Page 36 of Burn Bright
"Do you think we should alert themen?"
He glanced behind him. "I'll tell Evaron. Don't goanywhere."
Then he jogged off, and left mealone.
I circled the tree. The bark was old and gnarled, almost looking like a face in places. Pressing my hand to the bark brought a flash of vision: tree roots knotted deep and tight around something, as it silentlyscreamed.
Cut medown.
I jerked my hand off the bark, closing my fingers into a fist. It felt as though something slimy coated mypalm.
"Vashta's ashes, what was that?" I whispered, tomyself.
What if this was one of the thousand trees that guarded us from the Darkness? What if Galina had been telling thetruth?
Cas returned, breathless from the run, and I knew he'd tried to hurry back. "What'swrong?"
"Touch the tree," I insisted, "and tell me what yousee."
He reached out, pressing his palm flat against the bark,and—
Looked atme.
"Atree?"
I didn't want to touch it again, but it had set me thinking. "I saw something when I touched it." I explained about the twisted shadow trapped by its roots. "I don't know what to think. I had my hand on my knife the entire time, so it wasn't witch-driven. If Galina's telling the truth, then we kill the firebird, upset the balance, and my village is going to be one of the first to be slaughtered by the Darkness. If sheisn't..."
Then the king died if wedidn'tkill the firebird, and Prince Rygil took the throne, no matter which way I looked atit.
Cas took my hand, inspecting it. "There's no residue on yourskin."
"What if its not the witch sending us those thoughts?" I slowly looked up. "It wanted me to cut down the tree. There's only one reason something would want me to do that. Galina said the trees trap theDarkness."
Even as I said the words, some sort of haze seemed to be clearing from my eyes. Everywhere I looked, the light seemed a littlebrighter.
"You think it's theDarkness?"
"I seriously don't know what tothink."
"If Galina's telling the truth," Cas said, squeezing my hand, "then I'll help you stop them from killing the firebird. No matter what it costs Evaron. The Darkness is... a more immediate threat than the Fire Priests. We can deal with themlater."
I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed. He took a startled half-step backward, then slowly his arms curled around me, full ofwarmth.
"Thank you," I whispered. I couldn't do thisalone.
Cas's hand cupped my chin and tipped it up. For a breathless second I thought he was going to kiss me again, but he only nodded. "Keep your eyes open. I'll watch your back. Let's go find your witch—or the firebird—whichever we encounterfirst."
And hope the Darkness didn't find us first—for if it could tamper with our minds, then what else could itdo?
* * *
The attack happenedseveral hours later, when we were watering the horsesagain.
The sun was slinking toward the horizon, and the light had dipped. Night would only be an hour or two away, which meant we needed to set upcamp.
"Keep an eye out for somewhere to camp," Evaron called, as the horses strode into the river, sucking downwater.
"Here," Cas said, propping his boot up on the rock beside me as I knelt to fill my water skin a little farther up from where the horses drank. There was a piece of meat jerky in hishand.
