Page 74 of The Raven Queen

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Del

“Iwant to show you something,” Fin said, pine cones crunching and twigs snapping under his boots as he approached.

“Oh?” I glanced back at him and bent to pick up a few more sticks to add to my slowly growing pile. I would have expected firewood to be more readily available when camping in the woods, but these ancient giants seemed reluctant to shed reasonably sized branches, and I was left to scrounge the very perimeter of our camp for anything remotely usable in the campfire.

Having grown up in the castle as the Corvo heir, my lessons had been focused on things that would help me rule—history, philosophy, political theory, the Temple’s teachings, and both large-scale battle strategy and personal combat tactics. I didn’t have many practical skills applicable to camping and long journeys, so I was making myself useful any way I could, like hunting for firewood.

Fin gathered my hoard of sticks in a sweeping scoop of his arms and hugged it close to his body. “Come on,” he said, heading back toward the heart of camp with the lion’s share of my stash.

Sid swooped down from his perch high up in one of the giant redwoods and glided to a branch directly over our camp.

I hurried to catch up with Fin, shifting the last few sticks into one hand and admiring his backside as I followed him. The years since we last saw each other had been difficult for him—physically demanding as well as emotionally taxing—and I hated that his life seemed to be one struggle after another. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate the effect of that struggle on his honed physique. He moved like a wildcat, the muscles of his backside flexing visibly through his leather trousers with each step.

Fin dropped his burden on the stack gathered by a few others and turned to face me. “So, what do you say? Should we go take a look?”

I blinked, opening and closing my mouth, at a complete loss for words because I had absolutely no idea what he had been saying while I had been ogling his backside. Heat crept up my neck and cheeks. “I’m sorry, I—” I shook my head and cleared my throat. “What did you say?”

Fin’s lips curved into a lopsided grin that seemed to turn back time, reverting him to the young man I had known so well, if for such a brief time. Long enough for him to sear his claim on my heart. He pulled the last few sticks from my grasp, set them on the pile of firewood, and stepped closer to me.

“The fire lookout.” He glanced up at the peak jutting into the sky, the top quarter of the mountain a solid mass of gray rock topped by an ancient-looking structure. We had been climbing all day; I almost couldn’t believe there was any moreupto go. “It won’t take more than an hour to climb to the peak and half as much time to get back down. We’ll be back before sundown with plenty of time to spare.”

I peered around the camp, searching for Liam. He wasn’t with Ada, as I had expected, who was assisting Callon with the horses. Instead, I found him with Lyra, helping her prep dinner, and I couldn’t help but smile. He had taken a real shine to her, and she to him. She wasn’t the same as Garath, though she seemed to have a similar, slightly surly disposition, but it was good for Liam to make room in his heart for new friends. I silently reminded myself that I needed to do the same.

“She had a brother,” Fin said, following my line of sight. “Pretty sure Liam reminds her of him.”

“Had?” I asked, my eyebrows raising as I looked at Fin, sympathy for the loss I already suspected sprouting in my chest.

Fin pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Slavers.”

“Oh,” I breathed. I couldn’t even imagine it.

“I’m heading up there to scout.” Fin rubbed the back of his neck and stared up at the rocky slope. “I, uh, already checked with Lyra. She’s happy to watch Liam for a few hours if you want to come with me.” His eyes returned to mine. “It would give us some time alone to talk.”

“Totalk?” I asked, the corners of my mouth tensing. My heart beat faster at the unspoken implication.

Mischief danced in his green irises. “Did you have something else in mind?”

I chuckled, glanced at Liam once more, then grabbed Fin’s hand and turned away from camp, marching straight for the steep slope. He didn’t even flinch or try to pull away, and his comfort with my touch was a balm to my aching heart.

Fin’s slower steps halted my forward movement. “Hang on, tough stuff,” he said, amusement in his voice. He pulled his hand free and jogged to his bedroll to retrieve a small pack, then returned to me, reclaiming my hand and pulling me toward a different part of the slope. “The trailhead is this way.”

It felt so strange to hold Fin’s hand while we walked. In recent memory, I had only ever held my son’s hand, and though Liam was growing rapidly, his hand was still smaller than mine. Fin’s hand was the opposite; it engulfed mine. The skin on his palm and the undersides of his fingers was rough with calluses, whereas mine were smooth and soft. I felt small and fragile compared to him but somehow safe with him by my side. So different from how I had felt with Alastor’s painful grip on my wrist or arm.

I was tempted to lower my guard and peek into Fin’s mind to see if his surface thoughts were as scandalous as mine, but I found the mystery of not knowing—the anticipation of being surprised—far more exciting. I wondered if he expected me to look into his head again or was trusting me to stay out. Did he even care? I couldn’t know without snooping, and I was determined to respect his privacy—this time, especially after I had forced my way into his mind by the creek.

Fin released my hand when we reached the trailhead, hanging back so I could walk in front since the trail was too narrow for us to walk side by side.

“I take it you’ve been here before?” I asked him over my shoulder.

“I have,” he said. “There are lookouts all over these mountains. We have them all mapped out—which ones are still safe, which ones are compromised . . . ”

“By the Sierra Kingdom?”

“And by bandits and Ferals,” he said. “This one used to be well outside Sierra’s territory, but they’ve been slowly, quietly expanding east. We’re right on the border now.”

“But—” I frowned. “Isn’t the lookouttheirs?”

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