“Kaleah!”
“Leah!”
“Princess!”
My face burned at their unanimous concern. “I’m fine—”
Arms wrapped around me, hoisting me back to my feet, and I pulled away from Ryker. He looked me up and down, and seeming to determine I was as fine as I’d said I was, took a step back.
“Thanks,” I muttered, brushing the dirt off as best I could. “Tired of saving me yet?”
He pursed his lips, but instead of commenting, went to fetch Arrow, who stood with her feathers ruffled a short way off.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” Cassie asked from her perch atop Coal.
I nodded. Besides my smarting pride and backside, I was fine. Ryker brought Arrow back to me, and leaning over, he wove his hands together. Exhaling, I placed my foot in his hands and using them as a brace, I attempted to mount a second time. With a boost from him, I made it, and Arrow shuffled beneath me, but settled when Ryker murmured to her in a soothing tone. He passed the reins to me, and I stared at them, realizing riding a griffin wasn’t as easy as just sitting in the saddle and jerking on the leather leads.
“Um, do you want to come, too?” I directed at Ryker, feeling like an idiot and hoping he wouldn’t make me beg.
Indecision crossed Ryker’s face, but his eyes found mine and a moment later he shrugged. “Sure.”
“Great! It’ll be more fun this way.” My sister clapped, flashing me a pleased look. Behind her, Alex winked. I groaned as Ryker easily jumped up behind me.
“I don’t have to come.” Ryker scooted forward, his body framing mine, and slipped his arms on either side of me, grasping the reins.
“You do if you don’t want me to die,” I muttered and he chuckled, his warm breath tickling the back of my neck. “And I wasn’t complaining about you coming, but aboutthemand their insinuations.”
“Ah.” Out of the corner of my eye, Ryker smirked. “Here.” He threaded the leather reins into my grip, then placed his hands over mine. Arrow reacted to the gentlest of pressures on the rein, and with Ryker’s help, I directed her to follow Coal into the tree line. The musical call of birds rose above us, but I was too distracted with Ryker and the feathers in my stomach to search for their owner.
We drew alongside Alex and Cassie, and I forced myself to concentrate on anything else but the warmth of Ryker’s body, or his hands on mine. “So, what’s got you so excited you couldn’t wait to show us until later?”
“You’ll see,” she teased in a sing-song voice. “Did you and Ryker have fun this morning?”
My shoulders slumped. “If you mean realizing how utterly useless I am for anything other than sculpting or dying, then definitely; it was a blast.”
Cassie scowled over her shoulder. “Just because you don’t know how to make arrows doesn’t mean you're useless; it just means you haven't learned how to yet.”
“If it was just making arrows that I failed at, I wouldn’t be so bitter,” I muttered, ducking under a low-hanging branch. “Dinner last night was inedible thanks to me. Ryker tried to teach me how to fish and set traps this morning, and I managed to catch everythingbutfish or food—myself included.”
Cassie tried to cover her laugh, but it came out more as a snort and I glared, while Alex looked away to hide his smile. Although he wasn’t currently, Ryker had laughed, too, when I’d been caught in one of his already set traps and ended up hanging upside down by my ankle. I mean, what was he trying to catch, a centaur? Hearing him caught off-guard and laughing, though, had been worth it. But I wasn’t about to share that.
“It’ll come with time, Leah.” Alex chuckled.
Time. How much of that did I have left with them? “I look forward to it,” I said, shoving my nagging thoughts aside. “I just hope you all can survive my ineptitude in the meantime.”
Cassie flashed me a grin, and we continued our ride through the woods in silence. Occasionally she’d stop to point out something she’d used to mark the way, or other interesting finds she and Alex had stumbled across earlier, like a naturally heated hot spring a ways up the mountain—a small oasis in the middle of our current paradise, one we would definitely have to come back and visit in the near future.
The griffins continued to weave through the trees, their ears twitching and following the sounds of the hidden birds and smaller creatures scurrying around us. Sunlight dappled between the trees, and I breathed in the fresh, cool air, leaning back against Ryker.
He stiffened, and my mind shot back to his earlier statement of leaving. It didn’t matter if I wanted him there or not—he didn’t want to stay. Not that I was planning on being there forever either. Feeling like a fool, I straightened, pulling away. Why did I have to be so weak and fall for him? . . . Why couldn’t he feel the same?Because you’re a demon, a voice whispered in the back of my mind. But what about earlier, when he’d tried to kiss me? Had that really meant nothing?
“The cliff is coming up,” Alex called over his shoulder.
“Thanks for the heads up.” I tightened my grip on the reins, and Arrow gave a small squawk of disapproval.
“Easy. She knows what to do.” Ryker’s hands folded over mine, and I relinquished the reins to him. Ahead of us, the forest came to an abrupt stop, a stone wall stretching above us covered in vines and moss. Craning my neck, I tried to find the top but couldn’t, and my stomach twisted.
“I thought you said it wasn’t that far up?”