I resist moving closer, not about to look too curious and alert them that Will and I aren’t strangers.
“He’s young,” Miram muses. “Cute, too.”
Az snorts. “For a human, I guess.”
“For a human,” Miram agrees, sending me a sly glance. “What do you think, Jacinda? You’re the expert on cute humans. How does he compare?”
Heat tingles in my face, and I fight to look blase, calm in the face of her jibes.
“That’s enough, Miram,” Cassian snaps.
“Look,” Corbin quickly says, “they’re taking him into the house.” He laughs low. “That guy won’t know what hit him.”
Will doesn’t look in my direction as he’s led inside the cottage, but I know he’s as aware of me as I am of him. My entire body hums in response to him. What was he thinking? He had to know how dangerous it would be to come anywhere near the pride. The truth is painful to face.
Everyone goes inside except the two guards. They remain just outside the door. If all goes smoothly, Nidia will do what she does best, assisted by Jabel. Tamra, too, I suppose. Then the panicked thought hits me that Jabel’s talent
I twist my fingers until they ache. There’s nothing I can do except wait. And hope he remembers again.
And what then? He knows where the pride is… where I am. He’s seen me. He’ll come back. If he’s caught again they’ll know he’s different — that shading won’t work on him.
“C’mon.” Cassian takes my arm. “I’ll walk you home.”
I resist only a moment. Of course I should go. The last thing I should do is linger here and give anyone cause to suspect that the trespasser means something to me.
Turning, I let Cassian lead me away. One thought pounds through my head in beat with my thundering heart: He kept his promise. He came for me.
Unable to help myself, I start to look over my shoulder, but Cassian’s voice stops me. “Don’t look back, Jacinda.”
I force my gaze forward. He’s right. The fact that Will remembers and came for me changes nothing. I can’t go with him. I won’t let my heart overrule logic. Nothing has changed. We’re a dangerous combination. Like fire and oil.
Cassian says nothing else until we reach my house. “Where’s your mother?” he asks.
I motion for him to wait as I go check on Mom. She’s asleep with the television on in her room, her features relaxed in a way I never see anymore. I quietly ease past the bed and turn off the TV. Closing her door, I return to where Cassian paces the living room.
His liquid-dark gaze cuts to me. “How did he find—”
“I’m sure it was simple luck. He got too close to the township and patrol picked him up,” I quickly insert, not wanting him to realize that Will might be resistant to shading.
He shoots me an exasperated look. “Jacinda, he’s no innocent hiker.”
“Yeah. I know.” I fold my arms across my chest. “He’s a hunter.” A heavy silence stretches as I stare at him. “So why didn’t you say anything?”
“How do you know I won’t?”
“Will you?”
He sets his jaw at a stubborn angle, like he wants to say yes, but then he blows out a deep breath and briefly looks away, and I can’t tell whether he’s angrier with me or himself.
“So you can hate me? So I can watch them kill him? I would get no satisfaction in that.”
I can only stare, no longer so surprised that Cassian might truly care for
“You have to let him go, Jacinda.”
I nod, but the motion is painful, makes my temples throb. “I know.”
“But
I meet his gaze, understanding dawning slowly. “You want me to speak with him?”
“Once he’s a good distance from the pride, you need to confront him and explain to him that it’s over between the two of you. I know he might be confused after being shaded, but you need to get through to him.”
I can’t look at him just then, not with what I suspect — that Will
Cassian steps closer and turns my chin to look at him. “Tell him to convince his family that this area is dry. That there aren’t any draki here anymore. We’ve moved on. They’ll listen to him.” The implication hangs there unsaid.
I nod, a lump clogging my throat.
“C’mon.” He opens the front door to the misty night.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“They’ll probably drop him in the usual spot. I want you waiting for him when he comes out.”
Chapter 11
I sip silent breaths from where I hide in a tree, the bark a rough scratch on my bare legs, needles poking me on all sides as I stare down at the spot where intruders who’ve been shaded are always dropped. It’s not far from the public road that carves deep into the mountain, the only official road this high. My heart still thunders in my ears from my mad dash to get here first.
The patrol moves quietly through the woods, but even so, I hear their slight rustling as they approach. Ludo breaks through the trees with Will slung over his shoulder, Remy right behind him. Wincing, I watch as Ludo drops Will unceremoniously to the hard ground. That had to hurt. If Will is faking unconsciousness and is actually awake, as I suspect, he did a good job masking any reaction to such rough treatment.
The two draki stare down at him for a moment. Remy nudges him sharply with his boot.
“C’mon,” Ludo says. “I’m hungry.”
I wait several moments after they leave, scanning the trees, making certain nothing moves and they are well and truly gone. Will lies on the ground very still, dead still, and I can’t wait any longer.
I climb down and rush toward him. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he’s not faking. Maybe he can be shaded.
I hover above him, holding out my hands in front of me, unsure where to touch. “Will.” His name escapes in a hush. As if I were afraid to say it aloud. As if giving voice to the name would make his being here untrue — make him vanish in a puff of smoke, into the mists that enclose us. As so much of me has vanished since returning here.
In the gloom, his eyes snap open. I jerk back, startled. He smiles those well-carved lips at me. Lips whose shape and texture are permanently imprinted on my memory.
I gasp, relieved, and say his name again, firmer this time. “Will.”
He stands in one easy move, with none of the lingering effects of someone shaded, confirming that I’m right. His draki blood has left him immune.
He moves toward me, and I meet him halfway — but then I recall myself and what I need to do. I quickly step back before we can come together. Holding up a hand to ward him off, I demand in a whisper, “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.” The sound of his voice makes me tremble. The velvet rumble sends shivers along my skin