Did you Can you compel someone like that?
Though it was tempting to terrorize the wide-eyed human into keeping her distance, he needed her to trust him. So he went with the truth. I can mindspeak with my blood kin and, in this realm at least, I can compel most females when Im touching them. Seeing her expression go blank and scared, he said quietly, Reda. Look at me. He waited until she focused, waited until her eyes truly met his, before he said, I swear on my honor that I havent mindspoken you. Though, honestly, not for lack of trying. Maybe its a realm thing, maybe something to do with my fathers spell, but I dont seem to have any effect on you.
He hadnt meant it to come out that way, but a faint rueful spark lit in her shimmering eyes and she unknotted her hands from his sweater and smoothed the wool with her palms. I wouldnt say that, exactly. But about what happened back there.
It wont happen again. I didnt even realize I had my secondaries downits been a long time since Ive been around another blood drinker, never mind one who was feeding like that. He swallowed. I overloaded on her magic for a few seconds there, and you caught the edge of it. Like I said, it wont happen again, I promise. He paused. But I want you to promise me something, too. I need to know that youre not going to take off on me again like that. You need to stick with me, and if I say somethings dangerous, I need you to believe me. Because the dreams say that were in this together. And whether or not you believe in all this, I do. And from my perspective he nodded to the ragged hole you almost just became plant food. So promise me that youll stick with me and let me do my best to keep you safe.
I promise, she said immediately, somewhat to his surprise. And then her eyes filled in earnest, welling up and spilling over. Voice quivering, she said, This is real, isnt it?
His heart twisted for her, but there was nothing to be gained by lying, so he nodded slowly. She nodded in return, then leaned her forehead against his throat. And burst into tears.
REDA HATED CRYING. It only ever made her feel stupid and sore afterward, not better. And if there was anything she hated more than crying, it was crying in front of someone else.
Now, though, she didnt have a choice. The emotions were too huge and overwhelming, the situation too strange, for her to hold in the tears. They erupted from her in racking, tearing sobs that hurt her throat, burned her eyes and left her helpless to do anything but hang on to the nearest solid object.
She cried over the memories she had turned away from, the beliefs she had lost. Because if this was real, if she was really here, really in another realm where magic worked and werewolves and vampires existed, then her father and the others had been wrong, her maman, right. She sobbed for herself, in fear and reaction. And she wept in anticipation of failure, because she didnt know what to do, how to help Dayn or even if she was really supposed to. She heard the whispered words: To my sweet Alfreda on her eighth birthday, with the rest of the story to come when you turn sixteen. Maybe she would have known what to do if she had gotten the rest of the story. Now, though, she was lost, adrift.
Not entirely, though. Because she was anchored to a big, solid object.
Dayn was the one with the bigger problems, yet he didnt protest her tears or tell her they needed to hurry. Instead, he molded her against the strong warmth of his body, stroked her hair and was just there, in a way nobody had been for her in a long, long time. And when the tears finally subsided, leaving an achy hollowness behind, he waited another minute before he eased away from her. Im sorry you got dragged into this. Well go to Candidashes the wolfyns wisewomanand see if she knows of a way to unlock the standing stones. The witch cant be the only one who knows that trick.
Candida. The wolfyn. The little man said something about finding the pack.
Theyre more than a match for one gnome. But he moved a few steps away, to where the intertwined roots formed a path of sorts. Then he turned back and held out a hand. Come on. Lets go see the wisewolfyn. Shes a friend. Shell help.
Understanding shimmered through Reda on a surge of cold, numbing nerves. Because standing there on the pathway with his hand outstretched, painted monochromatic by the moonlight, he suddenly became one of the last woodcuttings from her book. The scene came after the woodsman had killed the wolf and saved the girl, and brought her back to the edge of the village where she lived. Then, instead of walking away, he held out his hand and asked her to come with him.
In the book, it was the beginning of a new life. Here, it was a moment of truth. A choice between conscience and cowardice.
She took a deep breath. Do you know the story of Rutakoppchen? When he nodded, she continued, I had a copy when I was a little girl. My mother told me it was the only one in the world. She told him the story of her book from her eighth birthday to that afternoon in MacEvoys shop. And her inner wimp made every word an effort. He had seemed ready to send her home, and now she was buying in deeper.
