Tristan shifted in the chair beside him.
“What’s wrong?”
His gaze flickered to the sky.
It took Mark a second to understand. Are we being followed?
Angels, he mouthed.
Tristan shrugged his massive shoulders, but his jaw was clenched.
Crap. “Text Daniel.”
Tristan pulled out his phone and started typing. He sent messages and received messages over the next few minutes. At last, he set down his phone.
“What’s happening?”
Tristan sighed, loudly. “They have a plan to draw the angels to them instead.”
“A safe plan, or a Daniel plan?”
“What do you think?” Tristan muttered.
Our reckless brother can’t be too crazy with Surcy with him. Right?
Unwillingly, he smiled. Surcy had never been one to sit home quietly. She hated Daniel’s crazy plans, but she was always right there at his side. Mark wondered what she was thinking now.
Two hours later, they pulled off the main road and began the slow drive up the bumpy road. The dark woods had tried to swallow the tiny road over the years, but magic had carved out this path and wouldn’t allow the woods to reclaim it. When they came to the end of the road, Mark turned off the engine, praying that Daniel’s plan to distract the angels had worked.
“Where are we?” the woman asked, her voice loud in the darkness.
“This is as far as we can go by car. We're hiking to the top of this mountain.”
Tristan got out first, and a crisp wind surged in through the open door, catching Mark by surprise. He inhaled sharply and all the scents of green life hit him in a flash. Mark had to fight back the dark memories threatening to tug him under.
I can’t think of the past now. Not with the present looming over us.
Once he was out of the car, Mark helped the woman out. Tristan lifted the sleeping child and cradled her in his arms. The girl snuggled against Tristan's chest without waking.
Mark took the lead as they started up the path. The shadows were deep in the woods at night, but demons thrived in the dark. He took the woman’s hand and led her carefully over tangled roots and small plants. The necklace around his neck grew heavier with each step they took. A full, stunning moon filled the sky, so big and bright it was nearly blue.
When he was a child, he would have tried to touch a moon like this. He would have tried to pull it from the sky. Against his will, his mind went to his father.
Don’t think of him. Not yet.
But when he was surrounded by nature, it was nearly impossible not to. Every breath he took renewed him. His senses reached out and touched the plants and animals around them. His head felt clearer than it had in months and strength flowed within his blood.
The ancient woods of my youth are powerful.
And yet, as much as he loved this place, his visit here would be short. No matter that he served an important cause, his exile would have no end.
He moved faster. More sure. But forced himself to slow for the tired woman. He wanted to outrun the overwhelming feelings building within him, but no matter the distance, he couldn’t.
“Do you wish for us to go the rest of the way without you?” Tristan asked, his voice soft.
Mark took a painful breath. “No. I’m fine.”
As they continued forward, the shadows darkened. The trees grew bigger and thicker, full branches stretching far into the sky. This was a place of ancient magic, a place untouched by humankind for far too many years.
“Are we nearly there?” the woman asked, sounding out of breath.
“There’s still a long way to go,” Mark told her honestly.
“Then,” she huffed. “I need to take a break.”
The last thing Mark wanted to do was take a break, but he steered her to some boulders and sat her down. Tristan stood beside her, still holding the tiny girl. His expression was impossible to read in the darkness.
A tingle spread over Mark’s skin and he stiffened. He didn't see anyone as he looked around, but he knew something in the darkness watched them. “Do you feel that?”
“What?” Tristan asked, sounding confused.
“I don’t think we’re alone.”
Tristan was quiet for a long minute. “I don’t sense angels.”
Mark moved closer to his brother and the woman. “I don’t think they’re angels.”
Out of the darkness, a hundred red eyes flashed to life. The unmistakable scent of rotted death washed over him. He knew the creatures they faced. The guardians of the woods usually only attacked enemies.
He hadn’t realized that his father had identified him as an enemy, but now that he knew the truth, they had no chance at making it out alive.
21
Surcy teleported herself and Daniel to a wooded area just outside of town. They planned to take the opposite direction from where Mark and Tristan took the woman and child. Daniel grasped her arm, holding her steady on legs that shook.
“I told you not to take us too far.” He sounded angry. “You need to rest. This was just supposed to be a distraction.”
“I’m fine,” she grated out.
He grasped her arm more tightly. “Come on. Let’s start walking. We want to be a distraction, not end up in a fight.”
When she stumbled over a root, he swore and suddenly she was in his arms.
She gasped. “Put me down! I can walk!”
“The hell you can!”
She smacked his chest. “I’m an angel, not an infant!”
To her surprise, he laughed.
“What?” she said, trying to sound annoyed, even though the impact of his laugh was anything but annoying.
“Nothing.” But there was a smile in his voice.
“Tell me,” she demanded.
After a moment, he spoke. “It’s just… when you get mad, it reminds me of the old Surcy.”
She didn’t know what to say. “Was I mad at you a lot?”
He laughed again, the sound deep. It rumbled from his chest in a way that was far too comforting. “I think you liked putting me
