I kind of stumbled a few steps forward before I stopped, and realized I didn't have to do what he said. "But, you can't tell me I'm a demon then stop explaining."
I wanted to stay, badly, but sense was telling me I had to leave like he said.
"You don't have to argue with every word I say. We'll come for you later. Go now."
Returning his steady gaze with one of my own, I picked up on something I'd been unconsciously registering. There was a barrier between Breandan and I. Pulling my brows together, I tilted my head to watch him, watch me. Not a physical or tangible barrier; invisible. He shimmered and rippled into something different. A soft nimbus coated his entire being. Pearlescent it repelled my gaze.
"Stop hiding from me and I'll go," I said. "You want me to trust you and I can manage some trust since you haven't killed me. But you have to trust me back. You say you're a demon, well then what kind? Show me your true form."
"I don't have the time for this."
"Come on, it can't take that long. Show me then you can run off and do whatever you were doing before you just had to help me."
He made a noise of frustration and pointed again. "Will you at least move in the right direction as we talk?"
I nodded curtly. I was persistent not stupid. If he was this antsy something bad must be coming this way.
"If we run I can get you back and maybe catch it up. Follow me," he said.
And then he was gone. One moment he's walking, and the next he's a silver blur zipping through the trees ahead of me.
It was odd, because I knew it was demon fast, but I could track his movement with my gaze. Was it crazy that I wanted to follow him? Grudgingly, I admitted to myself I'd never wanted to follow someone so badly, and I was never one to shy away from a physical challenge. I'd run blindingly fast from the hounds, and the only difference between now and then was that I was scared. Huh, piece of cake. I had loads of scared stored up around the solar plexus area. Tapping into the well of energy inside me was too easy, and I burst forward.
Everything was so bright and lively, and it was nothing for me to flow across the land at a velocity strange, yet comforting. Breandan took a sharp turn and I was pleased to see I was gaining, gliding across the ground at his side. A chuckle caught my ear. I had made him laugh, and a silly tide of happiness blazed through me. I grinned, and laughed, and sped up to leave him trailing behind. The floor yielded to every pound of my foot. Not a single branch snagged my hair or cut my skin because I didn't let it. I zipped and dodged, jumped and spun a trail in the undergrowth. I didn't know where I was running to, but it felt good to be in motion.
The air was heavy with a piquant scent that fizzed on my tongue. The silhouette of trees taller than any I'd seen rose high in the sky, and a few stars already winked down at me. I'm not a botanist, so all I can say is that there were plants. A big orgy of red, blues and purples scattered everywhere. The breeze was crisp and made everything sway in orderly chaos. The buzzing of insect and restless whining of beast punctured the dawn in harmonic beat.
I knew the moment Breandan's hand reached for mine. My skin tingled and like a magnet seeking its opposite, my hand moved to meet his. A light tug slowed me to a stop. I plucked a leaf from my hair and brushed a lick of dirt off my cheek. I could have continued this grooming session for a while since I felt twigs and thorns caught in my clothes and hair, but I was distracted.
Breandan stood still and let me roam my eyes over him. His profile was sharper somehow, and I pushed the hair out of my eyes to drink the strong column of throat that flowed into solid chest. His ears held my attention for a long while, couldn't say why, before my gaze slid over the straightness of his nose, and the strong planes of his cheek and forehead.
"Let's keep moving," he said. I stood still and he had to either tug me again or let go of my hand. He let go and sighed dramatically. "Stop being difficult. If you're not back at Temple soon, they'll be suspicious of you and it won't be safe there anymore."
