What Lies Beyond the Veil (Of Flesh & Bone, #1)(28)
9
I opened my eyes to light. Despite all my questions of whether or not our world had been plunged into eternal darkness, the sun rose in the morning. Illuminating the forest with sparkling light, it made the evergreen needles of the canopy around us glimmer.
I resisted the urge to rub the sleep out of my eyes, thanks to the dirt caking my hands. I felt far too tired after the long and arduous effort of falling back asleep after the near encounter with The Hunt.
Moving to my hands and knees, I kept my body low as I crept out of our hiding place beneath the tree roots. Careful not to disturb Brann while he slept, I pushed to my feet in the small clearing and looked around the woods. I hadn’t been able to see a thing the night before, but I’d crawled around in the very dirt beneath my feet. I’d plunged my hands beneath the leaves when looking for Brann and found nothing but decaying foliage and wood rot.
I climbed out of the alcove that had offered us refuge, looking around cautiously as I moved. My steps led me to the center of the meadow, spinning slowly as I looked at the fresh bloom of wildflowers growing from the trunk of the fallen tree we’d taken shelter under.
They couldn’t have existed the night before, with the chilly nights and frost on the horizon, and yet somehow here they were. A verdant trail dotted with marigold and lavender followed the path the Wild Hunt had walked, the new blooms opening for the first time and turning to face the sun while I watched. I tipped my face up to feel the heat on my skin, smiling bitterly at the realization that the Fae had somehow chased away the threat of winter with the rising sun. The frost that had felt so near in the days leading up to the end of the year harvest was gone, giving me hope that I’d be able to find some kind of shelter and warmer clothes before the snow came.
I turned slowly, taking in the beauty of the woods briefly before I turned my gaze back to Brann’s sleeping form. His chest rose and fell evenly, rhythmic and without a care in the world as he momentarily slept away his worries. I knew the instant he woke, he’d remember all that had happened and all that he’d given up for me.
My bottom lip trembled as I watched him for a beat, my breath shaking as it escaped my lungs, and I turned in the direction I thought we’d been running the night before.
When he woke up, he would hate me for what I’d done, but at least he would be alive.
I put one foot in front of the other, focusing on the only thing I could do when the future seemed impossible. When living was so far away from running and hiding in the woods until the day I died. That one, next step was the only thought in my head, even as the fall of tears wet the front of my cloak.
“You won’t last a day on your own,” he said behind me, making me spin in place to see him sitting up and alert, watching me with a disgruntled scowl as if I’d failed a test he’d presented me with. “For one, you’re going back the way we came. Second, you’re about as quiet as a rock troll.”
“Oh, shut it,” I said, my lungs wheezing with laughter as he pushed to his feet and approached.
He stopped in front of me, wrapping trembling arms around me and pulling me into his chest. I loosed a sigh, sinking into the comforting touch and sniffling back my tears. This felt like goodbye, like he understood there was little choice but to let me continue on my own.
When everything was stacked against me, and my odds of surviving and remaining free were practically nonexistent, the knowledge that maybe Brann and my mother could find a new semblance of normal with the Veil down gave me comfort. The Fae had no interest in them, and they wouldn’t join the ranks of fighters who would get in the Hunt’s way.
“I’m scared,” I admitted, lifting my hands to wrap around his upper arms.
He pulled back enough to nod at me in confirmation. Only a fool wouldn’t be terrified of death or the unknown, and everything we’d been familiar with up until yesterday was gone. Even the humans who hadn’t been marked would never be the same.
Not with the threat of the Fae walking among us.
“I’m afraid, too,” he admitted, giving me a bittersweet smile. “But whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”
“Brann,” I objected, shaking my head from side to side. His willingness to follow me was foolish at best, deadly at worst.
“I will not leave you to die alone. Don’t you dare ask that of me.” His face was stern, the intent clear in the lines of his oval face. He shook his head in a final warning, his shaggy hair swaying from side to side.
“Maybe I should have just let them find me,” I said, heaving out a sigh. Even saying the words, there was no doubt that Brann would refuse them. They were also true, the right thing to do. “At least then you would be home with Mom.”
“Listen to me, Estrella. I meant what I said last night. No matter what happens, you must never allow the Fae to take you to Alfheimr. Promise me,” he said, his voice dropping low in something like a plea.
The vehemence in his voice made me pause, staring at him in confusion. Of all the people in Mistfell who cursed the Fae and all that they stood for, Brann had never uttered a word about them. He wasn’t drawn to the Veil in the same way as me, and he now insisted upon keeping a healthy distance from all things related to the monsters beyond the Veil. “What are you—”
“Nothing is ever easy, and nothing is as it seems. If it looks like you’re going to lose the fight, you end it,” he said, pulling a small dagger from his boot. He tore off a strip of cloth from his cloak, shoving the sleeve of my dress up my arm until he could secure the sheath against the inside of my forearm with the torn fabric. “You do not risk losing this using it on anyone else. This is for you.”