The Glass Queen (The Forest of Good and Evil #2) - Gena Showalter Page 0,100

undeserving of a death sentence. Because you had no offensive wounds in the garden. Even though I’d harmed you, you never struck back.”

Craaack. Another break. For a moment, I struggled to breathe. For the first time since the incident occurred, I felt as if I’d been seen.

I remembered how helpless I’d felt, unable to fight Farrah’s compulsion...exactly how Ashleigh must have felt each time she’d awoken and discovered Leonora had taken over.

Why had I never considered her plight? Why had I never offered her comfort? Guilt stirred with me, sharpened by regret.

The dragons zoomed past us and darted inside the stable. For now, I set the guilt and regret aside. Ashleigh deserved my best.

I followed the dragons, watching as they searched every stall, frightened the bugs and animals that had taken residence inside them. They claimed the largest stall as their own and promptly fell asleep. Smoke curled from their nostrils.

“The long flight exhausted them,” Ashleigh said with a smile.

Fatigued myself, the struggles of the day and my lack of rest catching up to me, I made a pallet beside them. I sat down, spread my wings, and lay back, patting the spot at my right.

“You want me to lie beside you?” Ashleigh asked after a jaw-cracking yawn.

“Or on top of me,” I muttered. Teasing tone, serious words. “I’m not picky.”

She wrung her hands and rocked from one foot to the other. “Who could have ever guessed I would consider cuddling with an avian?”

“So that’s a yes?” I asked, trying to mask my eagerness. I’d been without her for too long, not just these past six days but years and years and years. I needed her back in my arms. “You’re considering cuddling?”

“That’s a yes.” Wringing faster. “I don’t want to sleep, though.”

I frowned. “You had a terrible day, and you’re clearly exhausted.”

Faster. “You trusted me with a secret, so I’m going to trust you with one, too. I’ve been...well, you know Leonora likes to assert her dominance when I’m sleeping and walk me places. Twice I went to bed clean this week and awoke dusty. I don’t know what she’ll do out here. What if I end up lost?”

I didn’t like that she’d been wandering around at night, even as the fire witch. If the wrong person were to stumble upon her...

It was time to reveal another secret. “You won’t get lost. I had a tracker spell put on you so that I will be able to find you, wherever you are.”

I braced, expecting anger—deserving unfiltered rage.

She surprised me, gifting me with a tinkling laugh before settling beside me. All hint of her unease was gone.

We lay side by side, her body cushioned by one of my wings. “I think that’s got to be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. I bet Ophelia was referring to this tracker spell when she mentioned she’d given the spell you’d ordered something extra. Something about me being drawn to magical doorways to watch your friend make out.”

I reeled. “You aren’t furious with me?” Knowing Ophelia, she’d wanted Ashleigh to see Everly and Roth together so she could tell me about Eve’s dalliance with the fae; I softened toward her at that moment, I admitted it.

She placed a hand over her heart. “You cared enough to want to find me.”

“I think you’re forgetting the part about me wanting to hurt you,” I reminded her.

“Shhh.” Leaning over, she pressed a finger to my lips. “Don’t ruin this for me.”

I nipped at the finger, and she laughed. “Tonight,” I said, “I’ll make sure you remain in bed, I swear it.”

“This is nice,” she whispered, her voice already slurred with exhaustion.

“Better than nice.”

She rolled to her side, and I rolled to mine, wrapping my arm around her and breathing in her sweet scent. Mmm. This felt right. She fit me perfectly.

Made for me.

“We should probably seal our new truce with a ki...” The next thing I knew, her breathing evened out, and she went quiet.

I wanted to shout with frustration. Finish the sentence, Asha.

Despite that frustration, I felt more contentment than ever before. Ashleigh trusted me to keep her safe. And I would, no matter the cost. Though my eyelids turned heavy, threatening to slide shut, I forced myself to remain awake and on guard the entire night.

I kissed her temple. Inside, both sides of me cried, Do not betray me this time, Asha. Please. I doubted I would recover.

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the stable’s wooden slats, dust motes dancing in the