Haven 3 Shadow Magic (Haven Series 3) by B. V. Larson Read Free Book Online Page B

will I be lost in-between?”
    He cocked his head and gave her an appreciative nod. “You are no foolish stripling, are you? Rare it is I meet one of your age who knows of these things.”
    “Answer my questions, Puck,” she said.
    He shook his head, his face absurdly mournful. “Alas, I am not in your power, fine lady.”
    “I know your name.”
    “And thus, you can call upon me, and perhaps do me some small harm. But you can’t command me, as I have made you no promises.”
    “I will walk with you no further.”
    “You make me sad,” he said. “Are you certain?”
    “Yes,” she said firmly.
    Shaking his head, the elf backed away from her, continuing on the path toward the Twilight Lands. He circled the mound and vanished from her sight ahead.
    “Should you change your mind,” he called, his voice sounding distant and echoing, as if he called up to her from the bottom of a dark well. “Come find me!”
    And so Telyn found herself standing alone beside the mound. She knew a deeper terror then than she’d ever felt before. She tried to think, but it was difficult. She knew that if she had stepped too far along the path, she could not deviate from it or she would be lost forever between the world of the Fae and the world which was her home. On the other hand, if she continued on her way forward, she would arrive in a strange world where she had never been. She would surely be lost there, more surely than she was now.
    Looking this way and that, she almost called for Puck to return and guide her. Perhaps she could survive his gentle touches and caresses at least long enough to return home.
    Telyn opened her mouth, but no calls issued forth. She stopped herself. This was exactly what the elf wanted. This is why he had abandoned her. He was waiting. He would come back, after a frightening delay. He would wait until she sobbed for him, frozen with fear on this path of moonlight. He would wait until she offered to remove her ward…he would wait until she was his.
    She made a decision. She turned around on the path, and took a step backward along it. She took another, and then a third. This was dangerous, she knew. Reversing oneself while circling a mound was possible, but increasingly difficult the further along one had gone. She was not sure how far she had come, but she felt certain that if she called for Puck’s help, she would be lost forever. She would never have Brand—possibly, she would never see her world again.
    Clearly envisioning Brand and clutching at her ward with both hands, she took six more steps along the path, then two dozen more.
    The land wavered before her. Instead of silver, the grasses appeared coppery. At times, they bled until they became the color of a sunset over water. She took another step, and could no longer see the path at all. There was nowhere to go. Tears streamed from her face. She did not look back. She did not want to see if the rest of the world was gone behind her as well. She lifted her foot to take yet another step. There was nothing else to do. Perhaps she could still win through and find her way home, somehow.
    A hand fell upon her shoulder. She jumped and put her foot back down without taking the step. She whirled her head around.
    Puck stood there, very close to her. “Don’t move,” he said in a whisper.
    “I don’t want to go with you.”
    “You’ve made that abundantly clear, stubborn child,” he said, but there was some gentleness in his voice. “Why won’t you come with me? Would it be so unpleasant? Am I so unsightly?”
    “You are beautiful, and I’m sure the experience would be glorious. But my heart belongs to another.”
    “Humph,” said the elf. He reached up and took her chin very delicately. His touched had a burning coolness that was exciting and slightly painful at the same time. She allowed him to guide her with his touch, as she was desperate.
    He turned her head, and pointed a long finger to her left. There, she saw the silver grasses.