Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond(137)
Author: Kim Harrison

The sky was bright with a false dawn as she found the steep climb to the opening of the cave that she and Paul had found while marking out the lines of the farm. It was a dry cave. Even the bats didn’t use it.

Squinting at the top, Lilly shifted the sticks of explosive and started up the rude path. There were poles rammed into the earth to provide handholds, remnants of her innocent, trusting past. She and Paul might have found the caves, but it had been she and Kevin who had used them as a romantic hideaway.

"Son of a bitch," Lilly muttered, her anger giving her the strength to reach the top. Her heart pounded as she found the last step and turned on the narrow ledge to face the valley below.

Trees obscured her near view, but fields rolled in the distance. The freshening breeze lifted through her hair, cooling her. She could see the barn and house, a glint of light in the kitchen strengthening her resolve. Her mother had gotten out of the coop. By the time she realized where she’d gone, it would be over.

Her arms ached as she turned to the cliff face and lifted the vine curtain to reveal the opening. Cool air sifted out, the smell of dry dirt barely discernible. Numb, Lilly went inside, finding the lighter where she had left it, using it to ignite the lantern. Two bottles of unopened wine, a corkscrew, two glasses, and a wool horse blanket was all that was left of a broken romance, and flushing, Lilly looked away.

Moving quickly, Lilly wedged a stick of dy***ite where it would bring the roof down about ten feet into the cave. Men were not all pigs. She knew this. And she wasn’t looking for Mr. Perfect. Just a nice guy who wouldn’t hit her kids or have sex with the town’s hairdresser.

Pissed, Lilly jammed the last stick right by the opening. Her hand slipped, and a sharp pain lanced through the fleshy part of her thumb. Biting back a cry, Lilly clutched her hand, giving the half-hidden stick a glance before moving to the opening to see what she’d done. It wasn’t bad, and she sucked at the small cut.

Blood is binding, Blood is lure. . . .

Lilly slowly took her hand from her mouth. Feeling daring, she wiped the blood on the edge of the opening with an abrupt defiance. The air was fresher at the opening, and she lingered, standing in the hole in the mountain, watching the air become clear as the sun neared rising. Inside, the lantern hissed.

Frowning, she stepped out onto the ledge, letting the vines fall to hide the opening. Her mother had tricked him once. She could do the same. "Penn?" she called, feeling foolish, then louder, "I was thinking all night about what you said. Can we talk?"

She listened, leaning to the edge. Three birds flew up from the forest below, but there was no whisper in her mind, no breath of wind on her cheek. No honey-eyed spirit to lie and lure her. Nothing.

"Lilly . . ."

The maybe-whisper came from behind her, and she spun, heart pounding. But there was nothing there, just the stark stone face with its trailing vines.

A crack of rock from below jerked through her, and she leaned over the edge. "Penn?"

The tops of a bush shook, and her breath came faster as she saw a masculine silhouette working its way up the switchback path. One hand on her hat, the other on the rock face, she leaned, her expression going sour as Kevin looked up at her, unmistakable in heavy denim pants, plaid shirt, work boots, and a hat and sunglasses.

Kevin? Damn it, what is he doing here? Frustrated, Lilly leaned back into the rock, jerking forward when it felt as if something gave behind her. "I told you to stay off my land!"

"Leave? But I heard you call me," Kevin said, the cadence of his words having the sound of the wind.

Lilly started, her expression going slack as she turned back to the drop-off. It wasn’t Kevin, it was Penn. Even his stance was different, poised to move effortlessly, graceful as he took the last switchback, the new sun shining on his stubbled cheeks. He looked even better in the sun than the moonlight. "Y-you," she stammered, backing up almost into the cave as he lifted himself up the last bit and rolled gracefully to a stand.

Penn held his hands out to the rising sun, fingers spread and smiling. "It feels different up here. Sharp. It almost hurts, the sun rises so fast." Head tilting, he eyed her. "I had almost forgotten how stunning sunrises can be-with the right woman beside you."

"But . . ."

He took a step toward her, and she recoiled, holding a hand out in warning. "Don’t touch me."

Penn stopped short, his gaze going to her hand. "You’re bleeding."

Lilly froze. His hand slipped into hers, both familiar and new, sending a shiver through her. Was this Kevin, or was it Penn? Maybe she was going crazy after all. "You can touch me," she said in awe, feeling a cool sensation that seeped under her skin to cool the heat of the day.

His smile dove deep into her, kindling a spark. "I can touch you. Thank you, Lilly, for believing me."

Her eyes closed as he gently took her in his arms, and they slid backward into the dark, the vines rustling until they were surrounded by the earth. She let him move her, praying that he wouldn’t look up and see the stick of dy***ite. His lips touched her neck under her ear, and she exhaled softly. It felt so good to be desired. His touch was gentle, reverent, and she wished it wasn’t a lie.

"I thought about you all night," he said, and she remembered his eyes, glowing in the dark on her bridge like a wild thing come to seduce her with the promise of life. "Did you think of me?"

She couldn’t stop her shiver as his hand dropped to the small of her back and gently pulled her closer. "I thought about what you said," she murmured, turning her head to draw away from his lips, but he only traced a line of sensation down her neck.

"You are amazing," he breathed.

She looked up at him, knowing she was playing with the devil. "I want to believe," she lied. This was for her children. This was for her mother. She would not allow her mother’s pain to be for nothing.

Still, he smiled, the faint light coming past the vines tinged with red as it struck them. "Believing is the easiest thing in the world. Just ask any child singing in the dusk at the edge of the forest. You, Lilly, will be my everything. I promise. It will be different this time."

Oh God, he was touching her again, his hands slipping under her shirt to grip her waist, his thumbs pushing at her midriff, massaging, hinting at what he might do.

"You will be my world," he whispered, his words moving her hair, and she wanted to believe. "I will love you forever, and we will do everything, go everywhere."

She pushed back, blinking when she saw Kevin’s brown eyes, not Penn’s golden ones, but the confident smile and heat of passion were there, and she knew it was the spirit. "Show me," she demanded, and his smile widened as he bent to her, lips parted.