Orion nodded. “We set watches,” he said. “One at a time. There’s no telling what else is down here.”
"Easily done." Roan shifted away from me as he released my arm. Orion did the same.
I immediately missed his warmth as he moved ahead, reaching back and capturing my hand instead. He tugged me behind him, moving to a more open area, the snow crunching under our boots, the sound echoing up the dark tree trunks around us. I shivered. It was so quiet down here. None of the wind that’d been rushing through my ears before was present. It was nothing but yawning silence.
Orion followed behind us a moment later. As I trailed behind Roan, I tried to not think about the fact that the trees that we had fallen through suddenly looked even bigger and more imposing. The deeper we walked into the forest between the mountains, the colder the temperature seemed until I feared we’d be nothing but frozen Fae lost in the space between the mountains by morning.
Chapter 12
Cress
We walked in silence for a while before it finally became too much for me. "Where are we?" I asked, clutching Roan’s hand as we passed a tree I swore we’d already passed a couple of times before.
"The Bavarian Pass runs along the side of the mountain; this is the path we try to avoid at all costs because it's easy to get lost in,” Roan replied, keeping his voice barely above a whisper. I wondered if there was a reason. Probably. He seemed to have a reason for everything he did. This time, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the reason, though. He proved that a moment later by finishing his explanation. “There are creatures that live in these woods that have adapted to the cold and dark. They are vicious and ravenous, and exactly what we were trying to avoid. It's also much harder to get through the woods and over the crest of the mountain to the Court of Frost this way than on the pass since the visibility is so poor," he finished.
"Creatures?" I asked, fear winding its way through my chest as I audibly gulped and scooted a bit closer.
Roan looked back over his shoulder and something in my expression must have warned him. He paused and turned to face me, his hand coming up to cup my cheek. “Don't worry, Little Bird, I won't let them hurt you.” He dropped a kiss on my forehead. “Orion and I would die before we let anything happen to you.”
“Agreed,” Orion said at my back. I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse. I didn’t like the thought of them dying for me. The world would be a much more intolerable place without these two men in it. Sorrell, I could take or leave at the moment, he was kind of an asshole.
Roan pivoted back and continued on. It was only a few more moments before we came to a series of trees much larger than the ones we’d passed before. They towered over the rest of the forest, large and commanding. Their trunks were a veritable wall forming along the pathway. When Roan just stood in front of one, not saying a word as he stared up at the big behemoth thing, I began to worry that something was very wrong.
He inhaled and then released his breath with an irritated sigh. “Alright,” he said, turning toward me and Orion. His eyes lifted over my head, zeroing in on Orion. “We’re going up. Do you need a hand?”
To my utter surprise, Orion nodded. Admitting weakness was not common in the Fae courts from what I could tell, so to admit he needed help meant that my dark lover was in more pain than I initially thought. He stepped forward and Roan bent down, lacing his fingers together to offer his friend a boost to the closest branch, one that still seemed much too far away. Orion made it though, his hands gripping and pulling as he levered himself up onto the thick protrusion.
"You're next, love," Roan said.
I gulped, unsure that I would be able to make the same leap that Orion did, or have enough strength to pull myself up. It wasn't like I had a choice though, so I put my foot into Roan's clasped hands and pushed. I hadn't expected him to throw me, but throw me he did. When I landed, I scrambled hard—hands reaching out, trying to find purchase to keep from slipping off. My legs kicked at the trunk as I huffed and clung to the branch I’d landed on. My fingers were slipping and I squeaked as my upper body slid right off. If it weren’t for Orion’s hands reaching out and gripping around my wrists to yank me back up, I would’ve fallen back down. His gasp of pain was like an arrow straight to my heart though, and I hated that I was the cause. As soon as he released me, I flipped on him.
“Are you okay?” I demanded, wanting to touch him but afraid to hurt him.
His teeth flashed in the darkness. “Don’t worry about it,” he said tightly.
“Pulling me up a tree can’t be good for your ribs,” I said. “Maybe I should look at it.”
“Got any medical skills you’ve been hiding, Sweetheart?” he asked.
“Um … well, no, not really—I mean, I tried to help one of the Sisters from the orphanage deliver a calf, but I kind of threw up at the first sight of the baby’s head, so she sent me away.”
Orion barked out a quiet laugh. “Then, no, don’t worry about me. Just try not to fall off until Roan gets up here.”
At the exact moment he said that, Roan called up from the ground. “I’m coming up.” Seconds later, I heard him back up on the ground and take a running jump. The tree shuddered as he gripped onto the same branch I was half draped across and clambered up around me. Even as Roan shifted into position, he tensed and gritted his teeth.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked, worried.
He ignored me and instead, lifted me onto his lap, facing him. Orion settled in and cupped an arm around his side as if in pain. I shifted and eyed him with a sharp focus. He must have sensed it too because the second Roan stopped moving—after having laid his back against the trunk of the tree with me leaning against his broad chest—he spoke.
“Stop worrying,” Orion chastised. “I’m fine.”
"I'll take first watch," Roan said, distracting me.
"Wake me when you want me to take over," Orion mumbled as he pulled his cloak around his shoulders and promptly fell asleep. How guys could just shut their eyes and fall into blissful slumber was a damn miracle to me. Even I had to lay there for several minutes just thinking before I finally tired my thoughts out enough that they would let me sleep.
Wait, I thought. What did he mean by wake him? "We're sleeping in a tree?" I asked, turning my head to look at Roan.
Roan just chuckled, his chest rumbling with the sound. “Yes, Little Bird. Now stop squirming.”
"How are we not going to fall off?" I gasped as I looked down for the first time. We were much higher than I had initially thought. Even though I'd fallen off a mountain and been thrown off the roof of a castle and survived each time, the thought of falling out of a tree while I was asleep was somehow scarier. I mean, at least, I’d been awake all those other times. I’d seen it coming.
"Well, I'll be holding you, so you won't have to worry." Roan's voice was filled with barely suppressed laughter as his lips grazed the edge of my ear while he spoke.
"And what if you fall asleep?" I demanded, barely suppressing the shiver that stole up my spine from the minuscule movement.