“Katriona?” Arland whispers, squashing my daydream of artery clogging sustenance.
“Hmm?”
He grimaces. “We have arrived.”
I look around for something to explain to me where
here
is. “I don’t see anything.”
“Don’t?”
I sigh. “Do not. I do not see anything.”
He lets go of Keagan’s hand then points ahead of us, into the wall of black. “Straight ahead, between the trees. If you look hard enough, you will see the glow of a burning torch.”
My eyes have not yet adjusted the way everyone else’s have, but I know with time they will. However, I don’t see a flame or anything past the darkness in front of me. Squinting, I lean forward—like that will help—and shake my head.
“Sir, we have arrived,” Cadman says, breaking the line to stand next to Arland.
“I am aware. Katriona cannot see the light.” Arland chuckles, squeezing my hand.
I
am
the light, and I have the urge to knock him in the shoulder, but don’t.
Cadman doesn’t share in Arland’s humor; instead, the red-headed soldier raises an eyebrow then crosses his arms over his chest. “Why do you believe her eyes have not fully adjusted when she has adapted to everything else with such ease?”
Arland gives me a cursory glance, his green eyes averting mine before they get locked into one of those looks we are no longer allowed to share. “I imagine it has something to do with the amount of light surrounding her. She is rarely in complete darkness in order to adjust.”
“That sounds plausible. The less she uses magic at Willow Falls, the stronger her eyes will become … I pray.” Cadman looks over his shoulder.
“Shall I travel ahead to scout for any possible dangers, sir?”
“No, that will not be necessary. We are safer when connected. However, please send Perth this way then take his position so Brit is kept safe at the other end of the line.”
“Yes, sir.” Cadman jogs toward Perth.
I already know where all this is going, and I don’t like it.
Perth arrives next to me and takes my hand without asking. “I assume you wish to speak of a plan for our arrival?”
Arland regards Perth with a blank expression. “I wish to be on Katriona’s security. Can you arrange that?”
Perth laughs. “I am sure it can be arranged, but you do know my father will be suspicious. You were her intended. He may interpret your willingness to help as a trick. And, because
I
am curious, why do you want to risk it?”
“I cannot sleep without him,” I say.
Perth practically yanks my arm from its socket, jerking me to face him, and keeps walking, but backward. “Do you expect Arland will be sleeping with you, Katriona? Are you a fool? My father will kill him and have your family further disgraced. If anyone will be in your room in the evenings, it will be me, and I am not sure that will bother me at all.”
A deep, guttural growl erupts from Arland’s throat.
I squeeze his hand, hoping to calm his frustration with Perth. “No, not in my room with me, but as close to me as possible. He protects me from more than just daemons, Perth. He protects me from horrible visions. Visions that do not make sense for me to have. Visions ending in death, his death, my death, everyone’s—”
“How close I need to be to her is yet to be known,” Arland says, lowering his voice. “Darkness is able to confront her when I am not near.”
Perth peeks around me. “May we stop for a moment? Speak about this in private?”
“Cadman,” Arland calls over his shoulder.
“Yes, sir?”
“Keep everyone connected. Stay only a few feet from us, but make sure no one eavesdrops. Do you understand?”
The two men exchange an unspoken agreement with their eyes, then Cadman turns with his arms outstretched to corral the others. They only move a few feet away, but Cadman engages them in conversation loud enough for me to recognize he’s offering a distraction.
“What do you mean Darkness can confront her?” Perth asks, leaning forward.
Arland clenches his jaw. “Kate has had dreams of Encardia her entire life, but when I sleep next to her, the dreams stop—”
A wide grin grows on Perth’s face. “I am sure they do.”
I ball my fists at my sides. How dare he insinuate Arland and I have done anything we haven’t. Especially since I have been so desperate for
that
, and Arland has exhibited self-control to an almost annoying extent to avoid
that
.
Reaching back, I muster every ounce of non-magical strength I’ve got then launch my bony fist through the air, right into Arland’s palm.
“What did you do that for?” Frustration stiffens me, rooting my legs where I stand.
