slipped an arm around me. “They were going to kill us.”
“I know,” I said, trying to get a hold of myself. I wiped away tears. “I know. It’s just…I’ve never killed anyone. I mean, I did it.”
He drew me close so my head rested on his chest, gently stroking my hair. He was warm, comforting. It felt good to be hugged. To be this close to Wolf. Something about it felt…right. My heart slowed down, and after a few minutes, I realized it was beating in time with his. I slowly began to relax. There was no going back. What was done was done, as much as it sucked. I had no choice but to find a way to go on and accept it. I looked up at Wolf.
“Did you kill anyone in that tent?”
“No. I was close, but then you told me to break the tent pole.”
I almost laughed. Turned out the most dangerous person in that tent was me, not Wolf. “I didn’t know you knew how to sword fight.”
“I don’t. I was just swinging it around as much as I could, hoping that maybe I’d hit something. I’m lucky he didn’t cut my head off.”
Dusk was heavy on us now, our little campfire a tiny light in the dark. I heaved a sigh. Wolf pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Come. You must eat something.”
We ate sliced lamb that Wolf had bought when he retrieved my pack. I wondered how he managed to buy things without people asking about the huge bloodstain on his back, but let it go. He’d been right about the lavawort making me crave uncooked meat. I savored every morsel of lamb even though we practically ate the meat raw. I licked the juices from my fingers. Having a warm meal in my stomach seemed to make everything a little better. I took a long drink from one of my water bottles.
“I’m glad you went back to get my pack,” I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Though I still can’t believe you did that.”
He grinned and patted the daypack. “I like these matches things.”
“Yeah, well, I have a lighter in there too somewhere. I should show you that.”
But I was too tired to move and Wolf was too tired to ask. I closed my eyes, warmed by the fire and the meal. Then I reached up to touch the wings on the necklace the witch had given me. They were polished and felt like they might have been made from pearls or glass. I didn’t know how a necklace was supposed to help though. My fingers tingled a little when they touched the wings.
I sighed. What if I had wings? Then I could fly. I could swoop down and grab Marianne and rescue her. I smiled to myself. Wouldn’t that be a treat. Then I could take her home and be on my way, soaring through the air all on my own, leaving everything behind. How glorious that would be.
A spot on my back tingled in the same way.
And what of Wolf? I opened my eyes to look at him. What did he need me for anyhow? Why did he keep saving my life? He kept saying it was because we were mates, but that had to be a load of bull. People didn’t just meet and fall in love. He was probably in this for Marianne. He needed me as a lure to get her. Once we rescued her, would he leave with her? Leave me all alone by myself in a forest where giants ate people and evil smoke werewolves ran the trails and people disappeared, never to be heard from again? A wolf might be loyal, but he was half human, and people left others to fend for themselves. Including their children.
“Caroline?”
I snapped to attention, dropping my hand from the necklace. The tingling disappeared.
“Huh?”
Wolf stared at me as if trying to figure something out. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Why?”
He poked at the fire. “I don’t know. You just looked…distant. Like you were,” he paused, trying to find the right words, “sinking into yourself really deep.”
“No,” I said casually. “Just thinking.”
The stars came out, diamond dust strewn in a deep blue sea. Patches of sky appeared and disappeared as the treetops slowly swayed in the wind. The moon hung in just the right spot between two trees, glowing brightly, a few more slivers of it added since the night before.