Page 125 of A Land So Wide
Turning to the forest, she wondered why Finn had yet to return. She pictured the way Ellis had fought against him. Had he somehow wounded Finn, causing both of them to fall from the sky? Before she could stop herself, she imagined them broken and bloody, impaled upon the rocky outcrops below the mine. What if they were both dead, and it was now only her against the Gathered?
Greer’s fingers jangled against her thighs.
Two in the forest.
Elowen missing.
She sighed. The tunnels were her best choice, the one she’d have taken in Elowen’s place. Giving the tree line a final sweep, Greer picked up the cloak and slipped into the mine.
Even with Finn’s blood coursing through her, it was difficult to see far ahead in such shrouding darkness. The tunnel was roughly hewn.Greer could make out individual marks made by the miners’ shovels and pickaxes as they’d bored into the mountain. Wooden beams and layers of bricks helped support the arched shaft. Farther down, the tunnel split into two corridors. Greer hurried down the length and stopped at a small niche just before the junction.
Before she went any farther, there was something she needed to do.
Greer shook out her mother’s cloak. It was so dark she could barely see its inky form, but she felt its energies all the same. Before putting it on, she paused, listening to the overlapping echoes of sound washing over her.
From the tunnel’s entrance came the padding of footsteps, slow and cautious. Then a sharp sniff, a predator testing the air. Greer peeked around the corner and caught sight of two wolves poised at the mouth of the tunnel, their ears pricked with curious agitation.
She ducked back, holding her breath and trying to not make a single sound.
The wolves were enormous, far larger than any Greer had ever seen in the wilds. If they’d stood face-to-face with her, their gaping maws would be right at her eyes. She did not doubt that their teeth were just as oversized.
Greer listened as they crept into the mine, taking one step, then another, drawing ever closer to where she hid. Their scent filled the closed space, a sharp musk, feral and biting. In seconds, they’d be alongside her.
Now, now, do it now.
The voice in her head—her conscious, her other, inner self—sounded just like Finn. Was it his blood or just solid reasoning that now turned her thoughts, spurring her to action?
A chilled sweat broke over her as she fought back a sudden rush of nerves.
It didn’t matter who said it—she herself or Finn—the words held truth.
It was time.
Wincing, she pulled Ailie’s cloak over her head, feeling like a frightened child gripping the magical belief that if she couldn’t see themonsters, they wouldn’t see her. The velvet fell over her hunched form, covering her completely, and all at once, Greer realized she’d made a mistake.
The energy she’d felt all day sank into her, seeping across her skin like drops of ink on paper, staining everything it touched.
She scrunched her eyes, biting into the flesh of her palm to keep from crying out.
The magic burned, as potent as a forest fire sweeping through dried brush. Her blood tingled, and her teeth felt too large in her mouth. She wanted to toss back her head and howl out her anguish, but the wolves were too close, and she was in no position to fight.
The magic’s heat settled deep into the marrow of her bones, warming her with such ferocity she wanted to cast the cloak from her, rip off her clothing, and peel away her undergarments. She wanted to race into the frigid night and dive into an icy stream, certain it was the only thing that would bring relief.
Her ears pounded, stretched and overwhelmed by the new rush of sounds she caught. She could hear the wolves’ heartbeats, the blood pumping through their veins. As she listened to the soft whooshes, her mouth watered; she was suddenly parched, suddenly aching to brandish her new teeth. They were longer, sharper; she imagined how good it would feel to sink them deep into flesh, bursting apart skin like overripe berries.
Greer’s eyes flashed open, and the muscles in her legs trembled, readying to act.
The wolves were in striking distance, but a small part of Greer rebelled against these new, wicked desires. It grabbed hold of her racing mind, tried to stifle the hunger seizing her middle, and harnessed the surge of impulses flooding her system.
The wolves passed the niche and wandered deeper into the tunnel; Greer let out a silent sigh of relief. With her hidden beneath the cloak, they’d been completely unaware of both her presence and just how close they’d come to death.
She swiped her arm out, ready to fling away the cloak and all its dizzying powers, but it was no longer there. Greer searched the floor ofthe niche, horribly aware of how clearly she could now see in the dark, but it was gone, as if it had never existed. As if it…
Greer raised her hands, studying the shaking fingers.
She recalled the fiery feeling of the velvet against her skin, the sensation sinking inside her.
She’d absorbed the cloak’s magic. It was a part of her now, integral and inextricable.
