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That night lad when Bastien tookon a wide branch as we usually did, we found a hollow in the trunk, right near the top It was large enough for the two of us to lie coether--after he had brushed away the centipedes In here, ere sheltered by the wind It was also surprisingly dry I worried it iant, carnivorous bird But Bastien deeht in, and I trusted hiainst the walls of the cubby hole As I glanced at Bastien, I was surprised to see his eyelids drooping This was the first tihout the whole journey All this traveling must have finally taken its toll on his body

"You should sleep tonight," I said, reaching out and giving his hand a s faintly, before letting his eyes fully close He was still leaning against the wall

"Bastien," I whispered, not wanting to annoy him, but his current position looked so unco his eyes, he tookon his side and facing the other way, his back towardto watch him sleep Like a creeper,the opposite way to Bastien with le, I could look up at the treetops and the starry sky beyond Shafts ofrew heavier, dangerously near to closing, I reminded myself ofhere, I kneas only a matter of time before I slipped off to sleep

I forcedthat there was a wide, sturdy branch sprouting just beneath e and dropped my feet to the wood This did not solvebeforeto have to stand I slid out of the hole and shifted rip hold of two branches to keepup The threat of death should be enough to keep me awake We were surrounded by a uts It was ilanced back at Bastien, as breathing more deeply He had fallen asleep At least I could be thankful for that The poor guy deserved a lot more than a couple of hours of sleep

Then I avertedtreetop It was dark and shadowed, except for sht where the leaves reflected thethe thick curtain of foliage draping the tree’s trunk… and as it did, I noticed so the tree’s interior branches The foliage fell back in place before I got a chance to figure out what it was It looked like the curve of a back--definitely not hu as I waited for the wind to sway the leaves aside again This ti Just the skeleton of the tree

It was a trick of the eye It’s nighttime after all, and it’s not like I have va myself not to worry--for I really, really did not want to wake up Bastien--when I heard a dull thud on the ground,of leaves and the snapping of twigs And then the shadow of a large wolf, bounding away into the darkness

Bastien

Rising slowly to consciousness, I reached instinctively for Victoria I felt her body next to me, the curve of her hips Still half asleep and barely aware of what I was doing, Ione arainst her back I buried ainst the back of her neck and breathed in Mirl’s scent

"Bastien," she o of her and sat up, realizing only now that the cobwebs of sleep had cleared just how close I’d gotten to her She gazed up at ht blue eyes, her expression tense and worried

"What’s wrong?" I asked My voice, heavy frolanced furtively outside I wondered what ti," she said "Someone"

I stared at her "Who? Where?" I azed out

"I’m not sure who," she replied She pointed to the treetop directly opposite us "In that tree… a as in that tree I had been standing outside keeping watch, but that spooked me and I moved back in"

I whirled on her "Why didn’t you wake one before I had the chance"

"Can you describe the wolf?"

She breathed out a sigh "Not really It was too cast in shadow All I can say is that it was big"

My mind ticked over, even as ht Could that have been Dane, spying on us again? Perhaps he’d been co with this hu her Dane would have hoped to catch us being inti us to Brucella