“What would you have expected him to think, Katriona? I told you this would happen. We need only explain why it is so important.” Returning my fist to my side, Arland speaks low then keeps his hands to himself. Good thing too, cause I might smack them away. Hitting Perth would’ve felt great.
“Hmm,” Perth says, rubbing his chin in such an Arland kind of way. “So why is it so important for you two to be together?”
“I can answer that,” Mom says, stepping away from everyone else.
“Mom, we can handle this.”
“You said Griandor called me a fool for not sharing things with you, well gods forgive me, but he was a fool for not sharing things, as well. What did he tell you about Arland? Did he tell you without Arland and you together there is no Encardia?” She holds her hands out at her sides like an opera singer reaching the crescendo of a powerful song.
“Did he tell you if Arland is not with you, you will remain in constant danger from Darkness? Did he tell you not only does Arland protect you, but you him? Did he tell you—”
“Wait.” Grabbing Mom’s shoulders, I shake her from her mental breakdown long enough for her to look me in the eyes, to truly see me. “What?”
She shudders. “What, what?”
“Most of what you said, Griandor did tell me, except for the part about me protecting Arland. Griandor said Arland protects
me
from much, but not the other way around. So, not only do I have to worry about the visions and Dugh-Darkness appearing inside Willow Falls whenever Arland is not around, you are now telling me I also have to keep Arland safe? From what?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Perth shoot Arland a raised eyebrow look. “What does she mean
Darkness will appear inside Willow Falls
?”
I let them talk it out and focus solely on my mom. “What are you not telling me? Do you know if he will die? What do I have to keep Arland safe from?”
“His father.”
“His …
father
?” I ask slowly, shaking my head. High Leader Maher isn’t evil. Why would
anyone
need to be protected from him?
Arland drops all pretense of friendly conversation with Perth and pushes past him to stand between me and Mom. He towers over her. “What did you just say?”
“Kate-Katriona must keep you safe from your father.”
Arland’s stands stiff, unmoving. Inching forward, I place my hand on his back, along his waist—
Liar. Misguided liar
. His most prominent thoughts inundate mine. I hadn’t expected this; the touch was to calm him, but instead it connects us like before, when magic was awake. And something else exists inside him. Fear. Fear she’s not lying, and fear she’s right. Fear he knows nothing of himself, he’s going to die, and he’s going to fail me all wrapped into one big chest crushing burden.
Releasing my fire, I step in front of Arland then take his hands in mine. “
You will not fail me, but we are at the point we need to listen to her again. She has been cryptic. She has lied, she has kept things from us longer than bnecessary, but she holds information we need. I want nothing more than to hear why I need to be worried about your father
.”
Arland takes a step back. Given the overwhelming amount of hatred he’s directing toward my mom, I think it’s the best he can offer.
Keeping his hand in mine, I turn around. “Mom?”
Perth watches, staring with interest surely feeding the ice-cold man’s personality more than the new man who he’s becoming, the man who cares … or at least pretends to.
“I have told you I know nothing about Arland’s life, but I do, and you need to be aware of the information I have. Now is the time to share.”
I’ve heard this before, and her rambling makes me think she’s trying to apologize, but I’d rather she just explain it all.
“Arland, your father is scared you will be unable to keep your distance from Katriona and will send you away. On a mission. Not to hurt you, but to keep you safe. Unfortunately if he does, I am afraid one of the visions Katriona has had about you will come true.”
“
No
… .” The word floats from my mouth and into our conversation. The world around me turns gray, worse than the cold blackness. Images of Arland drowning, of him being sliced open by coscarthas’ razor sharp claws, of him being torn limb-from-limb … .
“Katriona,” he says so close to my ear his breath warms me.
I don’t know when he did it, but his arms are wrapped around my back, securing me to his chest. Resting my head on him, I breathe in his woodsy scent; it’s tinted with a strong sulfuric smell. I pull away and realize the smell of sulfur is from the brown, dried blood covering his shirt.
“I am not going to die.” His words are strong, yet soft. Arland speaks as though he has no doubt and wishes me to believe what he says, too.
