Page 26 of Compass Points
“You’ve done a remarkable job on the magical test. Some of the strongest magic we’ve seen,” said the first man. He had gentle eyes and looked the same age as Dad, but she knew he was much older. Fae age wasn’t an easy thing to guess.
The second man looked much like his son, Aiden. He glared at the first man.
She watched as the first man brought another item from the cupboard closet and held it before her. She knew instinctively she had to touch it.
Holding it in her hands, both men staring, horrific new magic assaulting her nostrils.
Frozen in terror, she dropped the item.
She had to go.
She tore out of the room to the surprised shouts of both men.
No matter how quickly she arrived, she knew it would be too late. Faster, she ran, pushing herself harder than she’d ever gone. Finally, coming upon the cottage, she knew that something was wrong.
The air was thick with the magic she’d sensed. Nothing could have prepared her for the chaos and devastation in front of her when she opened the door.
Mangled bodies, limbs in places and at angles they didn’t belong, far too much death for her sixteen-year-old mind to process.
She dropped to her knees and started screaming.
“Rose. Rose...wake up.” A rough hand on her bare shoulder. She flinched away from the contact as her brain wiped away the fog of the terrible nightmare.
“Rose?”
She sat up, and Luc backed away from the bed, back to his mess of blankets on the floor before the door. When they returned last night, he hadn’t even asked about sharing the bed. He’d mumbled a few things about when they would leave in the morning and then said he was going for a walk. She’d wanted the space and time to think, so she hadn’t questioned it and must have been asleep when he returned.
“I’m awake. It was just a dream. I’m fine.” She didn’t bother looking at him. Her lie was more than evident in both her voice and actions.
“That’s doubtful,” he said. “At least everyone knows we’re awake now.”
She appreciated that he tried adding some levity to the morning’s heavy start. The morning that they would make it one step closer to Compass Lake.
“Let’s just get going.”
If she just kept focused on the next step, she wouldn’t think about what she was actually doing—returning to the place of her nightmares with the Suden Point, who now knew she was fae.
Luc gave her a slow and assessing look as he seemed to think through his next words.
“We still have another day and a half of travel. Is there anything I can tell you about what to expect at Compass Lake that will ease your worry?”
This was a dangerous line of questioning. Rose still didn’t know if he was aware of her element. He knew she was fae, but at Compass Lake, it was more important to know which court she belonged to.
He hadn’t asked, and she wouldn’t offer. Not when the answer might be more dangerous than knowing she was fae.
“I’ll think about it and let you know,” Rose replied. It was too early, and she was still too frazzled from her nightmare, from this journey, to choose her words correctly. “Let’s just hit the road.”
Rose remained stuck in her thoughts for the morning ride. She was re-evaluating everything that had led her on this journey and where she had gone wrong.
She was heading to Compass Lake.
She was heading to Compass Lake with the Suden Point.
She would laugh at herself if she weren’t worried that her life was in danger.
Would the Suden Point’s plan for their fake relationship be enough to protect her? Would the Suden Point learn too much from their proximity? He’d learned so much, but she still had plenty that it’d be dangerous for him to know.
For a ruthless leader, he’d shown more contemplation than anger at learning another one of her secrets. She knew she was getting some measure of grace from him because he needed something from her.
