Page 29 of Revealing Fate

Felíne’s lips parted, and she hesitated. “From Asteros.”

Penn nodded, a slight flush coloring his cheeks. “Kal has worked for years to give the people of Meress a fighting chance. Smuggling goods and information out of the capital to help our cause. Training our men and women. When we win, it’ll be because of what he’s done. He’s helping pave a better way, a better future for all shurii.”

Felíne schooled her features to conceal the sadness that rocked her. Not if she didn’t get home. If she didn’t break that damn curse, there wouldn’t be a future for the shurii. “You’re very brave, Penn, for wanting to help.”

He flushed a little at the compliment and straightened in his seat.

“You have the advantage here, I’ll say that,” she mused. “I hear the Asterosian army is formidable, but even their number would be lost in this maze of a forest.”

Penn swelled. “Exactly. They’d be like sheep lost among wolves. Only those who live here know the safe way through the wood.”

Felíne leaned forward with interest. “You mean, you can navigate Stillwater Wood?”

Penn huffed. “Of course.”

“I don’t believe it,” she argued. “This place is a labyrinth.”

She’d touched an adolescent nerve. “I swear,” Penn insisted. “I snuck out all the time as a kid. Right under the scouts’ noses. I know all the best routes.”

Felíne lay on the skepticism. “You’re telling me you could teach someone how to make it out of the forest without getting lost? And how to avoid the sentries?”

Penn waved a hand. “Easy.”

Felíne’s face broke into a dazzling smile. Penn stared. She really wasn’t playing fair.

“Prove it,” she challenged.

Penn’s returning beam was all the confirmation she needed.

She was going home.

Chapter 11

THE CYPRESS POST

KAL DID HIS BEST TO ignore the twisting unease that tangled his insides as he rode away from Meress into the depths of Stillwater Wood. Away from Kitty.

She’d looked ethereal, standing there on his porch with her mess of wild, dark hair and those honey-green eyes watching him leave, a thank you on her lips. It had taken everything within him to turn his back and walk away from her. What he’d wanted was to drag her into his bedroom and teach her the sort of things that would have her begging him to stay instead of expressing gratitude for a safe journey.

He knew taking Kitty to his house was a bad idea. He took no female to his private residence. But damn him, he’d wanted her there. And seeing her in his domain had done something to him. Something dangerous and unpredictable.

Kal roughly scrubbed his face. He needed to get a fucking grip. Somewhere between Cindamar and now, Kal’s handle on his self-control had slipped precariously. He’d never had an issue setting boundaries with women. Certainly, never allowed one to distract him. And now, of all the females he could have become entangled with, it had to be his friend’s only sister? Perhaps this distance was for the best. Maybe it would help him pull his head out of his ass.

Kal pushed the gray gelding that he’d borrowed from Meress’s stable into a brisk canter, despite the tight confines of the game trail. Sig had been left behind to recoup, much to the fiery stallion’s displeasure. He’d tried to bite Kal’s chosen mount as they passed his stall. The gray didn’t have the power or stamina of the eager red roan, but he was quick and sure-footed as he drove them deep into the wood.

Kal reached the hunting outpost in just over three hours. The heavy foliage made it difficult to tell, but he knew the sun was beginning its final descent. It would be full dark soon, and he wished Kitty weren’t spending her first night in Meress alone. Without him. She was safe—no forest beasts would trespass onto his property, and the wolf prevented unwelcome shurii—but it was still new, isolated. Maybe he should have asked Penn to bring one of his sisters to stay with her.

Kal trudged up the steps of the hunting cabin, praying to whichever god was listening that Rask was inside. The cabin’s interior suffused him with warmth. A fire roared in the hearth, fending off the descending chill. A man he recognized as Trex was cleaning a hide against the far wall. Two other men sat at a square table playing cards. Trex and Tandoor had been citizens of Meress before Kal found the city; Zadon joined the Cozened several years after. The three men frequently hunted game together, and he and Rask accompanied them on occasion.

A muscle in Kal’s jaw clenched. Rask was not among them. The men looked up when he entered.

Trex’s face split into a grin as he wiped his knife with a rag. “Ho ho! Look what the weary hound dragged to our door, fellas.”

Kal forced a smile. “I expected to find Rask, not the sorriest lot in all the wood.”

Tandoor pushed up from his chair and clapped Kal on the shoulder. “Welcome back, Kaine. Sit. We’ll deal you in. Show you how this sorry lot relieves men of coin.”

Kal shook his head. “Not tonight. I’m pressed for time.”