The Fae King's Dream (Between Dawn and Dusk #2) - Jamie Schlosser Page 0,115
I reveal my head and kneel until my face is right in front of hers. “Astrid.”
“Wha—ah!”
“Shhh.” Pausing, I listen for any commotion in the camp. Nothing. “The coven is here. Damon and I have to go now.”
“Already?” Seeming more alert, Astrid rubs her eyes before propping herself up on an elbow.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll come with you.” She swings her feet off the bed.
“You can’t. Only Damon and I can go.” At first.
I don’t add that to the end of my sentence. The witches might be a hundred times more powerful than I am. They have thousands of years of experience on me. But I’m not an idiot.
I told them we’d arrive alone. I never said we’d stay that way.
“What am I supposed to do?” Astrid wrings her hands, twisting her quilt so tight the seams might rip apart.
I’m used to her being confident, fearless, and snarky. At the moment, she’s none of those things as she stares at me with a completely helpless expression.
Because that’s what the coven does. They break people.
Although my dream was chopped up into pieces, I try my best to guess what’s going to happen in the missing gaps. Not to mention, after. I wouldn’t leave Damon without a damn good reason, and I need to figure out why future-me would agree to such a thing.
“Don’t wake anyone just yet.” Tugging the sheet over my face, I become invisible once again as I rack my brain for some kind of signal.
I almost fist pump the air when I remember the geese. I’m probably grasping at straws here, but it’s the only way I can think of to communicate that we need back up.
“Watch the sky. At some point, a flock of geese are going to fly over the camp. Maybe fifteen of them in an uneven V. When you see it, get to us as fast as you can. Let everyone know there are royal hostages involved. Silas and Tehya are being held.”
As I make my way to the door, I recall something else—the words I whispered in Damon’s ear before I left him. I’d said them slyly, as if I had a plan.
“Also,” I add, just for an extra layer of insurance, “if you hear Damon’s whistle, someone might have to come looking for me in the forest.”
“Do you plan on getting lost?”
“I hope not.”
“Tread carefully,” Astrid warns. “The coven will use trickery to bind you to promises you don’t want to make.”
They already have. “Any other advice?”
“Yeah. Don’t throw yourself in front of any arrows.”
Whitley
As Damon and I trudge through the forest, I wince at how loud I’m being. So much for being stealthy with my fancy invisible sheet. Each step I take sounds like I’m walking on dry cereal.
At least we successfully left the camp without being noticed. We’ve spent the last ten minutes stumbling over logs, rocks, and fallen branches. As far as I can tell, we’re not being followed.
“Are any of Zander’s men this far out?”
“No,” Damon replies. “They hadn’t planned on patrolling the woods until after the wedding.”
“I guess that means we can take this thing off now,” I say with a hint of regret.
I kind of like being inside a cocoon with Damon but traveling under a sheet isn’t practical. Almost like a three-legged race, you have to move with your partner, staying at their pace. Being there to catch them when they fall.
The sheet snags on a stick, and I nearly get jerked back. Damon keeps me from bruising my ass. Again.
Okay, so he’s not having trouble with his balance. I’m the clumsy one.
“I’m really hoping finesse and gracefulness is a fae thing I might develop at some point,” I gripe.
Damon snickers. “Not likely.”
Humid forest air hits my face as we let the sheet drop. I fold it until it’s a small square and tuck it under my arm. I try not to let my nerves show as I lace our fingers, but my hand is a little clammy. Dread knots up my stomach when I look ahead at the break in the trees. Peachy light filters from the opening of the trail.
We’re almost there.
“I have to tell you something,” I blurt, because the time for secrets is coming to an end, and I can’t let Damon go into this meeting completely uninformed.
“Yes?”
“I changed the future.”
“Explain.” Damon squints at me.
“Last week in my dream, we were in the clearing alone when the coven showed up. I didn’t get the sense that anyone else was involved.”