Aisley once more found Laura’s green gaze on her, and she wondered how long someone like Laura would last once Jason got his hooks in her.
Laura saw the woman with the black hair and dark eyes rejoin the group. She was tall and solemn. But it was obvious by the way Jason watched her that she was important. Laura just didn’t know how.
“You’d do well not to let him find you staring.”
Laura jerked in surprise to find the woman standing beside her. Her eyes were a pale brown, direct and penetrating. Her mane of glossy black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail to hang past her shoulders. The woman wore her jeans, formfitting black shirt, and boots as a model would—to perfection.
“Why?” Laura asked.
The woman cut her gaze to Jason before she looked back at her. “I’m Aisley. I’m also cousin to Jason, so when I tell you to watch yourself, you might want to heed my words. I’ve seen his viciousness firsthand.”
“Why help me?”
Aisley gave a little snort. “Damned if I know.”
“Who is the woman beside Jason?”
“Ah. That’s Mindy, his lover. She’s a bitch, so be prepared for her cruelty.”
Laura stepped over a fallen tree. “Is what Jason told me the truth? Are droughs really the good Druids?”
Aisley paused too long before she replied in a choked whisper, “Yes.”
Laura thought back to how Charon had gone to confront Jason so she could get away. He hadn’t caged her, hadn’t kidnapped her. Yet Jason had tried to kidnap her, and she imagined that if she tried to leave now, he wouldn’t let her.
Who was the villain?
Charon had secrets, secrets he went to great lengths to conceal, but was she any worse by keeping her past and what her family had done to her a secret?
Was that enough to condemn Charon as a villain?
Two years with the man, and she’d given him her absolute trust. She’d given him her body. Not once had she ever doubted him. Why, then, did she now?
No matter how much she wanted to doubt Jason’s words, for some reason, she couldn’t. Every time she tried, her mind told her he was right and Charon had lied.
Laura had so little information she wasn’t sure who to trust. Druids and Warriors. Magic and power. How was it they were in her world and she’d never known about them?
More importantly, how was she a Druid and hadn’t known about it?
Her controlling family popped into her head, and Laura inwardly grimaced. If they could see her now, they would say she should have let them run her life and she wouldn’t be in such a predicament.
Laura was tired of not knowing what to do. She thought she’d gotten past that when she left her family behind. Now, she found herself in a much more dire situation.
The way the people surrounded her, caging her without chains, made her begin to shake from the memories of her youth.
“Where are we going?”
Aisley kept her gaze straight ahead. “Somewhere Charon will never be able to find you.”
If Laura believed all Jason told her, then she would feel better knowing Charon couldn’t find her. But all she felt was an overwhelming sense of dread.
For the next fifty yards, she fought against all Jason had told her, and something snapped in her mind. Like a rubber band holding something back, everything became clear.
“I can’t,” she whispered as she came to a halt.
Aisley stopped and looked at her, a frown marring her forehead. “Can’t what?”
“Go with Jason. He did something to my mind, I know it. Whether Charon lied or Jason lied, I need to find out the truth on my own. I don’t want to go with Jason.”
“It’s too late.” Aisley glanced to where Jason led them through the trees. When she looked back, there was defeat in her brown eyes. “He’ll never let you go.”
Her whispered words only propelled Laura to get free that much quicker. She thought of what was inside her, magic or something else, and felt it flow through her veins thick and hot as lava.
It gave her strength and helped to calm her nerves even as they began walking again. She had only one shot to get free, and she needed to make sure it was a good one.
Laura let her magic build and build until her body hummed from it. No one seemed the wiser until the big brute who had fought Charon whispered Aisley’s name.
Aisley looked over her shoulder and moved her gaze to Laura. “You’ll never make it.”
“I’ll stay if you can honestly tell me Jason is the good guy here. Tell me he isn’t the monster Charon said he is.”
Aisley hesitated a second too long, and that’s all it took for Laura to make her decision.
She let instinct guide her as she halted and let her magic rise up within her. It swirled around her, in her, through her. The sensation was heady and amazing.