Enchant (Rae Wilder #3)

Chapter Two

Gasping for air, and bolting up before I’d fully woken, I flung a hand out in front of me to ward off a blow. Sensing no actual threat, I cracked my eyes open and peered over the overgrown shrubs hiding me. 

“It’s okay,” a voice soothed. Daphne. “You’re safe. You’re in the forest.”

Still somewhat addled my nature flared and screamed ‘Vampire!’ but when the last day or so came into focus, I disregarded the urge, remembering this vampire was not a threat to me. Well, at least not an immediate threat.

I sought out Breandan through the bond, and slumped in relief when I sensed he wasn’t far. Knowing he was close and could return in moments if I let out a goodly scream or spike of panic down the bond reassured me like nothing else, and the knowledge boosted my confidence to deal with Daphne, somebody who I still wasn’t too sure about.

“I can see that,” I replied tartly, a tad embarrassed by my panicked awakening.

I leaned up to rest on my elbows. In truth, I felt better than I had in a while. My exhaustion had been so complete I’d been claimed by a deadening sleep. I wiggled my toes in my boots and arched my back off the floor, letting my head drop back.

Inhaling deeply, I let the familiar nutty scent of the trees calm me. The air was crisp, and the breeze rustling the leaves was pleasant, lulling.

So … we’d made it then. Gods. That last punch of magic had knocked me out cold. After Breandan’s confrontation with Tomas and my downward spiral into grief, it had been near hopeless a number of times during our escape. I’d slowed Breandan and Daphne down, but despite everything, they’d gotten us out of there alive, and we had the grimoire too.

“I slept all day,” I murmured, feeling rather than seeing the night was young. The sky was indigo towards the horizon, glimpsed through slim openings in the dense canopy.

“When I woke up Breandan was leaving to find food,” Daphne explained. “He’s worried about you. If I’m honest, so am I. First, you fall into some kind of sleepwalking bereavement that the fairy assures me will pass once you’d worked your way through it. Then the brutal way you killed that vampire was … interesting if somewhat disturbing for me. And then the sunlight. The burning sunlight in the middle of the night.”

Wincing at thae visual of Daphne’s burnt and blistered face, I moved to sit up fully. The popping of joints sounded worse than it felt, but the sound stopped me nonetheless. My body had taken a battering and would take time to ease out. Slowly, I extended my wing pinions, relieved when they were whole and painless. My tail flicked out behind me restlessly, so much a part of me now I often forgot it was there.

Brushing the hair from my eyes, I rested back, deciding I was not ready to get up after all. “You don’t know me, Daphne. You’d never met me before yesterday so what do you have to be worried about?” I sent a frosted look her way, beginning to remember I was angry with her for being part of Tomas’ stupid plan to hide me at the Nest. “Or is there something else I should know? Have you somehow been spying on me too?” The words were bitter.

We must have been safe from capture by the Nest to risk a fire. Daphne looked disinterested in its upkeep, and I suspected Breandan had made her tend it for me.

“I have no ulterior motives, and I do genuinely care,” she said. “I watched you sleep. I saw how Tomas cared for you.”

“Stop,” I said flatly.

“Stop what?”

“Don’t say his name and don’t talk about him.” Uncomfortable in my own skin, I sat up, shifted about as heat crept up my neck and spilled out on my cheeks. I glued my eyes on the ground as memories of Tomas’ betrayal flashed before my eyes, his heartfelt apology. I pushed it all away. “It’s too soon.”