Chapter 25
“Giles?”I call out.
“Shh,” Shaye hisses. “Don’t make any noise.”
“But—”
“Ride next to Davien,” she commands, leaving no room for questioning. I do as I’m told.
“Shouldn’t we look for him?” I whisper.
“No. He knows what he needs to do. Just like we have to press on. We came here on a mission; one we can’t deviate from.”
I look back over my shoulder. My stomach knots at the idea of leaving him behind. Shouldn’t Shaye want to charge after him? Doesn’t she care about him? Her love for him is just like all the love I’ve ever known—it’s dependent entirely on his use to her. When he is no longer useful, or would be a detriment to her, he’s cast aside.
“We should pick up the pace,” Davien suggests. He turns to face me. “Stay close to me, all right?”
I nod. “You don’t have to worry about me, I can keep up.”
“Good.”
Whatever pleasure I would’ve gained from his confidence in my skill on a horse is quickly gobbled up by the worry that’s consuming me. It’s as if Giles was never there. I look behind us and the wet earth has completely filled in the hoof prints. We’re not even leaving a trail he could follow. I hold onto my compass tighter; it might be the only thing that keeps me from wandering these woods until the day I die.
Shaye charges ahead, and Davien and I stay close behind. The skeletal trees that whiz past us have me jumping in my saddle. They come out of nowhere, a shadowy blur, and then they’re gone.
My stomach knots. I hold onto the reins and the compass for dear life. I scan the mist for a sign of anyone or anything.
In the blur of shadowed trees, I see a humanlike form.
“Did you see that?” I ask them both.
“See what?” Davien contorts himself to look at where I’m pointing.
“There was a person there.”
“It was probably a tree.”
“I swear there was someone,” I insist.
“Keep riding,” Shaye snaps back at us. “Only focus on that.”
I check my compass. We’re still headed due north. “How much longer do we think this will be?”
“At least another hour of riding,” Davien answers grimly.
Another hour in the soupy fog. Another hour to give whatever took Giles a chance to get us too. Maybe Giles merely got separated. Maybe. But even as I try and think that way, I know that’s not the case. There’s no way he could’ve separated by accident.
There’s something out there, stealthy, silent, hunting us. Somehow managing to track us even through all the fog.
I shudder. If only I could use the magic that was within me. If only I were able to learn how to hone it, focus it, fight with it. Instead, all I can do is run and try and put that magic in Davien’s hands as fast as possible so we can save this land.
A blur of motion startles me. I pull hard on the reins and tilt, causing my horse to protest loudly, rearing and stomping. We slam into Davien and his mount, knocking them off course. But luckily, his feet stay in the stirrups.
“What the—”
Before he can be mad at me, a breeze follows the slash of a weapon as it cuts through the air in the space Davien and I just occupied. Black hair, like the shadows that radiate off the Butcher’s cowl, streaked with white that almost matches the pallor of her skin. My eyes meet Allor’s.
I hate that I was right.
