Page 30 of Between Life and Death

If we were somewhere private, there would be no need for the theatrics of logs, but considering we were not far from the traveling path, a fire without wood would lead to a lot of questions should someone come by. Those types of questions tended to create problems. And problems were not something we had time for.

Soren walked over to the river. Producing a jackknife from his pocket, he started the tedious process of cleaning the rabbits. Harper excused herself from the group before she got up and walked over to Soren. She held out her hand, and he placed the knife in it. From there, she took over cleaning the rabbits, explaining to Soren how to properly do it.

Lyra got up, dusted her backside off, and walked over to the food sack. She pulled out a tied cloth filled with different breads—I knew what was in it because I had packed it before we left.

I turned to Ryker, one last question on my mind. “If you were in a coma for six weeks . . . what happened to Fallon?”

He shot me a victorious smirk. “Von broke her out.”

“So then, where is she now?”

He tilted his head, searching the night sky. “I have no idea.”

“What about the Crown of Thorns? Where is it?”

His gaze drifted to mine. “That’s just it. No one knows. It disappeared the same day as her.”

I rolled onto my back, the thin bedroll offering limited protection against the jagged rocks and lumpy, cold ground. I stroked my full belly lazily, stocked full of fire-roasted rabbit and bread as I breathed in the crisp, midnight air. Everyone else was asleep—well, everyone except for Von, who still had yet to return.

There were two snorers in the group—Ryker and Harper. Their light snores tangled with the melody of the forest—frogs and crickets, dancing leaves, and constant rushing water.

Although my body felt tired from the journey, my mind was busy sorting through everything I had been told tonight, from the Crown of Thorns to the girl Ryker loved—Fallon. My understanding of this world was continuously expanding more and more. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. At times, I wished I could close my eyes—close my eyes and return to the innocence of last month’s life, where it was just Ezra and Kaleb and me. Our little family in our cozy, humble cottage.

I peered through the sighing canopy leaves, studying the twinkling, vivid stars dotting the onyx sky.

Could Kaleb see them tonight?

Wherever you are.

My heart panged.

I turned on my side, Soren’s bedroll not far from mine.

As he slept, my mind adjusted his features—straightening the nose and deep setting the eyes—making him look like Kaleb. Pretending he was here, safe and sound, gave me enough peace that I closed my eyes and surrendered to the realm of dreams.

Or nightmares—whatever my Dream Curse had planned for me.

Ijerked awake, gasping for air. The muscles in my legs burned, as if the exertion of running in my dreams had transferred over to reality. I was tempted to look over my shoulder and make sure that the thing that was chasing me in my dreams wasn’t actually standing behind me, ready to lunge.

In my nightmare, pounding rain, the color of blood, had beat down on me. I was running for my life as something dark, something menacing, chased after me—but I was too frightened to turn around and face what it was. Just when it was about to reach me, I woke up.

As my heaving lungs slowly returned to normal, I took in my surroundings.

In the wake of my nightmare, the woods loomed ominously, my mind forging shadows into monsters. I blinked, reminding myself that I was awake and safe.

Everyone else was still peacefully asleep—except for Von, who was nowhere to be seen. I glanced towards the slumbering horses. His massive beast was sleeping beside the others. Part of me felt the faintest bit of relief seeing it there—a feeling I didn’t bother to unpack.

Deciding the land of nightmares was the last place I wanted to return to, I left my bedroll and headed into the privacy of the woods to relieve myself.

Gods, I hadn’t realized I had to peethatbad. I tipped my head back, my eyes closed as my stream cut out, the unburdening of my bladder feeling blissfully good. Standing, I wiggled my pants over my hips and did the buttons up before wandering over to the river.

Reaching the edge of the grassy bank, I knelt down and dipped my hands into the racing waters. The current was strong, but I breathed my will into it, and it stilled peacefully around my hands. Raising my cupped hands to my lips, I drank the cold, crisp water before it could trickle out through my fingers. I wiped my mouth with the back of my sleeve, listening to the sounds flowing around me.

The switchgrass chattered, their swaying directed by the gentle breeze. Every once in a while, it sounded as if something small were moving through them, like a young child running barefoot—a sound from my childhood, one I knew well.

But the sound suddenly changed. The chattering became forced, as if an adult was barreling through the switchgrass—straight for me.

I jerked upright, twirling in place.

---