“Yes. But I don’t know how they found me here. They shouldn’t have been able to do that.” I unintentionally brought my hand up to my mother’s necklace tucked beneath the magical fabric I wore.
Lichen cleared his throat. “Let’s discuss this as we move. We need to get out of this damn forest before you two start fighting again.”
“For the love of the gods, Kai, get us out of here. I smell like dirt and wet leaves,” Wren begged.
“Can we stop bickering and move a little faster?” Fen asked, quirking an eyebrow at me.
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes.
“And can I be the official line leader?” Kai asked.
“Seriously? I guess,” I said. “Give an inch, take a mile.”
“Yes!” He shot his hands into the air and abruptly turned to march away, high knees and all.
“And I’m the child?” I asked Fen, walking back to the fallen males.
He grinned at me, and for an instant, the anger I’d been wrapped in whisked away. The moment it was gone, the one I’d been hoping to avoid hit me like a ton of bricks. Desire. And that feeling scared me more than anything. I looked away, trying to remember why I hated him. Why I didn’t want to be his friend or his lover, but as the days passed, it was getting harder and harder to remember.
“I make no claims about these two assholes.” He pointed toward Kai and Greeve. “So where are we headed?”
“The Western Gap.”
Everyone stopped short. All of them.
“You’re kidding, right?” Wren asked.
“No. That’s where I have to go.”
“Why?” Fen asked.
“I didn’t tell you all to come. That’s just where I’m going, okay?” I yanked my knife out of the sea fae’s forehead. I didn’t trust them enough with my whole truth. Maybe once we made it to the gap, I would explain. Maybe.
“We better hunt before we leave the forest,” Kai said, changing the subject.
“Are we allowed to do that, Princess?” Fen asked with more sarcasm than I knew him capable of.
“Be my guest.” I curtsied for good measure.
Kai and Greeve left to go hunting while Wren, Lichen, Fen and I stayed behind to set up camp.
“Tell me,” Lichen said, digging through his bag. “What’s it like?”
“What’swhatlike?”
“Being the...” He stumbled over his words. “I guess we still aren’t able to say it then.”
“I am protected by Nealla. You won’t be able to speak of my fate until she breaks the binding.”
“Right.” He nodded, pulled out a book and a pen, and wrote something down.
“What are you writing?” I reached into my pack with one hand, yanked out my blanket, and shook the wrinkles from it.
“Oh, I just like to journal things in case we need to reference them later. I find the best way to advise is to reference facts.”
He was strange but seemed kind.
“Let’s go see if we can find some water,” Fen suggested, pulling me away from Lichen’s question.
