"If you love me, Nikolai. You will take me home. To my beloved forest. My wolves. I want to die there, not on the cold sea."
"Sienna, please," he begged as if he were the one dying. In fact, he knew that he would, should he lose her now. There was no joy or light or life without Sienna at his side.
"Take me home, my love," she said, her eyes still closed, her breath rattling in her chest.
Bundling her close and lifting to his feet, he pressed a tender kiss to her temple. "Yes, my sweet. If that is your wish."
He sped through the woodlands, taking the fastest and straightest route not the winding road. Night had fallen by the time he came upon Hiddleston. The full moon shone bright and full among a starry sky. A beautiful night. Lovely and clear.
He wanted to veer toward the port and commandeer the fastest ship immediately, even if it meant coercing a captain with violence and intimidation. But she was right. The voyage would take a week if seas were calm. This time of year, it would take longer. And even now, her pulse had slowed to the point he could hardly detect it at all. Unable to come to terms with what was happening, he wound his way toward Silvane Forest, obeying her last wish, slowing as he came upon the trail where he'd encountered her the day he landed from Cutters Cove.
He walked past the knotty oak, remembering how she'd spilled her basket of pears. Remembering the lovely pink blush that had crawled up her neck upon seeing him. And her confident walk as she led him to her cottage, even as her pulse tripped so fast. He'd sensed her attraction but also knew her will was made of steel. Her strength had lured him like a fish to the hook. And she'd caught him for certain, digging the hook deep.
Hart wolves howled in the nearby Silvane Forest. They sensed her approach. Nikolai gently shook her in his arms.
"Sienna," he whispered. "Your friends are welcoming you home."
He crossed into the dark woods, sensing a supernatural arm wrapping around him and Sienna, sending a chill down his spine. His boots crunched on the leaves. The howling drew closer. Her hart wolves were coming to her.
She stirred. "Nikolai?" Her head sagged against his chest, her body still cocooned in the woolen blanket.
"Yes?"
"I can feel the forest."
Stepping under a grove of black oaks, the cool wind shook through the thinning leaves, knocking bare branches together in a somber lament for the Woman of the Wood.
"Yes, love."
"Let me see."
He stopped along the path of thick black oaks, moon and starlight shimmering on the silvery leaves. Kneeling on one knee, he set her down gently, bracing her torso up in his arms. He unwrapped one fold. She winced when the fabric stuck to her charred skin. His elixir had worn off.
"I'm sorry," he said in earnest, pulse pounding that he'd hurt her in the slightest.
"Oh, Nikolai." She stared up at him, her chest rising slowly. "You are so beautiful." Her gaze moved to the sky. "The night … the forest is so beautiful."
She was right. It was as if night's beauty had come out to kiss her farewell. The moon shone perfectly in her round eyes, dark from the shadows' embrace. He cupped her hand in his and pressed it to his heart, her pulse horribly faint now. "I am so sorry, Sienna."
Her dazzled gaze moved from the boughs and the stars above to Nikolai. Her mouth creased into the loveliest, warmest of smiles, a tear slipping from one eye into her hair.
"I am not. I am sorry for nothing, dearest Nikolai … man of my dreams … man of my heart."
Her eyes glazed wide, her mouth frozen as if she might say something more.
"Sienna." He pulled her close, feeling for her pulse at her neck. Nothing. "Please don't leave me. Please. God, I beg you."
He begged the heavens to spare her. They did not. He thought this the cruelest punishment for his crimes. This was the final payback for his darkest sin, the one that still stained his soul. Fate had given him the loveliest maid in all the world only to take her away with brutality and pain.
He remembered the moment he fell in love with her. He stood in that small chapel at Marius and Arabelle's midnight wedding ceremony. It was only them four and the priest. He heard not a word the priest said at the altar, the moon shining through the rose window, the candelabras gilding the room in warm golden light. All he could see was the lovely creature standing by Arabelle's side, her auburn hair hanging in loose waves down her back with small braids crowning her sweet head. All he could think was how her silky cream skin shone by candlelight and her full lips tipped up in a gentle smile for her friend's happiness. He'd memorized the haunting beauty of her green eyes and the way they'd flicked toward him repeatedly during the ceremony, before darting away nervously. It was then that he knew he was lost. In love.