He frowned. “The dark forest? It’s not so scary. I fended off three wolves last night, so together we can certainly handle—”
“A clan of flesh-eating dwarves?” She lifted a brow. “I think not. They’re merciless and have an unbelievable sense of smell. Not to mention their night vision is even better than mine in wolf form.”
“How is that possible?” He cocked his head, wondering if she were trying to stall on purpose. Granted, so far Lilith had not led them astray, and Rumpel had clearly sent Giles to retrieve her as his guide because it was clear she knew the lay of the land intimately.
But she’d also been trying to force rest upon him, going so far as to lock him into this enchanted shack to ensure he would.
“Because they were bred for it. They’re cave dwarves. They blind as moles during the day, but in the dark they are formidable. And it hurts nothing to wait one more night. Besides,” her lips twitched, “it seems you needed the rest after all.”
Rock dwarves.
Everyone within Kingdom had heard of them. In fact, the entirety of Rumpel’s castle was fashioned from stone the dwarves had mined themselves. A rock dwarf’s wares were as desirable as the rock dwarf himself was feared.
Even a demone in physical form would struggle against an entire clan of the beasties.
“I could shift us as shadow.”
She shook her head. “I cannot handle that form of travel for long. The little time I’ve been in shadow when you snatched us out of the dragon’s lair very nearly did me in. If you must go, then go. I cannot stop you, knight. But I will not follow until daylight.”
Clenching his jaw, realizing he either had to stay or leave her behind—which was not an option—he sat back down slowly and rubbed his brow. Heart hammering with the enormity of their task. Already they’d taken two weeks just to get to the halfway point. In another two weeks Erualis could be dead and Giles would never forgive himself for failing at his task.
Alone, he would have been there by now. Then again, he knew so little of the land he may have been lost and even farther away. Humbling though it was to admit, he needed Lilith as his guide.
“I made food,” she said softly.
Looking up, he glanced to where she pointed. The meat was a dingy brown color, but the apples looked bright red and tempting. Grabbing one of the large leaves full of meat, he nodded his thanks. “You made this?”
For the first time since he could remember she looked bashful, glancing down at her legs that she’d curled beneath her body. “Aye. It would have tasted much better earlier but you were fast asleep and I didn’t wish to wake you.”
Plucking at a stringy bit of meat, he brought it his lips. It tasted like roasted rabbit, a little cold and slightly overcooked, but it touched him that she’d gone to the trouble. “You should not have locked me away this morning.”
She frowned and he regretted his words instantly. Lilith had gone to such trouble for him, the least he could have done was appear grateful, but the urgency of Erualis ate at him.
Swallowing his bite, he nodded his thanks before plucking up the crabapple and taking a large bite. It was slightly sour and bitter, and it was all he could do to swallow his bite instead of spitting it back out.
He was sad to note that the sparkle in her eye from before was now gone. Slipping off the bed, she glanced at the door. “I feel like a run. Not far. Just around our shack to scope out the perimeter for any beasties. Though I doubt they’ll come this night, as I’m no longer in heat.”
Giles flinched as she called her amber-hued light. Not from the heat, which felt nice, but from the intensity of it. A moment later the large red wolf padded out the door silently.
“Bloody hell, you’ve muddled that one up.” The high-pitched voice caused Giles to jump off the bed, glaring hotly at the miniature fairy with overly large mother-of-pearl dragonfly wings floating beside him.
“Danika,” he snapped, “you gave me a fright. What are you doing here?” He looked around, confused as to why the fairy godmother to villains and miscreants was gracing his doorway.
She rolled her eyes. “You think Rumpel is the only one with anything at stake in this journey, butler? Indeed.” She scoffed, wrinkling her nose with disdain. “I was here long before that devil came along to muck things up.”
Fluffing out her dress of baby’s breath, she ruffled the ends of her chestnut-brown hair, causing golden fairy dust to dance gracefully to the floor. “The girl cooked you dinner. She licked your bloody finger, which I find repulsive, but yeah, apparently it is all the rage within wolfy circles.”