot of questions all of a sudden. Are you nervous?”

Yes. “No, why would I be nervous?”

“I thought you were terrified of me,” he said, his eyes gleaming.

I am. But… “If you were going to hurt me, I think you would have already.” The truth of the words surprised me.

He flashed a knowing smile, before trudging ahead.

He was too pretty. What a disaster.

Time to change the subject. “What was that back there in the clearing?”

I felt his energy change like a dense cloud passing over a summer sun. His pace slowed but he didn’t look back at me as he spoke.

“Two of our men never made it back from where I sent them. A guard found their remains this morning.”

Fear coiled in my gut, slick and slippery.

“You think they were killed by something that lives out here? An animal?” A monster?

“It’s complicated.”

Another non-answer. I don’t know what I expected. I wished I could see his face as I followed him down the narrow path. Aside from the rustling of leaves and chirping of birds the forest was blanketed in a quiet calm. The tension that had been twisting along my nerves since Griffin and his men left intensified.

I breathed deeply through my nose. I couldn’t ask to go back now; it would show too much weakness.