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“This is going to become a lot more embarrassing for you if you keep wriggling,” he growled, hot breath skating over my ear as he held me pressed against him.

I stopped, blushing furiously as the meaning of his words struck me. “This is not appropriate,” I hissed, making one last futile attempt to extricate myself. Akela whined sympathetically, and I shot him a glare as Hunt sighed behind me.

“Go to sleep, and it won’t bother you as much,” Hunt rumbled, putting a few inches between us as a concession to propriety, but keeping his arm around me. “There, happy?”

“No,” I snapped, determined to be ill humored. He chuckled, his breath no longer tickling my ear.

“Go to sleep, Red,” he repeated. “You can spend all day tomorrow being angry with me if you like.”

“I will,” I grumbled, closing my eyes and trying to persuade my body to relax. I heard Hunt breathe out something that sounded a bit like a laugh.

“Looking forward to it.”

Chapter 9

After my close call with the leshy, I decided to proceed more carefully the next day, staying close to Hunt and Akela as we made our way through the Bloodwood. Hunt seemed to have the same idea, and he kept glancing back at me periodically to make sure I was following.

The trees seemed to grow thicker the farther we traveled, and we were forced to move more and more slowly, scrabbling over roots and fallen logs every few steps.

Around noon, we arrived at the side of a river and stopped for a short rest. I was exhausted and sweating so much that I had removed my cloak and unbuttoned the top button of my blouse. The rush of the water was strangely relaxing, and I tried to enjoy it, despite the eerie surroundings of the Bloodwood.

“You’re uncharacteristically quiet today,” Hunt said, watching me as he leaned against a tree while I drank as much water as I could stomach from the skin he carried. He looked annoyingly unruffled, not sweating or panting even a little. He was still wearing his dark cloak and carrying all of his weapons. Akela had flopped to the forest floor beside him and was already dozing. I had a feeling the poor wolf had been tasked with keeping watch over me most of the night, and I felt a pang of guilt for the poor creature.

“Just saving my breath for the hike,” I huffed out, taking another sip from the water skin.

“I rather expected you to be biting my head off about last night,” Hunt said wryly, studying me from his perch against the tree. Truthfully, I had slept better than expected with his arm around me, but I wasn’t willing to tell him that.

“How long until we reach the Darklands?” I asked, ignoring his jibe in the hopes that it annoyed him.

Hunt glanced up, possibly to check the positions of the sun. “Depends on how fast we travel today,” he replied. “But at least another day. Probably two at the rate we are going.”

I groaned feelingly and he laughed. It was such a pleasant sound, deep and throaty and rumbling, and I felt annoyed at myself for longing to hear it more.

“Cheer up, Red,” he said, smiling at me with most of his teeth visible beneath his curved lips. “Only two more days until you’re free of me.”

“Yes, so I can walk through demon territory completely unarmed,” I said. “What joy.”

“The demons won’t hurt you,” Hunt said. He was so confident that I raised a brow and looked at him incredulously.

“As long as you don’t hurt them,” he amended, meeting my stare, “they’ll leave you be. They have better things to worry about than a lone witch wandering around.” I let out a snort.

“Like what?” I asked. If my grandmother had been right, we witches were the number one priority of the demons.

“Like earning a living and feeding their families, and Court politics,” Hunt replied, looking steadily at me. “All the same things witches probably worry about.”

“And shadow stones?” I added, looking pointedly at Hunt.

He smirked. “What are you going to do when you get to the Darklands?” he asked curiously, moving to sit next to me on a fallen log. “Where exactly will you go?”

“I’m not sure yet,” I said, somewhat truthfully. Mama had told me to find the Demon King, and it wouldn’t be lying to say I didn’t know where he was. “Will you be returning here to the Bloodwood?”

Hunt shrugged noncommittally. “That depends,” he said, looking down to study his hands. They were scarred and calloused, definitely the hands of someone used to hard work.

“Depends on what?” I asked, handing him the water skin. He took a swig before tying it back onto his belt.

“On whether or not we ever make it there,” he said, shooting me a grin and holding out his hand to me as he stood. “Come on, Red, we’re wasting daylight.”

“Ugh,” I groaned, letting him haul me to my feet.