Finding Elora

Chapter 28

MASON

Kie's protecting her. I can't fathom why, but he is.

He spearheaded the eradication of Delysum after it was used to kill his father when we were children, and he's been staunchly against the production of it ever since. He scent thousands of soldiers into the forest to burn down the meadows where it once grew, worsening the already tense relationship between the faeries and the shifters living within the forest.

Most faeries didn't even know of its existence prior to the eradication, and even less know about it now.

If anybody should be digging into Abby's asking about it, it should be Kie. She's up to something, that much is evident by her flighty eyes and her desperate need to get to Elora through the fucking forest.

I don't trust her, and I don't understand why Kie's protecting her.

He should've been digging into her the moment she mentioned it, questioning what she knows and who she learned it from. They were alone for hours before I arrived, so he had plenty of time to do so.

We've known something was up with her from the first moment we first laid eyes on her, but I never considered it would be worth looking into before. Clearly, it is.

I want to know what the fuck a human is doing here and why the fuck she's looking for Delysum.

I listen to her footsteps as she follows Kie and me, silently monitoring her every movement. It's hard to concentrate, the pulsating pain in my ribcage distracting, but I manage to remain focused.

A shifter managed to rip out a decent chunk of flesh while I was fighting alongside Kie, and every damn shifter I encountered in the hours afterward went straight for the wound.

It felt like fire by the time I finally managed to catch up to Kie and Abby, and I can honestly say it doesn't feel much better now.

It'll heal quickly, though, even with Kie's shitty stitching. He never paid much attention in our classes, the young prince much too busy flirting with the noble ladies to listen to what our teachers had to say. At one point, Queen Gitta attempted to isolate his studies, but he refused to show up if there weren't women around.

Now my ribcage is paying the price.

I rest my forehead against the base of Kie's neck, struggling to breathe through the pain. Kie put a thick layer of ointment on my cuts and wrapped them tightly so the smell of my blood isn't too strong, but we need to put ample distance between us and the area where I collapsed.

I doubt any shifters will stumble across it during the day, but the second night falls, they'll be all over it.

Lill lags behind, and Kie immediately slows his pace to allow her to catch up.

I don't like what's happening between them.

I don't know what it is, but I don't like it.

If I weren't in excruciating pain right now, I'd be demanding she tell me everything she knows. I don't understand why Kie isn't, and I resist the urge to wrap my hands around his throat and choke him while we walk.

"Just a few more miles," Kie whispers, his voice low so Abby doesn't hear.

I nod, forcing my legs to keep moving.

Left.

Right.

Left.

It's a simple enough pattern, one I never thought I'd struggle so much to complete. My toes drag against the ground with each step, even with Kie supporting almost all of my weight. I took watch yesterday, foregoing sleep to ensure no shifters snuck up on us, but tonight it's Kie's turn.