Page 27 of The Stygian Crown

She turned and ran, looking for an escape. The trees closed in around her, reaching for her. Kara slid to a stop next to a small ravine. Dead leaves and bracken filled it. She scrambled down the steep incline and dove into the mulch, scooping up sodden leaves and earth and goddess knows what, burying her face and limbs until no light leaked through. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. Minutes passed. A whooshing wail filled the ravine, and icy fingertips gripped Kara’s jaw, prying open her mouth. Her shadow fed its frigid fingers into her mouth, her nostrils. Kara tried to grapple with it, and her hands met cold smoke. She struggled to swallow, to breathe. Ice plugged her airways. Then the presence atop her vanished, evaporating into tiny ice crystals that settled atop her body. Shadow smoke fled down her throat, and Kara drew in great, gasping breaths, desperate for air.

She sat up slowly and moved a hand into the light. Her shadow danced across the edges of the ravine, following her as it ought to rather than trying to choke her out. Kara collapsed back into the mulch, resting a moment and catching her breath. The ice crystals scattered across her clothes were melting, leaving her damp and chill.

Emotion bubbled up in her throat as her heart ceased trying to escape her chest. The tidal wave she’d become so accustomed to holding back overflowed, and she started to sob. Great, wracking sobs that left her short of breath. Tears flooded her cheeks. She cradled her head between her knees and let it take her.

She cursed Logan and Wesley and Calim and this forest and this fucking contract. Cursed Da for ever plucking her out of the muck to begin with. She let go of the months of frustration and pain that she kept such a tight rein on. Having to don a mask all the time meant she never had time to relax and be herself. Combined with losing Logan and her own shadow trying to kill her, it was too much.

Aidan’s voice filtered through the trees, still distant. “Celine?”

Kara scrubbed her dirty hands over her eyes and forced several deep breaths into her lungs, willing herself to calm.

Aidan rounded the corner on his horse, his eyes widening when he saw her. He swung out of his saddle and slid down the ravine toward her. “Celine. What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Kara tried to compose herself, drawing tight on Celine’s puppet cords. She was still shaken. “Just my pride and a rolled ankle, I’m afraid. I got turned around on my way out of the forest and slipped down here.” Let him think her the damsel in distress. She wasn’t far from it at the moment.

“Why didn’t you call for help?”

“I did. No one heard me. Thank the goddess you came this way.”

“Blasted forest. I’m glad I found you. The hunt’s over, everyone’s heading back to the castle. You would have been alone out here.”

Already? How much time had passed? Kara shivered and crossed her arms, tucking her fingers into her armpits. No one around to find her body or hear her screams, had her shadow been successful.

Aidan pulled off his hunting jacket and draped it around her shoulders. It was toasty warm and smelled of expensive cologne.

He squatted beside her, his muscles stretching beneath his shirt. “You’re sure you just rolled it? Do you need me to check if it’s broken?”

Kara shook her head. “Rest and some ice will set me to rights.”

“Good,” he beamed at her. “Wouldn’t want my new favorite sparring partner to be out of commission.”

Kara gave him a genuine smile, and he wrapped his arms beneath her armpits and helped her to her feet.

She favored her left ankle and leaned into him as they stood.

“Can you make it up the ravine? It’s too steep for me to carry you.”

Kara nodded, and they clambered up the steep slope together, Aidan keeping a steady arm around her back. At the top of the incline, he lifted her up onto his horse, then mounted behind her.

“Why’d you come after me?” Had he unleashed the shadow spell and come to finish her off? She hated to believe it of him, as kind-hearted as he seemed, but she couldn’t trust anyone.

“When you were gone for so long, I grew worried. It’s easy to get lost in these woods. The groundskeeper used to cut them back, but every time they grew back with a vengeance, even larger and more wild than before.”

“They are rather unsettling.”

“The forest is Namirah’s creation, you know. It was flatland before, but she missed the woods she played in in her youth, so she grew it from a few saplings into this monster.”

“It’s just been twisted from its true nature.” Likely a side effect of the dark magic of the curse tainting the ground.

Aidan paused, then nodded. “You’re right. But next time you venture here, make sure you’re not alone. This forest is hungry.”

“Are you disappointed you didn’t get to join the hunt? I’m afraid I diverted too much of your time.”

“I care little for the tradition. The dogs chasing the prey, the bloodthirsty nobles racing for the kill. I come because it’s expected of me, but I prefer nature to the slaughter.”

They reached the edge of the picnic clearing, but Kara’s mount was nowhere in sight. “Where’s the mare I rode?”

Aidan’s chest brushed against her as he twisted in the saddle. “That’s odd. I hitched her here when I left. Maybe the others took her with them?”

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