I stare at our shoes—also covered in blood. “You cannot say that for sure. Your thoughts are layered with fear of death, fear of letting me down.”
He holds me at arm’s length, lifts my chin with his finger, forcing me to look at him. “We all fear death. And if my sole purpose in life is to protect you, do you not believe my greatest fear would be failure? You are all this world has for survival, and so far you have been injured in more … no, worse ways than most. If I allow myself to believe for one moment I have done a good job, you will be in more danger than you have ever been. Thoughts are a dangerous thing to be able to share; they cross through our subconscious and most we let go of, never to think about again. The ones we hold on to are the ones we speak. We should be more careful when sharing them.”
I glare at him. When I wanted nothing more than to have a moment of peace in my head, he provoked me.
“I am sorry.” Arland slides his hands down my arms, resting only when our fingers are laced.
“For?”
He smiles, warm and enchanting. “For invading your thoughts earlier.”
“I am sorry, too.”
“For?” he asks, mimicking my pitchy tone.
“For being so angry with you when you did.”
Mom steps closer to us. Her smile beams in the golden light shining from me and Arland. Our magic must be growing stronger; it comes now when we don’t even realize it. “You share thoughts already?”
Arland steps back, but keeps me nuzzled in between his torso and arm. “The more magic we use, the stronger our connection.”
“This is good.”
She’s giving me something. I don’t know what, but I just know she’s giving me something I need to hear. “Why?”
“Do I honestly have to repeat myself?”
“Because the two of us together are the key,” Arland and I say in unison, sharing the same annoyed tone.
“I still have not had my questions answered,” Perth says, eyebrows drawing over his eyes.
Arland rubs my arm. “I do not know why, but since Darkness has taken Brad’s body—”
“
Brad
? The man who hit you?” Perth rejoins us and stands next to my mom.
“Brad did
not
hit me, and how did you find out?”
“If he did not hit you, there was nothing for me to find out.” Perth flashes his cocky grin. “So is it true?”
Frustration boils in my chest. “Br—”
“Brad is not from this world. He accidentally traveled here with Katriona, was injured by coscarthas, and was in a coma,” Arland answers for me.
“One of the children overheard a conversation in the kitchen, and I overheard her telling another; that is how I know he hit you.” Perth stares at me. His almost white eyes, stark in comparison to the Darkness, look greener than normal. They hold a less milky appearance, a light shade of parched summer grass.
“And I remember seeing the two of them brought in. I thought Katriona was dead, too. Her exposed skin was covered in blood and dirt. But none of that tells me why he hit her or why he has anything to do with Darkness being able to reach her.”
“When we healed Brad, he was already too infected to be released from the hold Darkness had on him,” Arland says.
“In a way, the poison continued to work. Brad was tainted, but we were unaware. We believed it to be jealousy when he hit her, but it was the confusion working itself into his brain. When we attempted to return him home, we were attacked. He seemed willing to die. Then, as if he was fighting the poison inside, he … ” he pauses and glances down at me.
“I can handle it.” Hearing how hard Brad fought against the poison can be no worse than seeing the battle.
“Apologized to Katriona. I knew something was wrong with his apology, but it was not until her conversation with Griandor that I fully understood. Darkness is Brad; Brad is Darkness. Somehow the connection Katriona and Brad share allows Darkness to appear as an apparition before her.”
“Why are we worried about an apparition?” Perth asks.
“Because,” I say, “the more magic Darkness steals from Draíochtans and Encardia, the stronger he becomes. His apparition will go from harmless to deadly. And he is already strong enough to touch me.”
Perth cocks his head to the side, looking Arland up and down. “Arland protects you from this?”
“Yes.”
“And if he is assigned to her security, High Leader Maher cannot send him away,” Mom adds.
“How close do you need to be?”
Securing his hand on my hip, Arland pulls me against him tighter. “We do not know for sure. To protect her from her dreams it seems as if I need to be touching her, but to protect her from Darkness it only seems I need to be within one hundred feet of her, or have her in my sight. After what happened earlier tonight, I do not wish to have her out of my sight.”