Nineteen
Ever since Sophie left him the night before, Eli was so distraught, so worried, he decided to lock himself away from the world until she came back. If she ever did. He climbed into his real tree and forced himself into a half-lucid trance, using words in the original language to make himself stoned. He drifted through the hours in a haze.
The bird thing over his heart began to throb. An image flashed in his mind. Sophie running through the forest. His heart clenched. Moonlight slid over her, illuminating her long hair, and flashing in her eyes. He woke on a gasp and climbed out of his trunk. It was night. The aquamarine moonlight shot down through the branches in sharp lines just as it had in his vision a moment ago. He held his breath and turned toward the mountain.
In the distance, he saw her. The full skirt of the white gown she wore rustled softly around her legs as she ran. She wasn’t running away, she was running to. To him. He’d never seen anything as beautiful in his life, even covered in blood, like a princess in a dark fairy tale. She said she wouldn’t come back until she was free. Even if she hadn’t said that he would know. Stress, worry, heartache clung to her since the first time he saw her. All of it was lifted now.
She bounded up to him and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. She kissed him. “It’s over,” she kissed him again. “Everything is going to be fine now.” She kissed him again.
“I never thought blood stains could look so sexy,” he chuckled. “I want you to tell me everything, but we should get out of the open. The wall still burns. My people are still on edge. If someone saw us together, it could mean real trouble.”
“Okay. Should we go to the cave?”
He looked up into his branches then back at her, smiling. “Why not just go up? You said you liked climbing trees.”
She pointed. “Up? In your branches?”
“Yes. I’ve fantasized about you up there. It should be concealed enough so long as we are quiet.”
Her smile widened and she shrugged. “Alright.”
She bent over and tore some of the front of her skirt so it wouldn’t hinder her climbing. She faced his trunk and hesitated then she turned back to him. “Is this a joke? You really want me to climb you?”
“You can do it. Grab my wood.”
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Still going there, huh?”
He blinked innocently at her. “I don’t know what you mean.”
She snorted and had to cover her mouth. “You’re terrible,” she said affectionately.
“Up, woman.”
She grabbed the lowest branch and began pulling herself up. He had been on the ground next to her but the next second he was above her, offering her his hand. She took it and he lifted her up into his arms at the top of his canopy. She smiled, looking around at everything. The faint glow in the leaves was so beautiful and soothing. She understood now how he had noticed her the day they met when she stood on the edge in front of the cave. The cliff face was right there in easy view.
“You’ve fantasized about having me here?”
“Yes. Quite a few times. Reality is better than I imagined.” He kissed her slowly until she relaxed all the way, leaning into him. “Tell me everything.”
The branches crossing under her feet began moving. She gasped and gave a little jump but he held her tightly.
“It’s okay. I’m just shifting. I just want you to be comfortable.”
His canopy changed around them. He eased her down until she was lounging, supported perfectly and amazingly comfortable. It continued to morph around her until she was sure no one would be able to see them even if they were standing directly under, looking up.
She smiled at him stretching out next to her. “Oh, I like this. It’s a little bizarre but wonderful too.”
“Comfortable?”
“Totally. This actually even feels better than my bed at home.”
“Good. You can spend the night then.”
“Spend the night? Are you asking me to go steady?”
He smirked. “At least. It’s not safe to go public yet, but I’d like to get there.”
“I’m glad I was able to break my cage, so we can have a chance to see where this might go.”
He kissed her again and then pulled back. “I was afraid when you came back things would be different between us. Like we might lose what we felt once your life wasn’t in such danger.”
“I wondered that as well. Do you feel different?”
“Hmm…I do, but nothing has been lost.” He touched the edge of the wing of her art on his collarbone. “I still have this. Your longing just under my skin. What I feel is stronger…there is still danger for us. We have to be careful. Do you feel different?”
She closed her eyes and exhaled. “As soon as I knew my family was safe, all I could think, all I wanted was to come to you. It’s problematic. I doubt that’s going to change. I don’t care.” She moved closer and he wrapped his arms around her. “I stand by what I said before…in your arms is my favorite place.”
