Page 58 of Omen of ice
She folds her arms and stares.
“I mean, yes. I can. But no, that’s not what I’m getting at. I certainly don’t want to—no, actually, I do.” I grin. “You’re stunning, and I would jump at the chance, but at the moment, I’m referring to your other qualities.”
“My otherqualities?” She laughs. “I hoped you were almost out of wine.”
“Huh?”
“You’re drunk. Obviously.” She sighs and starts gathering the supplies. In the distance, a crow cries. The sound of it echoes through the woods, bouncing off the trees in an eerie wobble. “That explains why I feel such…chaos coming from you. You know, we really don’t have time for this.”
“You’re right. Sorry.” I grab the heaviest pack and sling it over my shoulder, hating myself just a little bit more. This link between us is growing by the hour. I’m not so delusional to think that she won’t see through me eventually. But right now?
Right now, there are other things to worry about. What happened in the past is ancient history. We need to focus on thenowif there’s any hope of seeing the future…
19
Keltania
Kadakard is the small expanse of neutral forest between what used to be the Autumn Lands and the Summer Lands. I imagine it once held flourishing plant life, singing birds, and crystal-clear streams beneath a flawless blue sky. The Derriga of old. A place where the Fae and humans—not just druids, but all branches of our family tree—once lived in harmony.
A place, if it was ever real, that is long gone.
Though not as badly as the area just beyond the Winter Lands border, the woods here are decayed. It’s a different kind of rot, though. Oddly beautiful. Through the trees, the crumbling remains of ancient housing stands like ghosts, covered in moss and vines. Inside, they’re no doubt rotting and foul, but on the outside, the structures are just as stunning as the forest. Like nature knew the previous inhabitants had been betrayed, and, out of pity, had taken them in, made them its own.
The path is overgrown but not unused. An assortment of tracks smatter the dirt, the edges of some of the leaves gnawed by passing wildlife. We see several mice, a rabbit, and an abnormally large crow, which seems to make a game of following us for a time, but nothing more.
“Do you know anything about these lands?”
Valen snorts. “Other than the fact that we shouldn’t be here?”
There’s something he’s not telling me. Every once in a while, I feel it filter through the link. It’s guarded and filmy but unmistakable. A foul, metallic tang on my tongue that reminds me of blood. Part of me knows he’ll tell me if he has to, but another part is so curious that I want to demand a confession. Knowing Valen, though, it’s likely something scandalous or paltry—maybe something he’s embarrassed I’ll find out. He should know by now that none of his antics surprise me. Still, there’s a whisper about it that scares me and makes me worry that it’s something far worse.
I slow as we approach a rabbit standing in the center of the path, and I wait, expecting it to scamper into the brush, but it sits motionless. Watching us.
“Tro.”
“What?”
Valen cocks his head and stops beside me. “What do you mean, what?”
“You just saidtro.”
“I did?” One brow lifts as the corner of his mouth quirks.
“Yes. You did.” After everything that’s happened in the last forty-eight hours, my patience is wearing thin. “My question is, why? Did you see something? Hear something?”
“I’m seeing what you are,” he says. “And one of us is hearing things, but I assure you it isn’t me.” He reaches around and plunges his hand into his sack. When he pulls out his flask, he gives it a shake. “You haven’t been stealing my wine, have you?”
“Bidge.”
My fists curl. “Don’t tell me you didn’t just say—”
His eyes go wide. “I didn’t—but I heard it.”
Our gazes drop to the rabbit still in the center of the path. The small creature is the only other living thing here. It hops once. Then twice.
“Tro bidge.”
Valen shifts from foot to foot. He spins in a slow circle, scanning the area, and when he sees what I have—that we are alone—he turns back to the bunny. “Did that rabbit just…”
