Page 24 of Soul of Shadow #1

“Just do it .”

“Fine. Then turn around.”

Elias rolled his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous, Charlotte. Just take— ”

She shoved his shoulder, warm to the touch, until he finally gave in and turned around.

Sensing that this was a task of great importance, Charlie obliged.

She lifted her shirt over her head and turned it inside out.

As she worked, her eyes couldn’t help but stray to Elias’s bare shoulders.

She was keenly aware that they were standing less than a foot apart—him shirtless, her in nothing but a bra.

She worked as quickly as possible to pull the now-inverted shirt back onto her body.

“Done,” she whispered. “You can turn now.”

As he turned, he finished putting on his own T-shirt. The hem drifted back down to cover the V of muscle just above his belt.

“Now,” he said. “We’re going to speak to her.”

“We’re going to… what ?”

But her protests went unheeded, because Elias had already pushed his way through the branches and out into the clearing where the wood wife sat astride her reindeer.

“Shit,” Charlie muttered as she hurried after him.

“Mistress of the wood,” Elias said when he arrived before the spirit. He dropped to one knee, bowing his head. “My name is Elias Everhart.”

Charlie hovered awkwardly a few feet behind him, unsure if she should bow as well. She stepped from side to side, alternating between looking at the wood wife and the forest floor.

When the wood wife spoke, her voice sounded like the creaking of old branches, the whisper of wind through falling leaves. “I know who you are, child.” She didn’t smile or frown. Her expression was entirely neutral. “You are the mare of night who lives within my forest. ”

“That’s right,” he said. Still, he didn’t look up or rise from his knee.

“I know everyone who comes and goes from these woods,” she said. “I am the forest, and the forest is me. Walking her dirt is akin to treading on my own chest.”

“I am aware of the depths of your power, mistress.” At last, Elias looked up at the wood wife, who towered over him from her place on the reindeer. “And I seek your assistance in a matter concerning this forest.”

The falcon on her shoulder ruffled its feathers. “You are in search of information.”

“That’s right.”

“If you know who I am, then you know I do not give out the secrets of the wood lightly.”

“I do.” Elias stood slowly, as if worried the spirit might suddenly pounce. “But I also know that you would do anything to protect these trees from harm.”

The wood wife studied him for several beats. She hadn’t blinked once since they set foot in the clearing.

“Go on,” she said at last.

“Three boys have gone missing,” Elias said. “Human children. All the authorities found in the wake of their disappearances were three sets of shoes hanging from two separate trees.” He paused. “Trees that bear the language of your people.”

“I am aware of the police’s presence here. They have been like ants, flooding in and swarming my trees.” The reindeer scuffled its feet in the dirt. “Are you asking if I made those markings?”

“I am asking,” he said, “if any unfamiliar creatures have entered these woods.”

The wood wife’s eyes narrowed. The falcon on her shoulder squawked, and the reindeer stepped nervously about on the forest floor. She tugged on the reindeer’s fur, guiding it to a slow walk forward.

“Elias Everhart,” she said. “Mare of night.”

Elias watched her, arms tense at his sides. Charlie thought for a moment that she saw him edge closer to her, as if in protection, but quickly wrote it off as a trick of the setting sun.

“The spirits speak of you.” The reindeer traced a steady circle around the clearing, but the wood wife kept her eyes on Elias. “They know of your past. Of the trail of bodies that lies behind you. The fear you have wreaked on so many innocents. The blood that stains your hands.”

“What of it?” he asked.

“Why should I entrust the secrets of my wood to someone so untrustworthy?”

“Because something is harming your precious forest,” he said, “and I can help you stop them. All I ask for in return is information.” As he spoke, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a shining gold coin.

He held it up, where it glinted once in the waning sunlight.

Then he bent over and set the coin on a short stump.

The wood wife stared at the coin. Her eyes drew slowly up to Elias, where they lingered for a few moments.

Then her gaze flicked, for the first time, to Charlie.

Charlie had to stop herself from stepping backward. The wood wife’s gaze was knife sharp, her pupils nothing but pinpricks. It felt as if she could see through her chest, straight to the heart within.

“And you,” the wood wife said, edging the reindeer toward Charlie. “Who are you? ”

“I’m—” Charlie swallowed, stumbling a step backward. “Um. I’m Charlie.”

“You are human.” The spirit tilted her head. “How can you see me?”

“I, uh—” She glanced sideways at Elias, who nodded. “I ate one of those… berry things.”

“An eyaerberry.” The wood wife’s pinprick pupils expanded and contracted.

“Curious. That would explain your sight, but what it doesn’t explain…

” The reindeer took two steps closer, stopping only a foot from Charlie.

The wood wife towered high above, her regal neck bending slightly to allow a closer look. “Is the energy that I feel around you.”

“Sorry?” Charlie asked. “What energy?”

“It is not quite human. Neither is it of nature. It is something else.” Her eyes swept over Charlie’s figure. “Something I have never seen in these woods.”

Charlie’s heart picked up speed. “Are you saying I’m… not human?”

“I am not saying that. I am merely stating that a strange energy moves around you. Whether it is a part of you or merely an aura remains to be seen.”

“Seen by whom?” Charlie asked, but the wood wife had already returned her gaze to Elias.

“I accept your offering,” she said. She held out one long, graceful hand.

Like a leaf caught by the wind, the gold coin on the stump drifted up into the air and landed in her outstretched palm.

The reindeer shuffled its hooves. “And in return, I offer you this information: draugar have entered these woods of late.”

Fear shot across Elias’s face, the first time Charlie had ever seen him express the emotion. It passed quickly, smoothed over by indifference, but his arms remained tense at his sides. “You’re certain?”

“Quite,” said the wood wife. “What’s more—they were not part of the spirit realm.”

“Wait, what?” Charlie asked. “You mean they were seen by humans?”

“They were not,” she said. “But they could have been.”

“That’s impossible,” said Elias. “The Seal should hold any undead spirits at bay.”

“It should,” the wood wife agreed.

“So, the draugar made the markings on the trees?” he asked.

“I did not say that.”

“You didn’t—” Elias shook his head. “Well, if not them, then what?”

The wood wife stared at him, unblinking, for several long moments. At last, she said, “Something much, much worse.”

Then she turned her reindeer around and walked it forward until they disappeared into the trunk of a tree, stepping inside it as if it were nothing more than a waterfall.