She looked up at him. "For what?"
"We did not . . ." He inhaled sharply. "No, I'll accept responsibility for this. Full responsibility. I did not come after you immediately, Moria. I presumed Gavril . . . I was certain he would care for you."
Moria saw the guilt in his eyes and hurried on with a lie. "It was not a pleasant experience, but I was not mistreated. Gavril saw to that. I--"
Daigo cut her off with a growl.
"Yes, I know," Tyrus said to the wildcat. "You're right. This isn't the time for--"
He stopped again as Daigo peered suddenly into the dark forest, his long tail puffing as it swished.
"He hears something," Moria whispered.
Tyrus handed Moria her dagger and took out his sword. But when they went still, all they could pick up was Daigo's growling.
Shadow stalkers.
The thought had flitted through her mind earlier, and she hadn't entertained it because her gut had told her she was mistaken. While it was possible that Alvar would keep his shadow stalkers here, she detected none of the negative spiritual energy she'd felt in the Forest of the Dead. The strum of spirit life was weak but present.
Yet something must be out there or Daigo wouldn't keep growling. Some predator afoot. One that frightened every living thing into hiding.
She looked up, thinking of the thunder hawk, but this dense forest would be a poor place for a bird the size of a house. It needed open ground.
Speaking of ground . . . She glanced down, but again, it was the wrong terrain. No death worms could live beneath these thick roots.
"Moria?" Tyrus whispered. "Talk to me."
Tell me what you're thinking.
She didn't know what to say. She feared if she put her thoughts into words, he'd think her foolish. Like Gavril. Mocking her for her stories and her imagination.
"Moria . . ."
Tyrus leaned against her, his hand on her waist, his breath warm against the side of her head, both the touch and the whisper of breath reassuring. You can talk to me. I'm not Gavril. I don't mock.
"I don't hear anything," she whispered. "That's not natural, and I fear . . ."
"That whatever's out there isn't natural either."
She nodded, and he said nothing. She expected to see that recoil of disbelief, of not wanting to insult her but thinking she was indeed being foolish. Instead, she saw him peering into the shadowy forest, his dark eyes bright, his lips slightly pursed. Looking and thinking, equally hard.
"Not thunder hawks or death worms," he mused. "Wrong landscape for either. Not shadow stalkers either."
She could have laughed as he voiced exactly what she'd been thinking.
"It could be someone with a tracking hound," she said.
"A very quiet hound. Having spent time in Tova's company, I'm not sure that's possible. A hunting cat, perhaps."
Daigo harrumphed, looking pleased.
Tyrus continued. "But if it was a hunting cat, I would hope Daigo would know. In fact, I should hope he'd know what it was regardless."
The wildcat's eyes narrowed.
"Daigo," he said. "Why don't you go see what's out there?"
The wildcat backed up, bumping into Moria's legs and sitting on his haunches at her feet. He stretched out a giant paw, claws extending.