Bound (Bound Trilogy) (30 page)

He spotted me and swooped down. His landing wasn’t perfect, but it was better than his previous attempts. He perched on the fence beside me and nibbled at the sleeve of my shirt.

“Get off,” I said, but I leaned over and kissed the side of his beak. He winked at me and took off again.

This is the weirdest thing ever
. I went back inside and found a book to try to keep my mind off of him.

It didn’t work.

#

I’d been cooking since I was old enough to stand on a chair and help Della measure flour, but that night I found that preparing even a simple meal of vegetables and the previous night’s chicken was nearly impossible. I forgot what I was doing every time Aren came close to me. When he touched my waist as he went past, I burned my hand on a pot of boiling water. We sat at the table before we ate, and he rubbed Sara’s salve into my skin. I could have done it myself. I didn’t want to.

Later, he showed me the map that he and Kel had drawn while I was asleep. It was a beautiful thing, a simple drawing of charcoal on yellowing paper. The eastern part of Darmid filled the left edge of the page, with the mountains, the isthmus that divided our lands, and my home province spilling east from there. To the right, Tyrea spread out like a living thing, arms and legs stretching into the ocean. A large island nearly touched the eastern edge, and smaller ones freckled the shores and bays. They’d sketched in mountains, rivers and lakes, and the country was divided by dash-lines into six territories.

“Where are we?” I asked, and Aren pointed to a lake that seemed far too close to the border with Darmid. He had to lean close to do it, and my heart stumbled over itself as his hair tickled my skin. I took a deep breath. “We can’t have only come that far.”

“It’s not a small country. You can see how flying is most convenient when I need to travel.”

“And is all of it like the land here, hills and forests and lakes?”

“No.” He pointed to an area in the south of the country, a round bay that cut into the land and was bordered on the east by a protective arm of land.

“That’s Luid,” he said. “It’s warmer there. We still see the seasons, but the winters are much milder. Summer can be unpleasantly warm, which is why wealthy Luidites have these homes to retreat to.” His fingers traced a path directly north from Luid. “Here’s Cressia. It’s not a place I’d recommend you visit. During my great-grandfather’s time dragons swept down from the mountains here.” He indicated a range bordering the northern sea. “They killed or drove out most of the humans, and for the most part, we’ve left the land to them.”

“Sounds a bit like what my people did to the dragons.”

“Perhaps. There are people who still live there in small settlements, and as a population they have stronger magic than people living elsewhere. Severn watches them very carefully.”

“What about the rest of the country?”

“You’d like most of it, I think. The silver forest in Tauren is said to be a good place to see unicorns, but that could just be talk to get people to visit and spread their gold around. There’s a valley in the east where the trees grow upside down with their roots in a canopy of clouds and their leaves spread out over the ground. There’s the Despair bordering Luid in the north, which is better protection from an army than any wall. Something in the middle of that place breaks your heart and your mind the closer you come to it. Most plants won’t even grow there.

“Grasslands through the middle here, mountains to the north and west—those would be the Eastern Mountains to you, of course. Gryphons, flying horses and the Ayer in the mountains and foothills, and more creatures you’ve only read about in other places.” He drummed his fingers on the paper. “I grew up with all of this, and it still often surprises me. I wish I could see what you thought of it all.”

“Well, we can’t stay here forever,” I said. “Where will we go next?”

“I don’t know. I have a few ideas.” He looked more tired than I’d seen him before, so much so that he appeared older than he had the first time I met him.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“I will be. Constantly using magic takes a toll. Transformations and mind control are difficult, but at least they’re fast. This awareness and trying to stay focused is…” He smiled. “It’s just draining me a little. I’m going to rest my eyes for a few minutes.” He ran a hand over my hair, twirling the ends like I did so often, then went to the sofa and stretched out on his back.

I steeped heartleaf bark again, trying to move quietly so he could rest, then sat at the table and looked over the map again. The terrain was well marked, but Aren hadn’t labeled anything. Not natural features, not territories, not cities. He didn’t need to. He knew this huge piece of land like I knew the forest around Stone Ridge.

