Chapter Nineteen
After Wilde joined us, the walk through the forest was almost pleasant. No ghost wolves, no random bug encounters, no traps triggered. I didn’t know if his presence kept the monsters away, or if it was a coincidence. The others noticed too, sending him curious looks occasionally.
“Did you cast a protection spell on us?” Delilah asked, skipping next to him.
“No.” He kept his answer short and simple.
“Then do you think the forest is afraid of you?”
His lips quirked. “Why would it be afraid?”
“Well, the curse comes from an evil mage, and you’re a good mage, and good always triumphs over evil, so naturally it would be afraid, wouldn’t it?”
I choked on her logic, coughing in shock. It might work that way in storybooks, but in the real world, evil often won. Evil mages earned titles because they’d triumphed. Sometimes they were defeated later, but a lot of people lost in the meantime.
Not that the forces of good were always altruistic. Countless wars had been fought with ‘good intentions’, and it was usually people in the middle—neither good nor evil—who paid the biggest price.
“The forest isn’t afraid of me,” Wilde replied.
Why would it need to be? You’re one of the people controlling it.
“However, I can sense certain magical problems in order to avoid them.” He pointed into the distance with his free hand, his other still clasped in mine. “The ghost wolves are somewhere over there, tracking weaker prey.” He pointed in the opposite direction. “And over there is a void cave.”
“A void cave?” Fitz asked, pausing to look where Wilde pointed. “What does that mean?”
“The dark devours all light within. Only the shadow creatures can survive it.”
Fitz shuddered and pulled out a notebook, speaking aloud as he wrote, “Avoid the void caves.”
“How do you know so much?” Maximus asked, his eyes narrowed on Wilde.
“Part of my studies.”
“Who is your master, again? I don’t think you said.”
I tensed, wondering how Wilde would respond. Had he already crafted a whole backstory for his ‘good mage’ persona? The only ones I could name were the Good Wizard and my dad, and Dad wasn’t of a caliber to take on apprentices.
“My master is—”
“Giant Pumpkins!” Delilah shrieked in delight, cutting off Wilde’s fake backstory. She ran forward into a large field and tackled a pumpkin twice her size. Her claws dug into the orange rind as she pulled herself up to the top. A green, twisted stem still connected the pumpkin to the vine.
More pumpkins stretched before us, big enough to carve into a house—or at least a decent sized shed.
Trees were spread through the patch, with other large gourds climbing up their trunks.
Beyond the pumpkin patch, corn grew as tall as the trees.
From this distance, I couldn’t tell how big the ears were but guessed one could feed an entire village.
“What happened here?” Fitz asked, eyes widening to take in the giant harvest.
“A side-effect of the curse,” Wilde explained.
“Ugh, I hope there aren’t more giant bugs hanging out here,” Angelica said, carefully tiptoeing around a vine the width of her arm.
Delilah carved out a chunk of the pumpkin, pulling off the orange flesh. She sniffed it curiously, her nose twitching. “If I eat it, will I become a giant?”
“You’ll probably turn into a pumpkin,” I said, pulling my hand out of Wilde’s as I gestured for her to get down. The imprint of his fingers between mine lingered even after I let go.
“That’s not true!” she declared, though she slid down the curve, allowing me to catch her and steady her on her way down. She skipped over to Wilde with her prize and demanded, “It’s not true, right, Will?”
“It certainly is,” he said, deadpan. “First your fur will turn orange.” He tweaked the tip of one of her ears and she giggled in response. “Then you’ll grow round and plump, until the others have to roll you into the lord’s lair.”
“Perhaps we could use you to bowl through the guards,” Angelica said. “You’d be more useful as a pumpkin than a cat.”
Delilah’s delight vanished as she hissed at Angelica.
I wasn’t sure if Wilde was teasing or stating a fact, so I carefully pried the lump of pumpkin from Delilah’s hand and tossed it to the side. “If there’s a farm here, there’s probably a house or barn we can spend the night in.”
Delilah’s eyes widened and she gasped. “Do you think there are giant horses?”
“No, horses are too valuable, the farmers would have taken them.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders drooped, but her spirits quickly rose again as she declared, “I’m going to investigate the other giant plants!” She scampered off, disappearing into the pumpkin patch.
I leaned closer to Wilde and whispered, “These aren’t going to come alive in the middle of the night and eat us, are they?”
He gave me a mysterious smile and followed Delilah.
If the plants were going to eat us, he’d tell me. I couldn’t quite convince myself of that as I followed him.
The barn, when we finally found it, was dwarfed by the plants surrounding it. A thick, towering tree grew straight out of the middle, its canopy becoming the new roof. Although the paint had faded and chipped away during the years of neglect, the bright red color was still visible from a distance.
Roots spilled out from the open doorway and disturbed the once smooth ground, eliminating the flat surfaces within the barn. The roots had even damaged the stables, causing them to collapse into each other.
The hayloft was far enough away from the tree to remain intact. Delilah scrambled up the ladder, then called down to us, “Darn it, they took all the hay!”
Overall, it wouldn’t be a bad place to spend the night—as long as the vegetables weren’t carnivorous.
“The MacFayden farm is on the outskirts of Traumstead,” Wilde explained.
Fitz pulled his map out of his pack and searched until he pointed at a spot. “So, we’re here?”
“Yes, so you can find your own way from here.”
Fitz’s head jerked up as he tore his attention away from the map. “You’re leaving?”
“You can’t leave yet!” Delilah exclaimed, hanging upside down over the edge of the loft. “You just got here! What if we get lost? Or run into other monsters?”
Navigating the forest would be easier with a mage’s help, but she was pleading with the wrong mage.
