Page 20 (2/2)

His heart thudded, and he blinked several times to clear his vision

"And you have to stay with ht This is not hts jule word had opened a door in hishis true nature prisoner

How long had he been here, now? Many weeks, surely All along he had been pushing to the back of his e that in tio he would have said he wished he could re that sent ripples of unease through hi in so that her nose was al his Her eyes ide, and he saw a sheen of perspiration across her top lip Was Lesya truly nervous? "Because I love you, and you love me, and I’ve told you sothe word like the fine wine in hisAnd just where does that fine wine coet so lonely" She looked away, frowning

"Lesya, I’m not sure I can--"

"He’ll kill you," she whispered "If you go out into the forests alone, he’ll kill you I’ve felt his rage growing out there, his jealousy, and he th"

"You told me you’d protect o out there on your own"

And there it was A threat It felt to Jack as though a curtain had been drawn back to reveal parts of Lesya she had never before allowed hi back to the fire so that she could not read his eyes

Lesya leaned against hi herself to him Her scent overwhelainst his neck and cheek, and he could hear the steady rhythht, and he tried to ally that hat he felt for Lesya

Not if you go out there on your own…

"What are you thinking?" she asked, and she sounded alht

Next day after breakfast, Jack took a walk to the edge of the clearing He felt Lesya’s disapproval, and all the way he could sense her eyes on the back of his head, watching, waiting But even though the past few days had exposed s to him, and he felt ht had set a distance between them

He sat beside a rock and looked back at the cabin, and when he waved, Lesya waved in response She went about tending her garden And she never turned her back on hi So he leaned back against the rock and looked at the sky, closing his eyes and willing hih hiselse crossed its path

Jack’s eyes snapped open He breathed deeply, opening his senses, welco in the smells and sounds, the feel and taste of the air, all as Lesya had shown him And he knew that ten feet behind the rock stood a wolverine

He tried to breathe evenly, heart racing with exciteht, and he probed outith histhe creature’s senses as his own It paused in its sniffling, sensing his presence even though it could not see or smell him Jack froze Then the creature let out a startled cry, and turned and fled back between the trees

Jack was exhausted Sweat dripped down his face and sides, and he suddenly felt as if he’d run for ainst the rock and closed his eyes again

When the footsteps approached, he knew that she wanted him to hear her

"It takes time," she said

Jack opened his eyes "After yesterday, with the cougar, I thought--"

"I helped you with that, Jack, remember?"

"Yes," he said "I reer had any And this fresh reht home to him the situation he was in

He smiled at Lesya and knew that his escape ht, Jack ventured out into the forest alone, and Leshii came to kill hi hi toward hi her sweet song He called to her for help but she did not hear, and Leshiishadows He was as old as she’d said, and od

Jack tried to reach beyond his wooden cage with the senses he had just learned, but he was only a man

And when Leshii reached out with sharpened branches and plunged theasped in a breath and stared at the tie! he thought, and Lesya moved in her sleep beside hi hard and fast, still feeling pain in his feet from where Leshii had pinned him down in his dream, Jack tried to cal ht on his legs, holding hi shifted beneath the blanket, and terror curled itself into a tight ball in his belly Breath caught in his throat, and he reached doith a treht that strea that held hi across his lower body, rooted in the house’s living floorboards The figure raised its head, and he saw the face--s and leaves, moss and mulch--and he kneho it ho held hi tendrils wrapped around Jack’s feet and ankles He opened his -like hand and held a knotted finger across his own lips, shushing him Shhh…It reminded Jack so o that the scream froze in his chest Leshii’s eyes, dark holes framed by leaves, opened wide…and then turned to the side

The god of the forest had not come there to kill hi at her spirit father, and then Jack’s own scream came at last, more startled by her fury and the way Leshii’s eyes suddenly darkened with dis terror he’d felt moments before

CHAPTER TWELVE

THE LIVING GRAVEYARD

SHE TRIED TO CALM HIM After Leshii had fled the cabin with a rustle of leaves and the cracking of split wood, Lesya had gone to the doors and s and ht have been a spell Then she ca hi on the bed so that he could lie with his head in her lap