“They must be if you doona even know how to find them for sure.”
She grinned, the movement transforming her face into something ethereal. “I was told to go north. That I’d eventually find them.”
Lachlan’s brows rose. “You do know we’re on an isle, right?”
Synne laughed, the sound going straight to his cock and making his balls tighten. He’d never heard anything so beautiful before, so sweet. Amber eyes glanced his way, clearly unaware of what she was doing to him.
“Of course,” she said. Then she shook her head, a grin still upon her lips. “I’ve not laughed in days. It feels…odd.”
He shifted in the saddle and found his gaze lingering on her no matter how hard he tried to look away.
They rode in silence after that. Lachlan constantly scanned the trees, looking for danger. Synne did the same, but her idea of enemies was something altogether different. By the time he pulled his horse to a stop, the sun was sinking fast. After they had seen to their horses, Synne grabbed her bow and arrows and walked away.
He hadn’t been left behind to get firewood since he was a young lad. It made Lachlan grin, but he didn’t mind. Synne was a breath of fresh air. At times, he wasn’t sure what to make of her, and at others, he was in awe.
The fire was roaring by the time she returned with two hares. They skinned them and set them up to roast. He waited until she leaned against one of the tall pines with a contented smile on her face before he said, “My grandmother spoke highly of those who could converse with plants. You’re such a person.”
Synne looked at him over the fire. “Why do you say that?”
“It’s the look on your face. You seem…happier…when you’re touching the trees. When I first came upon you, you were giving that oak a hug.”
She scratched her neck and twisted her lips. “I imagine I looked peculiar.”
“Nay,” he replied. “Content. You looked verra content. And you spoke to it.”
“It let me know you were there.”
He quirked a brow. “So, you do converse with them.”
“Not in the way you think. They don’t tell me things with words. More like…feelings.”
Lachlan held her gaze. “Tell me more. Please.”
5
Few had ever asked Synne what it was like to speak with trees. Everyone at the abbey had accepted her gift without question. The Hunters had been curious but rarely wanted to know anything more. Not having to describe it made it difficult for her to put it into words now.
“You doona have to,” Lachlan said when she paused.
Synne shook her head and stretched her legs out toward the fire to heat her feet. “I’m trying to find the words.”
“You were doing good before,” he replied with a half-smile.
That made her grin and glance down at her hands. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he made her nervous. But that was ridiculous. He was just a man.
A handsome one with eyes that seemed to spear her.
She shook off that nonsense and settled back against the oak, promising herself that she wouldn’t move again. “I feel safer amongst the trees. For as far back as I can remember, the need to be near them, to touch them, was present.”
“Did you always live in or near a forest?”
Synne’s gaze dropped to the dancing flames. “I’m not sure. I don’t know what happened to my family. Edra and Radnar found me wandering the woods when I was very young. I don’t know if I was abandoned or taken or something else. I was alone, and then I wasn’t. Edra tried many times to see if she could help me determine what had happened, but not even magic could give me answers.”
“So, you turned to the trees,” Lachlan surmised.
“They’ve always been a constant in my life.” Synne reached back and put a palm against the bark. “They’ve given me shelter, hidden me high in their limbs against enemies, alerted me when danger was near, and let me know when I was safe.” She paused and frowned as she met Lachlan’s gray eyes. “They also prevented me from getting to the abbey when Sybbyl attacked with her Gira.”
Lachlan blew out a breath and studied her. “You have a special relationship with the trees. They wanted to make sure you were no’ harmed.”
“I could’ve helped my friends.”
“Or you could’ve been killed along with them. As much as you hurt now, it’s apparent that your destiny lay elsewhere.”
She shrugged her shoulders and fiddled with the edge of her cloak. “I feel like I let my family down.”
“You’re fighting against the Coven. That isna letting them down. For all you know, perhaps Edra made sure you couldna get to them. She wanted to give you a chance.”
“Finding them…” She looked away and swallowed, unable to finish the sentence.
“Aye. I know that feeling,” he said in a soft voice as he looked into the fire. “It’s happened to me as well, and it’s no’ something you ever forget. You learn to live with it, though.”
Synne found her gaze drawn to him. No warrior could survive battles and not have wounds and scars, both visible and invisible. She wanted him to talk more about it so she could learn more about him. But, in truth, he didn’t need to. It was there on his face, in his voice.
She hadn’t meant to take them down such a dark road, and it was better for both of them if they pulled themselves out quickly. Synne cleared her throat. “As I said, the trees don’t give me words as you and I would exchange, but more a…feeling. It’s difficult to describe. It’s like it passes from them into me.”
“Do you have to be touching them?”
“I always have before.”
“I saw you hesitate to come into the forest. For someone who loves it so much, you didna want to venture inside.”
Synne looked up at the branches above her and saw the darkening sky through them. “It’s the Gira.”
“Do the trees no’ warn you of them?”
“Aye, they do.”
He raised a brow. “I’m no’ understanding, lass.”
Synne looked at him and drew in a breath. “It makes no sense, I know. The Gira terrify me in ways I can’t explain. When the forest warned me of their approach near the abbey, I froze. They can be killed, and while they have magic, I shouldn’t be more afraid of them than I am of the witches.”
“It does little good to be angry at yourself for emotions you can no’ control.”
“I’m a Hunter. I have to control such things.”
His gaze was steady as he stared at her. “How many times have you encountered the Gira?”
“Once.”
“When they attacked your friends?”
“And I couldn’t fight against them.”
Lachlan was silent for a long moment. “Are you sure you’ve no’ encountered them before?”
“Trust me, I’d know if I’d faced them before.”
“What else are you afraid of?”
Being alone. She didn’t say the words aloud, though. It had taken her years to get past that, only to find herself alone once more. Was she destined never to have a family? Maybe there was something wrong with her.