Bones of Faerie03 - Faerie After by Janni Lee Simner

reached for her.
    Stone whispered over stone, and an arm snaked around my neck.
    “Seeds,” Tolven rasped.

Chapter 8
     
    “G
o away!”
I whispered the command as his grip tightened.
“Tolven, go away!”
    Abruptly he released me. “You promised seeds,” he pouted. “The green is real. Nothing else is real, but the green
is
. And you promised.”
    I gasped for air, my hand going to my throat. “I promised you one seed, and I promised it later. After you lead us away from here. Remember?”
    “Remembering’s hard,” Tolven whined. “Too many other voices. Too many—” His own voice rose, cracked. “I can listen. Listen to the green. I did it before. I will do it now.” For several heartbeats I heard only his ragged breathing. Then, “I am sorry. Did I harm you?”
    “We’re fine,” I said, knowing he was himself again.“And I will give you a seed, just as soon as you show us the way out.”
    Allie edged close to me and took my hand. I squeezed it, willing her to feel my apology. She squeezed back, and I hoped she forgave me.
    “I got lost again,” Tolven said softly. “I knew I had to find the seeds, but I could not recall why, through the wilting and the crumbling all around. I am weary of being lost—that is not your concern. We have made a bargain, and I will keep it. Come, this way.”
    My throat hurt. I wanted to say it was my concern, though I had little enough reason to trust Tolven beyond the promises we’d exchanged. His shadow moved silently across the room, and I followed, leading Allie behind me. Maybe the seed would be enough to save him. But it hadn’t been enough for Karin.
    Light flooded the room as a tunnel opened before us. “Even mad, I knew I could not be seen,” Tolven said matter-of-factly. There were new tears along his sleeves, stained with dried blood. He took the purple stone that lay in the tunnel in his hand. “I hid the light in one passage, then came for you through another.”
    By the light, I saw the wine skin Nys had given us lying on the floor. I ran back to sling it over my shoulder, and then Allie and I followed Tolven into the tunnel. We swiftly reached a stone wall, but the stone partedat Tolven’s approach, revealing a longer passage with rougher walls. As we entered that tunnel, I heard the groan of shifting rock. I looked back to see the stone closing in behind us, leaving us only a few free paces ahead and behind.
A trap
, I thought, but Tolven kept walking, and the stone kept opening ahead of him, as quickly as it closed behind. I pushed Allie in front of me; if one of us got caught by the swift-flowing stone, I didn’t want it to be her. Allie gave me a long look and dropped back to my side, though there was barely room for the two of us to walk abreast. Our steps echoed against the tunnel floor.
    “Not so loud.” Tolven scowled as he glanced back at us. “Do you wish to be found?”
    I knew how to walk more quietly, but not without slowing down. With the stone flowing behind us, I chose speed over stealth. We climbed uphill, gently at first, then more steeply, until I heard my and Allie’s breaths as well as our steps.
    Without warning, Tolven stopped, one hand halfway to the stone ahead of us. “The Summoner’s Grove—what remains of the Grove—is just beyond this spot. You will give me the seed so I can see that humans keep their word, and then I will step forward and the stone will open to that place. When it does, you will be free to leave.” He extended his hand to me.
    I reached into my pocket and took out a seed. The life in all the seeds flared stronger, as if they were reluctant to be parted from one another. I pressed the seed into Tolven’s palm. His fingers closed around it, and I felt … peace, flowing like a contented sigh from the green he held. Or maybe it came from Tolven himself, who set his glowing stone aside to cradle the seed in both hands like a precious child. “Yes. It is well done.”
    Cold tickled the back of