A Thief of Nightshade(34)
bear and fear for both Jullian and Aubrey, he resigned himself to sleep despite the disquiet in his heart.
“We shouldn’t go this way,” Given said breathlessly.
Aubrey had urged her to save her strength, but Aislinn wasn’t listening to Given’s directions.
“Wicked
things
dwell
in
the
mountains. We must go another way.”
Aislinn turned around. “The Glass Mountains are the quickest way to the Valley of Neath. I thought you said you knew where the Winter Court was?”
Given leaned against a tree. “A safer path goes around the southern side of the mountains and to the northern part of the valley. Please believe me.”
Aubrey was really close to telling Aislinn what Given had done for her, but a sideways glance from Given changed her mind.
“No,” Aislinn barked. “Look, it’s not that I don’t believe you. I know that you think you know where you’re going. We just don’t have time for you to be wrong.”
Aubrey felt exhausted. Given had been right the night before—the pain was gone but her wounds were still there. She touched Aislinn to get his attention off Given. “Have you been there—the Winter Court?”
Lipsey answered for him. “No, he told me that he would never go there.
Didn’t you, Aislinn?”
Aislinn frowned. “Yeah, Lips, I sure did. And look at us now. No, I haven’t been there; a totally irrelevant fact because I still know where I’m going.”
They walked in silence for another hour, the trees of the forest having grown sickly looking and diseased. It made Aubrey nervous. Finally, Given tried again.
“So, Aislinn, should I assume you’re talented with those claws of yours?”
“Didn’t know you were interested,”
he smirked. “Sorry, you’re not really my type.”
Given
blushed,
unmistakably
embarrassed. She took a calculated breath. “Would Goblins suit you better?
Because we are heading right toward their keep at the base of the mountains. And you know that isn’t what I meant.”
“No, we aren’t. We’re going to a passage east of it. And in consideration of your former career, perhaps you shouldn’t word things so loosely.” He paused before adding,
“Speaking
of
your
profession, if I paid you, would you stop talking?”
Given stopped walking, the pain in her eyes speaking volumes. She closed her eyes and chewed on her lower lip. “Your hatred blinds you, Aislinn. If you want to wallow in it, then by all means do so, but bear in mind who you bring with you and how your brother would respond to learning the manner with which you’ve regarded Aubrey’s safety.”
Aislinn didn’t seem to know what to say. He grumbled, then shook his head.
“What
a
lovely
speech;
touching,
sentimental, poetic and all that crap, but it doesn’t change that we are already going the right way. Follow your own path, Shade, if you don’t want to follow mine, but we aren’t discussing it anymore.” He turned without another word.
Given shook her head, apparently deciding that nothing more could be done to change his mind.
The woods continued to get worse, darker and deeper despite the time of day they were traveling. The air held a stench of rot and decay and though they had long since left the swamp, the air still had a moist, putrid feel to it that seemed to cover them like a layer of clothing.
Aubrey shuddered as they passed the remains of a tree that lay gnarled and dead on the ground, as though it were the corpse of a decaying animal.
For the first half of the day, Aislinn had looked confident, but the later it grew, the more worried his expression became.
Though he would never say it, Aubrey knew he had started to second-guess his decision.
Aubrey popped her ears, finally feeling the increase in altitude. “We’re getting close, aren’t we?”
Given
nodded
but
didn’t
say
anything; beyond worried, she looked positively terrified.
The hair on Lipsey’s back was standing on end, his tail bushed out. He clung to Aislinn’s fur. “Do Goblins eat squirrels?”
“No, Lips. Besides, we aren’t going to be running into any Goblins. Just relax.”
Given suddenly stopped walking.
“Sssh. Listen,” she whispered.
Aislinn and Aubrey both stopped, but the sound of snapping twigs and footsteps continued, sending a sickening wave of nausea through Aubrey.
Given’s eyes widened. “Don’t move.
You’ve no chance at all if you run.”
A wicked laugh started to their left and swelled as other voices joined it, rolling through the forest like a chorus of demons.
“What do we do?” Lipsey asked quietly.
Aislinn carefully rose on two legs.
“Lips, climb high into the trees. Get as far away from here as possible. We’ll find you again, I swear it.”
“No, Aislinn, I don’t—” he argued.
“Go!” Aislinn tore him off his shoulder and tossed him into the leaves.
Aubrey watched Lipsey disappear into the limbs high above them.