this rope.” She bent over and started feeling around on the ground.
“No,” David said. “Let’s just get back to my car. I have a knife in there. That’ll take a lot less time in the long run.”
“Do you think you can find it?”
“I better, otherwise it won’t matter that we survived the river.”
They tramped wearily upstream for several minutes before things started to look familiar. “There,” Laurel said, pointing at the ground. She could just see her white flip-flop sitting serenely on the bank, the current lapping at the toe. “I must have lost it when Scarface picked me up.”
David paused, staring at the shoe. “How did they do that, Laurel? He picked me up in one hand!”
Laurel nodded. “Me too.” And she didn’t want to tell him just how heavy the two rocks had been. “The car should be this way,” she said, gesturing with her head. She wanted to leave the river behind and never come back.
“Do you want this?” David asked, bending to pick up her shoe.
Laurel’s stomach twisted as she looked at the scuffed white sandal. Her feet throbbed, but she couldn’t bear the thought of wearing that shoe again. “No,” she said firmly. “Throw it in.”
With no moon to guide them, they picked their way very slowly down the path. Twice they had to backtrack, but it was less than half an hour before David knelt beside his car, searching for the spare key in the wheel well. “I told my mom this was a stupid idea,” David said, his teeth chattering again. “But she assured me that someday I’d be glad she put it there.” He retrieved the silver key and held it in his trembling hands. “I don’t think this is exactly what she had in mind.” He slipped the key into the trunk and they both sighed as it clicked and the lid of the trunk rose. “I’m buying her flowers when I get home,” he promised. “Chocolates too.”
David dug clumsily into his roadside survival kit and pulled out a small pocket knife. It took a few minutes to hack away the thick ropes, but it was a million times better than trying to do it with a rock. He started the car and turned the heat on full blast as they slipped into the front seats, holding their hands up to the vents and trying to dry their still-damp clothes.
“You should take your shirt off and put on my jacket,” Laurel said. “It’s not much, but at least it’s dry.”
David shook his head. “I can’t do that; you need it.”
“My body adjusts to whatever temperature it’s in — always has. You’re the one who needs to be warm.” She watched David’s face shift as he warred between his chivalrous ideals and his desperate need to warm up.
Laurel rolled her eyes and grabbed the jacket off the backseat. “Put it on,” she ordered.
He hesitated, but after a few seconds he peeled off his wet shirt and replaced it with her jacket.
“Do you think you can drive?”
David sniffed. “I can drive far enough to get us to the police station. Will that work?”
Laurel stopped David’s hand on the gearshift. “We can’t go to the police.”
“Why not? Two men just tried to kill us! Trust me, that’s what the cops are for.”
“This is bigger than the cops, David. Did you forget how those two men threw us into the river like we weighed nothing? What do you think they’d do to a couple of cops?”
David stared at his odometer but said nothing.
“They’re not human, David. And anyone who
“So what do we do?” David asked, his voice sharp. “Ignore them? Slink home with our tails between our legs?”
“No,” Laurel said very quietly. “We go to Tamani.”
Relieved tears stung Laurel’s eyes as she passed the tree line and felt the familiar comfort of the forest envelop her. She pushed her tangled hair from her face and fruitlessly tried to run her fingers through it as she limped down the dimly lit path toward the stream. She was so exhausted, she could barely put one bruised foot in front of the other. “Tamani?” she called quietly. Her voice seemed unnaturally loud on this dark, still night. “Tamani? I need help.”
Tamani fell into step with her so quietly she didn’t notice him until he spoke. “Can I assume the boy in the vehicle is David?”
She stopped walking and her eyes drank him in. He wasn’t in his armor tonight but a long-sleeved black shirt and fitted pants that blended almost seamlessly into the shadows. The night was so dark she could just see the outline of his face, every angle soft and exquisitely handsome. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, but she held back. “Yes, it’s David.”
His eyes were soft but probing. “Why did you bring him?”
“I had no choice.”
Tamani raised an eyebrow. “At least you told him to stay in the car.”
“I am trying, Tamani. But he was my only way to get down here tonight.”
Tamani sighed and looked back down the path where Laurel had left David in the car. “I have to admit — I’m mostly just glad you’re here. But the forest is full of faeries tonight — it’s not a good time.”
“Why are they here?”
“There’s been a lot of…enemy activity in the area lately. We’re not sure why. That’s all I can say.” He shot a quick look back up the path. “Let’s get farther in.” He took her hand and continued down the path.
The first step shot pain up her leg as a stick dug into her scraped foot. “Stop, please.” Her voice was a strangled plea, but she was beyond feeling embarrassed tonight. Tears slid down her face as Tamani stopped and turned.
“What’s wrong?”
But now that the tears had started, Laurel couldn’t turn them off. The panic and fright of the evening washed over her as tangibly as the current of the Chetco and she gasped for breath.
Then Tamani’s arms were around her, his chest warm despite the cold air. His hands stroked up and down her back until he touched the gash where she’d been cut by the window and she couldn’t hold back a groan. “What happened to you?” Tamani whispered in her ear as his hands pushed through her hair.
Laurel’s fingers clutched the front of his shirt as she tried to keep her balance. Tamani bent and swept his arms underneath her, lifting her off her aching feet and curling her against him. She closed her eyes, hypnotized by the graceful cadence of his feet that never seemed to make a sound. He walked a few minutes down the path and settled her onto a soft spot on the ground.
A spark flared and Tamani lit what looked like a softball-sized brass orb. Flickering light shone out of hundreds of tiny holes, filling the small clearing with a gentle glow. Tamani slid his pack from his shoulders and knelt beside her. Without saying a word, he placed a finger under her chin and turned her face one way, then the other. He moved on to her arms and legs, murmuring at the scrapes and abrasions he found. Gently, he lifted her feet onto his lap and Laurel caught the familiar scents of lavender and ylang-ylang as he rubbed something warm into her tattered soles. It tingled and almost burned for a minute before cooling and soothing the stinging ache.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?” Tamani asked after treating all the injuries he could see.
“My back,” Laurel said, turning onto her side and lifting her shirt.
Tamani released his breath in a small whistle. “This one’s pretty bad. I’ll need to bind it.”
“Will that hurt?” Laurel said slowly as warmth from the small orb seemed to wrap around her body.
“No, but you’ll have to be careful for a few days while it grows back together.”
Laurel nodded and settled her cheek onto her arm.
“Where did you get these, Laurel?” he asked as his soft fingers worked on the deep gash. “Faeries aren’t known for being clumsy.”
Laurel’s tongue felt thick and slow as she tried to explain. “They tried to kill us. David and me.”
“Who?” His voice was soft, but Laurel could feel the intensity behind his words.
“I don’t know. Something ugly, inhuman. Men who convinced my mom to sell the land.”
“Ugly?”
Laurel nodded. She closed her eyes as she told him about her dad and Jeremiah Barnes, her words starting to slur.
“A toxin?” Tamani pressed as her eyes grew heavier and his voice seemed farther and farther away.
“Papers are supposed to be signed tomorrow,” Laurel breathed, forcing herself to relay the most important