Wilde wasn’t helping us out of the goodness of his heart.
He was ensuring that some other forest dweller didn’t steal his master’s prize before we reached the lair.
The longer he stayed with us, the more it would hurt when they learned who he really was.
“This is our quest,” I said, raising my voice to be heard over their protests. “Releasing us from a magical trap was one thing, but we can’t drag him along ‘just in case’ we need something.”
Maximus nodded in approval. “We can handle this on our own.”
Fitz sighed. “I suppose it was too much to expect an unrelated mage—”
“Apprentice,” Maximus, Wilde, and I said at the same time.
“—to risk his life for our quest.”
“If that’s settled,” Wilde said, “I’d like a moment alone to say goodbye to Treasure.”
“Oo, they’re going to kiss again,” Delilah chanted.
I flipped her off even as a blush heated my checks.
“Don’t go too far!” Fitz called.
“Stay in sight,” Maximus added.
I waved off their concerns and walked outside with Wilde. Once we were out of earshot, I grimaced and said, “Thanks for coming. I know you didn’t have to.”
“I have my reasons,” he replied lightly.
That’s what I’m afraid of. Taking a deep breath, I decided to get it over with. “What do you want as payment?”
He leaned in, lashes lowering, lips parting. “You know what I want, Treasure.”
I bit my lip to suppress a groan. “But they’re still watching us.”
“It’s more exciting with an audience.”
Mouth suddenly dry, I carefully lowered myself to my knees and looked up at him. His gaze softened as he admired me, one hand tracing the line of my jaw. “Good enough?”
He snorted derisively. “I believe I told you to beg.”
“But you already helped us.”
“It’s the principle of the matter.”
I sighed and clenched my fists on my thighs. “What do you want me to say? Please help us?” Begging for help after the fact seemed stupid.
“You really are bad at this,” he said, stroking his thumb over my lips in a distracting pattern. “Repeat after me: Please, Master Wilde.”
I pursed my lips. “You’re not my master.”
“In this moment, I am.” I expected more cajoling or threats, something to force my hand. He only waited patiently. Confident I would obey.
“Please, Master Wilde.”
His thumb parted my lips. “Put some emotion into it.”
“What emotion?”
He leaned down, his mouth only a few inches from mine. “Desperation.”
I stared into his eyes, as dark as the night sky.
Even as I looked up at him, I fell into him.
Suddenly off-balance, I reached out for something to hold onto.
My hands closed around the backs of his calves.
His muscles flexed under my touch. “Please, Master Wilde,” I repeated, my voice so breathy I felt more than heard it.
“Please what?” he asked, his own voice rough. “Ask me for something. Make me as desperate to give it to you as you are to have it.”
The rest of the world faded away. I forgot about the others watching, the quest, the roles we both played. What would Wilde do for me if I begged him the right way? What did I want from him? My gaze dropped to his mouth, always issuing orders when it could be doing so much more. “Kiss me.”
Wilde leaned closer yet stopped short. A thin layer of air separated us. “That’s not a request, that’s a demand. Try again.”
I trailed my hands up his calves, over the sensitive backs of his knees.
His legs quaked but he refused to bend to me.
I continued my path upward to his thighs, digging my fingers into his muscles and earned a delicious tremor for my efforts.
I might have been the one kneeling, but one more push, and he’d be the one giving in.
“Please kiss me.” I poured every ounce of want into those three words. Is that desperate enough for you?
His mouth descended onto mine, giving me exactly what I’d asked for.
Wilde had little patience for soft or sweet, immediately delving his tongue between my lips, filling my mouth with the taste of him.
It turned out I had more to want after all—wanting his hands on me, wanting to touch every inch of him.
Every part of me ached with desire until I thought a single kiss would end me.
Suddenly, he pulled back, taking away his hands and lips. “Remember what I taught you for next time, Treasure,” he whispered in my ear.
I blinked open my eyes to a hazy, out-of-focus world. He had already vanished, not a trace of him left behind. My fists clutched empty air, as if I’d never had him at all.
What the fuck?
When I tried to get to my feet, my knees trembled and almost dumped me back on the ground. As if they hoped that if I remained kneeling, he would come back. Traitors. I forced myself to stand up straight and grimaced at the obvious bulge in my pants.
The chill night breeze and the sense of abandonment quickly dampened my arousal. I brushed myself off and wiped the traces of Wilde off my lips before returning to the others. I braced for their reactions, expecting judgment or outrage at the very public display of affection.
Instead, I found them sitting around a campfire, preparing dinner. Delilah glanced up at me and asked, “Finished?”
I cleared my throat and nodded awkwardly.
“Great,” Fitz said. “We were discussing the plan for tonight’s watch. Maximus still has some honey to offer the minor dryads, but we were also considering other fortifications.”
The conversation continued in a bizarrely normal manner. I guess none of them saw the kiss. Part of me was relieved to be spared the humiliation of witnesses. The other part worried that maybe it wasn’t real, that I’d only imagined kissing Wilde.
“You know,” Angelica drawled.
Here it comes.
“Will seems much too good for you.”
I blinked at her in confusion. “What?”
“Capable, smart, already has a good profession lined up.” She ticked off his qualities on her fingers. “Meanwhile, you’re just”—she looked me up and down, her lip curling in disdain—“an asshole.”
The fire sparked and crackled as Maximus shoved more wood into it “Trey’s capable and smart too.”
“And a prince,” Delilah added. She meant to be helpful, but I flinched at the reminder of my deception.
Earlier, I’d been worried about their reaction to Wilde’s identity. How will they react when they find out who I really am?