“Tell me what happened.”
She sighed and recounted everything from the moment she left the cave to when she came back. “I guess it was silly to wear this, it just felt right. It feels awesome actually.”
“You weaponized your art. That’s fantastic…I don’t like that Tristan is still alive.”
“Me neither, trust me. But I see the point. My father said he’d let me kill him when the time came.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Do you think you will?”
“I don’t know. Maybe knowing he’s dead will be enough for me and I won’t feel the need to do the actual killing.” She shivered. “I killed Callen. I actually killed someone.”
“Does that scare you?”
“No. I didn’t get off on it. Although the fact I put this dress back on might suggest otherwise. I really just wanted you to see it. I wanted to prove to you I was strong enough. I wanted you to be proud of me.”
“I am. Believe me…Will you stay the night?”
“Yes.”
He held her but he didn’t move to take things to a new level. It felt wrong at the moment. Having her there with him like that was more than enough and it felt right to be still. To just be. To have her breathe easily against him. Exhaustion seemed to crash over her and she fell asleep.
Long into the night, he just stared at her. The oddity of them was real. He knew it. Why it was her, he couldn’t understand. A shifter-wolf. Tormented artist. Giving, tender, beautiful monster. So odd. So different from him. Yet, it was her. That was his truth. She was for him.
What did he have to offer her in return? How could he be to her what she was to him? How did he convince her the trouble of being together was worth it? He’d do his damnedest to convince her every day. Finally, he fell asleep, too.
∞∞∞
Tristan rubbed his face, over and over and over. All day and into the night, he gently tried to reshape his features. It wasn’t his doing at all, but through the hours, his face did slowly morph back to normal, his sight returning as his eyelids began to work again.
He blinked in the dingy torchlight of his cell in the underground. The faint whooshing sound of the fire as it burned on the torch and a slow dripping sound of water was all he could hear. He had no idea what time it was or how long he would have to wait.
His love for Sophie twisted around and around inside him. How had she done what she did to his face? How had she blinded him? She was gifted. The bitch had hidden that from him. He remembered the thing that stalked him in the forest and spoke with Sophie’s voice. Somehow she had made that. Or it was an extension of her.
He would make her beg for mercy. He would show her his real heart, how it was hers and always would be…then he’d kill her.
He straightened his clothes and combed his fingers through his hair, doing his best to look presentable and unruffled. He waited. Listening. He didn’t have to wait long.
They were quiet, but still, he heard them coming. Shreve’s guards rolled down the stairs and landed in a bloody mess in front of his cell. Seven of his followers came in, dressed in black, their faces covered. Satran leaned over one of the dead guards, grabbing the keys off his belt, and opening the cell door.
Tristan clapped him on the shoulder. “How many?”
“All of them. 68. They are all ready to do your bidding.”
“We take the top of the mountain first. Kill Sabra and her family. Except Sophie. I will kill her in my own time and way.”
Satran looked away.
“What?” Tristan demanded.
“Umm…Sophie’s gone.”
Tristan growled and rolled his eyes back in his head, beginning to pace. “She went to the Wood?”
“Yes.”
He sighed. “Okay. Change of plan. Get everyone ready to fight. Get all the shadow sand we’ve accumulated. We’re going to the Wood first. I need Sophie for everything to work.”
“Why?”
“Trust me. This will be two birds with one stone. We get Sophie back and we annihilate the entire dryad race. Not one is to be left. We kill them all. The sand will go back into the Wood as it was in the past when the wolves owned it. We all know the stories. Philippe understood the importance of controlling the Heart. Of claiming it. I will be a leader like him. I will restore his legacy. At dawn, we strike.”
“How do we get through the fire wall?”
“We cut it down, and if that doesn’t work, the sand will draw them out. We’ll use archers again. The arrows will go over the top. If we can’t get in at first, they will come out to meet us.”