What the hell was she doing?
When she finished, Dayn cleared his throat. Thank. The. Gods. His voice was rough with emotion. The magic brought you and the book back together after all those years because it was time. But then he paused, the light of hope that had taken up residence in his eyes dimming somewhat. Without you knowing everything your mother would have told you, though, or even how she was related to the realm, it may not be enough.
Hes right, wimpy logic said. You should go home, leave him to his quest. Youre not prepared for this place, and youre not a save-the-world kind of girl.
Instead, she said, Theres more. In my book, youre the woodsman.
She hadnt seen him truly surprised before, she realized. Me?
Your perfect likeness, even down to the pattern on your shirt. And youre not the only thing I recognize hereyour cabin, this forest, its all in therebut the standing stones arent.
He went suddenly fierce. Intent. There are rumors of vortices showing up in other places. Nothing confirmed, though.
Taking a deep breath, she said in a rush, The inner back cover was carved with a picture of a huge natural stone archway between two cliffs. There was a river at the base, trees all around it and a waterfall coming down from one side. She was simultaneously terrified and relieved by the look on his face. You know where it is, dont you?
He nodded, shoulders easing. About a day and a half away. Two days, tops. Its called the Meriden Arch. His breath left him in a rush and he closed the distance between them. Thank the gods. He took her hand, lifted it and kissed her knuckles. And thank you, for remembering.
But he wasnt really thanking her for remembering, was he? He was acknowledging that she could have held on to her ignorance, refusing to recognize that she knew more than she thought.
She glanced down at their linked hands. Im not brave.
Being brave isnt about being unafraid. Its about functioning through the fear.
Like I saidnot brave. I freeze. I dont mean to, but things happen and I juststand there.
If Candida knows the spell to unseal the standing stones, you dont have to come with me. You can go home from here, your duty fulfilled.
It was oh, so tempting. But at what cost? If this was all real, then so was the threat to his homeland and siblingsand to Dayn himself. And although rationality screeched at the thought, she was still drawn to him, even knowing he was a vampire. If there was a chance she could help him, she wanted to try. So she forced the words past logic and reason, saying, Along the bottom of the picture was carved words that translated to Here they can part, each to their own. Even my maman said it was an odd ending for the story, since the woodcutter and the girl go off together.
It was oh, so tempting. But at what cost? If this was all real, then so was the threat to his homeland and siblingsand to Dayn himself. And although rationality screeched at the thought, she was still drawn to him, even knowing he was a vampire. If there was a chance she could help him, she wanted to try. So she forced the words past logic and reason, saying, Along the bottom of the picture was carved words that translated to Here they can part, each to their own. Even my maman said it was an odd ending for the story, since the woodcutter and the girl go off together.
He nodded slowly. It wasnt about themit was about us. We both need to go there to get backyou to the human realm, me to the kingdoms.
The thought shouldnt have brought a twinge.
She nodded. I should warn you, though. A good manmy partner, my frienddied a few months ago because I froze at the wrong time. You cant trust a coward like me to have your back.
If he had knee-jerked the youre not a coward response, she wouldnt have listened, just as she hadnt to anyone else who had said the words. She knew what she was. But instead, eyes darkening, he brought up his free hand to touch her cheek, as if brushing away a tear she hadnt shed. Sweet Reda, youve had a time of it, havent you? Dont worry about having my back. I can take care of us both.
Her heart shuddered at the quiet promise, which was backed up by the implacable determination in his eyes. He had so much riding on him already, yet was stepping up to take more because she needed him to, which made him a better manvampire or notthan the others in her life, save for the partner she had lost.
Dayn, too, was lost. But he was working to get himself found.
Did she make the move? Did he? She wasnt sure of that, wasnt sure of anything except that their lips were suddenly a breath apart.
This was the moment she should hesitate, she knew, the time when freezing in place would be the smarter, safer thing to do. Here, in this strange realm, in an almost-embrace with a man who was nothing like her, she should back down, back away. But the heat that raced through her made her feel suddenly alive, when she had been numb for so long that she had mistaken it for living. And they had their endpoint already: the Meriden Arch, forty-eight hours from now.