And yet he couldn’t think of a single safe place for us to go.

I went up to the bedroom to wash up, and Aren was still asleep when I returned. I thought about waking him up and telling him to go to bed, but I couldn’t disturb him. I put out the lamps and opened the window coverings to let the moonlight in, brought a blanket out from the bedroom and went to lay it over him. I’d meant to leave him to rest, but wondered whether he’d object to me staying with him. He’d wanted me earlier, but that was different. He seemed far less comfortable with comfort and affection.

I touched his face. He opened his eyes slightly, and I pulled back. For a moment he did nothing. Then he shifted his body to make space beside him. My stomach fluttered as I sat, then slowly lowered myself to rest my head on his arm.

“It’s okay,” he whispered.

He wrapped his arms around me, and I fell asleep with his heartbeat drumming in my ear.

#

There were no dreams about being chased by dragons, and no dancing. There was no closet on the stairs. Just a dark, gloomy forest I was very familiar with, though only from my dreams. The ancient trees dripped with moss, and the ground was covered with rocks, fallen trees, and ferns. Nothing seemed to be happening, which suited me well enough. I waited.

Aren walked toward me, seeming to appear out of nowhere, and sat on a lichen-spotted boulder. I took a hesitant step toward him. “Are you really you?” I asked.

“I think so. I was going to ask you the same thing, but this place definitely isn’t mine. Do you come here often?”

“Sometimes.”

He looked up into the dark forest canopy. “Such a cheerful spot.”

“There are worse places,” I said, thinking of the suffocation dreams. The binding dreams, I supposed.

“It’s interesting. I really should try to wake up, though. I shouldn’t be here.”

“Don’t.” I sat on one of his legs and rested my head on his shoulder. “There’s nowhere we’ll be safe, is there?”

“No. Not for me, and not for you while you’re with me. I’ve been trying to tell you that. Severn’s not going to let this go.” He started to stand, but I pressed down on his shoulders, and he gave in easily.

“Did you check to see if he was nearby before you lay down?”

“I did, and there was nothing. That doesn’t mean I can relax.”

“You can’t stay half-awake forever. Just sleep for now, you need it so badly. We can leave tomorrow, as early as you want. They can’t possibly get here that quickly, even if you do let your guard slip a little. Right?” I pressed my lips against his throat and breathed in the intoxicating scent of his skin. He felt as warm and as real as anything I’d felt earlier that day, in spite of the dream-like quality of everything around us.

“You might be surprised how quickly Severn can move. But you’re right, I can’t keep this up much longer.” He held me close, and we sat like that for a few minutes, resting in the peaceful gloom of my forest.

He shrugged his shoulder, and I lifted my head. He cupped my face in his hand and ran his thumb over my lower lip. I shivered.

“Still,” he said with a half-smile, “if we’re going to risk being caught, it seems a shame to do it for sleep.” I was about to agree when he said, “Wait—someone’s coming.” An instant later we were both awake in the dark house.

“What’s—” I whispered, and the door banged open. Kel’s dripping silhouette appeared in the doorway. He hadn’t taken time to put his clothes on this time. His athletic form would have been distracting if I hadn’t been so terrified.

“Get out,” he said. “They’re coming. Niari was up in town a few hours ago, and she said there were a lot of unfamiliar men there. Severn may have been one of them.”

Aren sat for a moment with his eyes closed. “I can’t get him.” His jaw clenched. “He’s been blocking me right back. I had no idea. I’m so sorry, Rowan.”

“Don’t worry about it. Grab our things, I’ll get the horses ready—”

“Don’t bother,” Kel said. “There’s no time, you’re coming with me. Both of you.”

“What about—”

“You’ll never make it out of here over land without getting caught, and Cassia and I decided we can’t let that happen. She’s waiting in the lake. Take only what you need, and hurry.”

“Let’s go,” I said, before Aren could try to refuse. I shouldn’t have worried. He was up and putting his cloak and boots into his bag before I finished speaking. I did the same, and picked up my dragon scale off of the table on my way past. It glowed faintly as we stepped out under the stars, a strangely comforting sight.
You’ve survived worse
, I reminded myself. I pushed the scale to the bottom of my knapsack.

