Page 33 of Once Upon a Demon's Heart
I don’t wait for him to finish whatever it is he has to say. I dart through the tent flaps. Kalel curses under his breath, but I’m already sprinting through the field toward the forest line where I saw many of the demigods escape to.
My bare feet traverse the ground quickly, and with a still mind and healed body, I move over the frozen ground with ease. The heavy footsteps behind me let me know that Kalel’s not far behind.
“Stay at camp. I’ll get her!” he snaps at his guards. I’m guessing they tried to join in chasing me.
I leap nimbly over the prickly brush that lines the forest and enter the thick wall of trees soundlessly. It’s dark already, so it’s difficult to see clearly, but the underbrush is pressed down where many feet have trampled over it. I follow the trail.
The ferocious sounds of Kalel trampling through the forest after me sends urgency through my veins.Gods he could learn to be a bit more light-footed.
I dash through the brush, ignoring the thorned branches that whip at my face as I carelessly maneuver in the dark, looking for any sign of surviving demigods.
“Little godling, you’re testing my patience,” he snarls from a few long strides away. I ignore him, pushing through the woods, deeper into the forest until?—
My feet, stinging from the brush and rocks, stop on a dime as I burst into a small opening in the thicket. Frost covered leaves have been pressed down in the center, as if a struggle took place. Blades of grass are smothered in gilded blood. My hands fly to my nose as the scent of slain demigods hits me—the metallic smell curls in the back of my throat.
I sink to my knees and fist my hands in the frozen foliage.
Kalel approaches—his footsteps slowing.
As I stare at the blood-smeared grass, it becomes apparent to me thatthisis what my kingdom, and many others, will have to face if the war does not end—hunted down by beasts in the forest and demons taking over our territories.
Is this truly the fate of Faultore?
I lower my head and let the tears fall to the frozen earth. They trickle to the ground and an ache in my heart spreads to my throat and lungs, coaxing me to make guttural sounds.
I swallow down the pain.
Kalel stands behind me like a ghost as he watches my misery unfold. He wanted me to suffer, didn’t he? This is what he was after all this time, he said so himself. He wants revenge for everything the demigods have done. WhatIhave done… And I don’t blame him. Is this enough suffering for him? He probably enjoys the way I’m breaking at this moment.
I raise my head, a blank expression remaining on my features and tears still streaming down my cheeks as I turn to glance at him from over my shoulder.
His amber eyes flicker in the dim light. I expected him to be smiling at my despair or pissed off for making him chase me out here, but his face is as empty as my own.
“You even cry with no emotions, like a stone kissed with rain,” he says flatly as his eyes shift reluctantly over to the gilded grass before snapping back to me.
We stare at one another for a moment that feels stretched into many.
Then he offers me his hand.
I don’t take it, instead I look away, back to the grass where wolves spilled divine blood.
“Alira.Pleasedon’t make me drag you back. We need to leave the forest before we anger the spirits further.” Kalel’s tone is bitter and weary.
What’s the point of staying now? Would he kill me if I ran?
A heavy hand weighs down my shoulder, making the breath in my lungs stall. I look up at him—Kalel’s gaze is far from warm. “Whatever you are feeling, if demigods can even feel, is nothing in comparison to what you did in Thornhall.” His grip tightens on my shoulder, and he hoists me up with his other hand hooked around my waist.
Guilt tears into my chest.
I shoulder out of his hold and fall to my hands and knees on the matted-down grass. Kalel pins me with a death glare. “Don’t,” he warns.
“Don’t what? You can’t stop me from searching for them.” I hang my head and fist the broken strands of grass.
“Want to bet on that? They are all dead, Alira. All of them!” he growls sharply, raising his voice and making me flinch. My emotions are like a beast losing control inside of me, welling up and about to erupt. Screaming and bleeding. I want it to stop.
He reaches for my arm again, and this time I slap him across the face. His head jerks from the strike. Kalel’s eyes widen and he stares at me hollowly. The shock quickly fades and is replaced with fury.
“Don’t touch me again!” I scream, tears spilling down my cheeks with rage. I turn and make to run farther into the forest. There has to be just one who survived the attack.
