House of Lies and Sorrow (Fae of Rewyth #1)(42)

“Um, both.”

Malachi jumped over a massive log, then reached back to help me over it. I nodded my thanks and turned my attention back to Serefin.

He took a deep breath before saying, “There are many creatures in the woods. More than you could likely every fathom.”

“Great,” I mumbled. “That makes me feel much better.”

“It’s better if you just don’t think about it. The wall isn’t just to keep the fae out of the human lands, you know.”

“Well, that’s probably good considering it doesn't stop you at all.”

Serefin laughed.

“Let’s keep moving,” Malachi interrupted in a voice that made me shiver. “We have a lot of ground to cover before we cross the wall.”





CHAPTER 21





Malachi





I had no idea how Serefin and Jade were being so calm.

They were talking and laughing as we walked in the darkness. I couldn’t even breathe too loudly. I didn’t want to hear the sound of an approaching predator or another creature that lurked in the fae forests.

If we came all this way just for a damned deadling to murder Jade, I was going to be pissed.

“We’re approaching the vines,” Serefin called back to me.

“The vines?” Jade questioned.

“You’ll see,” I said to her. Serefin and I now led the way, and I kept my eyes open for the beginning of the massive greenery that would soon make it nearly impossible to walk.

“Are we getting close to the wall?” Jade asked.

“Closer,” I replied. “But the wall is covered for its own protection. The forest blocks almost any creature from even being able to lay eyes on it. We’ll get as close as we can before we have to fly.”

Jade cursed under her breath.

“What?” I teased. “Afraid of heights?”

“Nope,” Jade replied. I heard the attitude in her voice. “Just afraid of falling to my death. There’s a difference.”

Serefin laughed ahead of us.

“Trust me princess, I didn’t come all this way for you to fall to your death. You have nothing to worry about.”

She grunted next to me.

It took us no more than ten minutes before we were jumping over giant vines and weaving through the impossibly thick greenery.

“Alright,” Serefin announced. “This is where we begin to climb.”

“Climb?” Jade asked. Her breathing was heavy, and she propped her hands on her hips while she caught her breath. “You mean we have to climb up these things?”

She looked toward the sky, where the vines crawled and ducked around each other at an incline for as far as we could see.

Although I knew Jade couldn’t even see that much in the darkness.

“Yep,” I added. “But if you’d like to turn back instead, just let us know.”

Jade cocked her head sideways. “I’m ready to climb!” she chirped. Serefin gave me a sideways look as Jade moved forward and jumped on top of a large vine.

The vines were my favorite place to mess around as a kid. Deep in the forest, this place was a mystical playground. The vines were thick enough to stand on, but one misstep would send you plummeting to the ground below.

I didn’t bother telling Jade that part.

“You really think this is a good idea?” Serefin asked me as Jade jumped from one vine to another, slowly beginning the ascension to the massive wall that separated us from the human lands.

“Saints, no,” I replied. “But I don’t think that’s stopping anyone.”

“Hey!” she yelled. “Are you boys coming, or are you just planning on sitting back all day while I do this alone?”

Serefin clapped me on the shoulder. “Good luck with that, brother.”

I cursed under my breath before following after Jade, easily leaping from vine to vine.

Jade was slower, of course. As fae, Ser and I had an easy advantage. But we slowed our pace down, giving Jade enough space to lead the way.

The vines slowly transformed from large, thick logs to smaller vines. Jade noticed this, too, and began crawling on all fours as she used her hands to swing across.

She didn’t look down once.

“You’re actually not bad at this, princess,” I chirped as she easily leapt from one vine to another.

Jade tossed her hair behind her back and laughed. “Did you expect otherwise, prince?”

“I can’t imagine humans have much experience with foliage like this. Certainly not in that forest of yours.”

Jade shook her head. “You have no idea what I’ve had to do to survive. Hunting in that forest was just the beginning.”

I shut up as we moved forward. For whatever reason, thinking of Jade struggling in the human lands put a knot in my stomach. I knew the humans were suffering, but there was more that Jade wasn’t telling me. There was more that she wasn’t comfortable telling me. And I didn’t like that one bit.

Yes, she had to hunt so she wouldn’t starve to death. It was messed up that a young woman would have to do something as dangerous as that to feed her family. But from what I had heard, her father was the opposite of help.

Jade’s foot slipped and she let out a scream as her body slammed against the thick vine beneath us.