Chapter 33
“There’s magic in the world we can’t even begin to understand, and maybe it’s better that way. Maybe we aren’t supposed to know the secrets or mysteries of the earth. Some things aren’t meant to be tagged, studied, and contained.”
Journals of Warden Angela Hargrove
The fragile peace between them didn’t last long.
Alexys made the mistake of complaining about her wet clothes, and that gave Nic the opening for another lecture, one she didn’t have the patience for.
He was oh-so-clever enough to pack a set of dry clothes which he changed into while she chose to glare at the falling rain outside.
The fire he’d built was doing a wonderful job of warming her skin, but the little comfort it gave her was driven away by the prevailing dampness of her jeans.
Nic had actually had the gall to suggest she take her clothes off.
Alexys couldn’t find the words to reply, so he just shrugged instead.
“I can’t believe you didn’t think to pack a change of clothes.”
Alexys massaged her temples. “I didn’t plan on being in the woods for two days, Dyre. Not all of us are expert boy scouts, remember?”
“Duke of Edinburgh,” Nic corrected again. “But if you ask nicely, I might offer you something of mine.”
“I would rather die.” She tried to sound harsh but her words fell flat. She was too busy trying to avoid watching him while he changed clothes.
Stop it! She was truly going insane.
“You just might if the temperature drops any further.” He paused in his dressing and mused, “Hypothermia. What a terrible way to go.”
Alexys picked up a rock sitting next to her soggy shoe and chucked it into the storm. “If one more person predicts my death …”
“That’s at least, what? The third time you’ve said that.” Nic, finally dressed, sat back down on his sleeping bag on the other side of the fire. Turns out the man brought not one, but two white t-shirts. How fortunate. No one had the right to make a simple t-shirt look that good.
“What?” Alexys shook her head.
“About your death being predicted. Did you get a nasty fortune cookie at the diner?”
Her laugh was sharp and humorless. “If only. Nanny Opal herself predicted my horrible death during her reading.”
“Her reading?”
“Oh, yes.” Alexys glanced back at her backpack. The finger bone hidden within seemed to be staring at her despite being tucked away in the pocket. She shivered. “Magic bones marked with magic runes, apparently.”
Nic hummed in understanding. “Osteomancy.”
Alexys rolled her eyes. “Sure, that.”
“And the second time?”
An image of Silas in his three-piece suit and inhuman smile flashed through Alexys’s mind.
“Just some stranger in the woods.” It came out as a whisper, her voice caught in her throat.
The words fought to stay unspoken. “He, uh, helped me. Last night, that is. And then he said that a run-of-the-mill Haint was too boring a death for me.”
“Ah-ha, so that’s how you survived the ghost? I knew you hadn’t told us the full story.” Nic didn’t look surprised, but she could see the concern in his eyes, and it made her look away again. “The stranger saved you.” Alexys didn’t answer.
She wanted to tell him all about Silas, but she couldn’t articulate it.
It was almost as if speaking his name aloud would summon him, right then and there, in a cave in the woods.
She didn’t know if it was some form of magic that Silas was wielding or her lingering fear of Nic discovering either one of the things that seemed to have latched on to her, but she couldn’t tell him.
But God, did she want to.
Alexys wanted to spill every bit of information she’d kept bottled up.
About her fear for Elliot and her premonition, about her fear of disappointing her mom and failing to live up to her dad’s legacy.
She even wanted to tell him about her nightmares and about Silas.
Who made her skin crawl every time he looked at her.
How evil seeped out of every fiber of his being, and how Alexys was fully convinced he was more demon than man.
The silence between them grew thick, and the only thing to break it was the heavy rain and the crackling fire. Alexys stared out into the dark, trying to clear the cotton from her throat, and tucked her fingers up under her arms to warm them.
Finally, Alexys managed to say, “I think the most frightening monsters are disguised as people. The ones hiding in plain sight.”
“You have to give me more than that.” Nic’s voice was quiet, but she could hear the hint of desperation in it. “Let me help you, Keane, I—”
“You can’t.” The truth of it cracked her wide open.
The truth was that Nic was there to help her, but Alexys would bear the consequences of her dreams, of Silas, of this trip on her own. Whatever happened to Elliot, or to them, it would be her burden to carry.
But he couldn’t truly help her, not in the way he wanted.
With a missing Warden and her job on the line, the last thing she needed was Nic trying to diagnose her nightmares, discovering her unauthorized research, and whatever it was that was causing her nightmares.
If everything got out, not only would she be fired, but her dad’s legacy would be ruined, and her mom’s worries would be proven right.
“It’s nothing to do with Elliot,” she said, “so it’s not something you can fix.” She met his worried gaze. “Please, don’t worry about it.”
Nic ran a hand through his hair and loosed a tired sigh. “But I am worrying. Frankly, you cause me more worry than anyone I’ve ever met.”
She snorted a laugh. “I find that surprising.”
“Why? Because you don’t think I care, or because you don’t think you’re worth the worry?”
The words hit like a tonne of bricks, and Alexys physically recoiled from them.
She refused to acknowledge whether or not he was right.
He didn’t have the right to throw around such raw accusations.
And more than that, since when did he look at her like that?
Deep concern, genuine and thoughtful. He didn’t know her.
And before this trip, they’d never spent more than a handful of hours together.
Nic wasn’t someone who got to ask her big questions, or make her feel even worse about herself.
No.
They lapsed into another uncomfortable silence. The need for an apology hung between them, but neither was willing to sacrifice their pride.