My head spun toward Dash, but it was too late. The trap was already in motion. A thin, shimmering net folded around me, sweeping me off my feet and tumbling me back into the swinging contraption. Cursing, I thrashed at the woven threads, trying to free myself from the netted barrier, but a stinging pain left me gasping. The net had cut me.
What the—
I was strung up eight feet in the air, hanging from a tree. This apparatus had me in a very unfortunate situation. I was already bleeding. The last thing I wanted was to hurt myself more, but I seemed to be a glutton for punishment. Why hadn’t I had a vision to forewarn me last night? It would have saved me from the agony I felt now.
I stopped everything, even breathing for a few seconds, while I assessed how much trouble I’d gotten myself into. As I looked closer at the net, I noticed the material was made of super fine silver or a similar metal. Great. Was everything in this forsaken land potentially hazardous? I could imagine all kinds of awful things going wrong with my current predicament. I glared down to the ground. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I grumbled.
Dash stared up at me with a roguish glint in his eyes. “Some things never change.”
“Just get me down from here,” I growled.
“Try not to move too much. If I am going to get you out of there without you breaking an arm, you need to be steady.”
“You do realize I’m swinging from a tree branch. How much control do you think I have?”
“I am beginning to understand what you meant about Charlotte’s lure to danger,” Star mused, standing beside Dash.
I rolled my eyes. “Star, now is not the time to joke.”
“On the count of three,” Dash said, his blade hovering over the metal cord that was tied to the tree, keeping me suspended in the air.
“For the love of mountain berries. Just do—”
The jerk whipped his blade through the air and cut the cable. Suddenly, I fell, the net tumbling to the ground, and I was about to go splat when a pair of strong arms caught me.
Blowing the hair out of my face, I pinned Dash with a glare. “You didn’t count to three.”
His lips spread into a lopsided grin. “It was better you didn’t think about it.”
Possibly, but now my mind was stuck on him and how incredible it felt to be in his embrace, even if for a few stolen moments. I didn’t want to let go, and that was exactly why I did. “You can put me down now.” I wiggled, trying to get my feet on the ground.
His arms held onto me. There was a long pause, and I could see I wasn’t the only one who wanted more time. “Only if you promise this will be the last time I have to save you today.”
I rolled my eyes as he set me on my feet. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”
“What was that?” Star asked, her eyes staring at the net spread on the ground.
“A trapper,” Dash said. “I am more concerned about what he was trying to catch.”
“Hopefully not me,” I griped.
Dash’s chest rumbled with laughter. “I’m beginning to think there will be plenty of situations where I will be forced to barter for your life. Including today.”
I shot him a strange glance. What did he mean today? Hadn’t I already been through enough? “You ever think that maybe I’m always in need of rescuing because of you?”
Dash shook his head. “Never.”
Star huddled alongside me, looking like a cat about to dart.
She was getting her first real taste of the Heights. I had been in her shoes not that long ago and understood her fear.
I opened my mouth to tell Dash to shove his arrogance into his piehole, but in the distance, a sound made me hesitate. Footsteps, if I wasn’t mistaken. Multiple footsteps.
Dash’s and my eyes swung toward each other, the same thought echoing in our heads.
The Night’s Guard.
“Wait,” Dash said, throwing an arm out in front of me. I’d been about to run.
“Why? If that’s the Guard, we shouldn’t stick around.”
“It’s not,” he assured me. “And if you run, they’ll shoot you.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Them.” His chin lifted to the north.
It was hard to see in the dark, but as I focused, shapes materialized, starting with their eyes. A dozen of them surrounded us in a circle. God, I hated when Dash was right. Natives—mountain dwellers by the looks of them. I backed up, moving so the three of us stood back to back.
“Dylan?” Star’s voice shook.
I waited, poised for him to make a move. His bow remained at his back, and he sheathed his blade as he stepped forward. “It’s okay. They won’t hurt us.”
Star and I both exchanged wary glances. The spears they held in their hands didn’t look very friendly.
A man with coffee-colored hair stepped forward.
The muscles in Dash’s jaw relaxed. “I never thought I would see your face again, Orion.”
“That makes two of us, Slayer.” He had a powerful voice that boomed over the valley.
“We’re only passing through but would appreciate a place to sleep for a night or two if you have the room.”
Orion’s full lips split into a grin. “For you, my old friend, there is always room.” He laid a hand on Dash’s shoulder, and the other men with him lowered their weapons. “Come, I have a bed with your name on it.”
“Did he say bed?” I whispered, no one mistaking the wistfulness in my tone.
Orion’s gaze turned to me. His hand moved from Dash’s arm and captured my chin in a light grip. Had I wanted to, I could have jerked away, but something in the flecks of his tawny eyes intrigued me. Was it fascination? Or surprise? “Kamama.” His lips spoke a foreign word.
Dash was at my side. A vein in the side of his jaw popped. “Butterfly?”
Orion nodded. “It is the name the girl with the rainbow eyes has been given. Her unparalleled power has been whispered through the land from sector to sector—the girl with multiple abilities, who they say will bring a new beginning. It’s you.”
“What?” So much for flying under the radar and keeping my multiple talents a secret.
From the look on Dash’s face, he wasn’t happy either. “I’m not interested in the whisperings of the Heights. Just a place to crash.”
“Of course. You haven’t changed at all. This way.” Orion released my chin, but not before he and I shared a look. He wanted to know more about me. I sensed it, and the knowledge unnerved me.
“Are you sure about this?” I mumbled to Dash.
“You’re telling me you’re willing to give up a night in a bed?”
“I didn’t say that,” I hissed.
“Is this a good idea?” Star asked, mimicking my thoughts.
“Dash seems to think so,” I muttered.