“We’ll go as quickly as we can,” Kel said, “but this isn’t the best starting place. I hope you can both hold your breath.” He didn’t stop when we reached the end of the dock, but tipped off the end into a dive that barely rippled the surface of the water.

“Turn your pack around,” he said. “Let’s go.”

I swung the bag around to my chest, pulled the straps over my shoulders, and glanced back toward the house before I jumped into the water. Tiny lights bobbed along the shoreline in both directions, and a few flickered among the trees, all closing in on the cabin. I turned back to the water, took a deep breath, let it out, took another, and jumped in. 

Aren splashed into the lake a second later. Strong arms wrapped around my waist and back, pinning my knapsack between my body and Kel’s. I wrapped my arms as far as I could around his broad chest, and we shot through the water. I wanted to ask where Aren was, but there was no time.

I needed another deep breath to calm myself, but all I could do was keep my head down against the push of the water and hold on tight as Kel’s powerful tail propelled us through darkness that seemed to go on forever as my chest burned and my panic grew.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Rowan

W
e surfaced in near-darkness, and I gasped in cool, dank air that tickled my aching lungs. Kel held me up until I caught my breath, then helped me onto a cold stone ledge that seemed to be part of a large cave. My eyes adjusted to the dim light in time to see Aren reach the surface, accompanied by a long-haired woman. He held onto the ledge, as out-of-breath as I had been.

Kel watched him, head tilted to one side. “Aquatic forms aren’t looking so bad now, are they?”

Aren stared at him, then burst out in laughter that turned quickly into a coughing fit. Kel laughed, too, and said, “All right, get out of my lake.”

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Underwater cave,” Kel said. “No one should be able to follow us here.” He braced his hands on the ledge as though her were going to follow us onto dry land, then hesitated. “You know, this might be less awkward if you go ahead. Follow the light, see if there’s anything for us naked mer-types to cover up with. You two might want to get out of those wet clothes, too.”

Aren and I followed what light there was to its source, a small fire that burned hotter than seemed possible, hidden behind a rock outcropping. We found a pile of flat, smooth blankets, and I passed half of the stack to Aren.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I am,” I said, in spite of the fact that I was still weak-legged with fear and excitement that were catching up with me now that we were safe. “You know, a month ago I’d have called nearly drowning in an escape from an evil Sorcerer a big deal.”

Aren swallowed hard and smiled. “Good. Not that I was afraid that Kel was going to accidentally drown you or anything.” I wanted to put my arms around him like I had in our shared dream, but it felt wrong in the real world and far from the cabin. Too familiar. He turned and walked away.

I squeezed most of the water out of my hair, but couldn’t get my clothes dry. The things in my bag were wet, too. I hurried to strip down to my underthings and wrap a blanket around me, towel-style. When Aren and the others came back, they were wearing the same. Aren carried his own clothing in a dripping bundle. I tried not to stare at him and Kel as we sat around the fire to warm ourselves.

“We shouldn’t stay too long,” Kel said. “I’d rather not take chances.”

“It’ll be fine,” the mer woman said, and adjusted top of the blanket she wore, pulling it tighter. “Let them rest for a few minutes, at least.”

My first thought when I really looked at her was that she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Dark hair hung over her shoulders in wild, damp waves that framed a face built from perfectly balanced features and flawless, cinnamon-colored skin. She’d wrapped her blanket around herself in a way that showed off generous curves and revealed most of her long legs, and when she smiled it was warm and confident.  I tried to ignore my jealousy as I realized that Aren had been holding onto that body as she brought him here, and with no blanket to cover her.
She just saved his life. Be happy about that.

“Hi, I’m Cassia,” she said. “You’re Rhona, right?”

I remembered what Kel had said.
She and Aren used to be… friends.

I smiled back. “Actually, it’s Rowan, but—”

She clapped her hands over her mouth, then curled them under her chin. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I’m just terrible with names. I tried so hard this time, too. Shoot.” She seemed genuinely upset with herself.

“It’s okay. You’re Kel’s sister, right?”