Page 137 of The Shadow Path
Cackles in the trees and more chittering as the blue wisps raced over their heads.
“But know that whatever Cian gives with one hand, he will take more with the other.” Dru leaned forward. “My friends and I will leave now and let the Yuten folk decide their fate.”
Dru stood, and Carys and Duncan stood with him. Then Dru reached up his long arms and raked his fingers through the treebranches above as he walked back toward the path leading out of the forest.
“But the Yuten folk would do well to remember that just like these trees” —Dru turned once Carys and Duncan were back on the path and out of Ogmi’s clearing— “the son of the sea carries a very, very long memory.”
Thunder crashed overhead, and a sudden rainstorm opened up in the Yuten Woods, drenching the dark fae and their creatures with rain. They scuttled back into the shadows and the tree hollows, hiding from the downpour.
And when the water dripped down Carys’s cheeks and touched her lips, the raindrops tasted like the sea.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“What will they do?” Duncan asked. “Will they back you?”
“I don’t need them to back me.”
Carys nearly tripped over a root that jumped into the path. The way out of the forest was distinctly more difficult than the way in, and Carys was grateful that Dru was leading them.
“I just need them to not back my brother,” Dru continued. “And I don’t think they will. The Yuten fae are their own breed of creature, and they don’t like authority. They’ve ruled these woods for centuries, and they like their independence.”
“You mentioned something that Cian would offer them,” Carys said. “Could you offer them the same thing?”
“They want more babies.” Dru glanced over his shoulder. “More human children. More changelings sent through the gates. You think I should offer the same thing?”
Carys felt her stomach churn. “And Cian would offer that?”
“He’d offer, but he wouldn’t follow through. Population is how he maintains his influence.” Dru’s attention turned to theright. “The Shadowkin at the gates…” He trailed off, narrowing his eyes at something in the distance.
Duncan immediately drew his sword. “What is it?”
Dru took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Trolls.”
Carys blinked. “Trolls in the forest?”
“Yes.” Dru remained frozen. “And they have imps with them.”
“Oh fuck.” Duncan drew his sword. “Not imps.”
“Why are imps so bad?” Carys asked. “Aren’t they a little like— Ow!” She slapped her hand on her shoulder when she felt the sting, and her palm landed on something that crunched. “What the hell?”
Something poked at her palm, and a stabbing pain shot up her forearm. “What is that?”
When she removed her hand, there were two wide, angry black eyes glaring at her from her shoulder.
“Carys, brush it off!” Duncan shouted. “It’s an imp!”
“Brush— Ow!” She nearly bit her tongue when the tiny creature bared its fangs and lifted a needlelike blade that he drove it into Carys’s shoulder. “Get off me!” She swiped her hand against the imp, but the tiny fae creature opened its jaw to nearly ninety degrees and sank its teeth into Carys’s finger.
A spear of pain shot up her arm, but she managed to slap her hand down, and she felt the imp crunch under her palm. It squeaked and burbled before it slid to the ground and the moss crawled over its body.
That could not be good.
“They’re everywhere,” Duncan shouted.
A gang of imps raced through the forest, some flying with wings and others clicking and climbing from the ground, swarming Carys and Duncan with their gangly bodies, wicked little blades, and needle-sharp teeth.
She grabbed for an arrow and started brushing them off, taking care not to stab herself with the point.
