Chapter Twenty-One
Running from your problems was all well and good until you tripped and fell on your face. I sprawled on the ground, face pressed into the dirt, refusing to get up. Let the fucking monsters catch me. I wasn’t taking another damn step.
When nothing tried to eat me, I eventually rolled over and stared up at the dark canopy.
The branches overlapped to obscure every inch of the sky.
The night vision potion allowed me to see in the dark, but it couldn’t bring back the sun.
I missed its warmth on my skin. The bright colors of the world.
I was sick to fucking death of twilight.
This is the world the old man thrives in. The world Wilde belongs to.
I belonged in Bane, with warm sunny days and my jewel-toned wardrobe. Morning sword lessons with Hector. Boring lectures in the afternoon. Meals with my fathers, where they still flirted like newlyweds.
I didn’t want the darkness and monsters to invade my home. Or have my fathers look at me like I was a stranger, an enemy, someone who had lied to them and betrayed every bit of love they’d shown me.
I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes to keep the tears buried.
It didn’t matter what I did now, the defense spell would fall.
That choice was made a long time ago, before I understood the consequences of pretending to be Brendon Bane’s son.
Everything I would fall in love with, and everything I would destroy.
All I could do was keep the royal champions—the real ones—safe and try to protect my home with an evil smokescreen.
Speaking of royal champions, I needed to find my way to the library.
I pushed myself up and looked around, trying to gauge where I was.
The problem with traveling through a haunted forest was how much of it looked the same.
Every tree was an individual living organism, with its own knots and branches and characteristics, but all of them together became a botanical blur.
Fitz said that Traumstead should be north of the farm. I rifled around in my pack for my compass. My hand closed around a small, round object and I pulled it out. Which, of course, ended up being Wilde’s compact.
I glowered and tossed it aside, then continued searching. It should be in here somewhere. Panic growing, I dumped everything onto the forest floor, then pawed through my clothes in case it had gotten caught in the folds.
Nothing.
I thought back to our whispered planning in the barn. I’d asked everyone if they had a compass, and they all nodded. Had I seriously forgotten to check my own supplies?
Groaning, I put my head in my hands and sat like that for a long time.
No monsters came out of the trees to eat me. Why couldn’t they take pity on me when I wanted to be put out of my misery?
Without stars or other navigation tools, I had two options: pick a direction and walk; or call Wilde.
The memory of kneeling before him was fresh in my mind. Gazing up at him for once, rather than down. The soft touch of his thumb on my lips. How his voice had turned husky and quiet as he taught me how to beg. The heat and hunger of his desire when he finally kissed me.
I shifted to relieve some of the growing discomfort, took a second to compose myself, and opened the mirror. Before I could speak the summons, Wilde’s face appeared.
I snapped the compact shut.
After two seconds, the gold shifted to tarnished black.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened it again.
Wilde glowered at me. “Don’t cut the connection like that.”
And he’s back to ordering me around. Just because I’d submitted to him once didn’t mean I’d suddenly become sweet and biddable. “How about you stop lurking in the shadows like a cheesy stereotype?”
He ignored my stereotype comment and asked, “Why are you walking away from Traumstead?”
“I am?” I groaned, glancing back in the direction I came from.
“You’re lost.”
Even though I’d called him for help, his certainty annoyed me. “No, I’m … taking the long way around.”
Wilde’s already grim expression darkened. “If you run away, Treasure, I will find you.”
Heat stirred in my stomach at his words. How far would he be willing to chase me? And what would he do once he caught me?
But being genuinely lost in a cursed, monster-filled forest kind of dampened the fantasy.
“I’m not running away,” I said, rolling my eyes in exasperation. “I mean, I am, but like, from the patrols, not from you.” My brow furrowed. “Well, I guess since the patrols work for your master—”
“Our master.”
“—I’m kind of running away from you, but not like, from you.”
“Why are you running from the patrols?”
“Because I don’t want them to catch me?”
He rubbed a hand over his eyes, then dropped it so he could look at me as he explained, slowly and sternly, “If you’d cooperated with the guards, they could have guided you back to the lair. You would have protection from the other dangers of the forest, and you wouldn’t be lost right now.”
I stared at him for thirty solid seconds before demanding, “Did you send them after us on purpose?”
“Of course.”
A memory of the spear aiming for Maximus, the minion’s sharp claws and powerful build, flashed through my mind. The edges of the compact dug into my skin as my hand clenched in anger. “Somebody could have gotten hurt, Wilde.”
He was quiet for a long time before asking, “Are you hurt?”
“No. One of the guards is though.”
“I’ll see they’re fairly compensated. What about the other champions?”
“I don’t know.” I slumped against the nearest tree, sliding down the trunk.
The rough scrape of the bark against my back grounded me.
The tree’s roots shifted to accommodate me, rising on either side of my legs like an embrace.
The movements were slow, non-threatening, as if it knew its reputation was to harm rather than comfort.
“We split up, and now I’m fucking lost and … you should have warned me.”
“I’m sorry.”
I frowned and looked back at his reflection. Of everything he could have said, I hadn’t expected a sincere apology. Evil never apologized. “What?”
“Master said,” he paused, and it was the first time I’d seen Wilde truly uncertain. “I thought you were prepared for this outcome. Your mission is to bring the royal champions to the lair. Allowing the patrols to capture them would hasten the process.”
I didn’t need him to remind me of my mission. The knowledge of it was a needle jammed into my brain, a sharp, constant pain I could never escape. “That’s not how I want to complete it,” I whispered.
The silence dragged out for several long seconds. “Do you know where the others went? Let me help you find them.”
“So you can send more guards after them?”
“I don’t like knowing you’re alone in the forest.”
After the stunt he’d pulled with the patrols, I didn’t trust him with our meetup location. “Guide me to Traumstead and I’ll find them from there.”
“Alright,” he agreed. “I’ll put directions on the mirror. It’ll lead you to an inn that’s relatively intact. I’ll meet you there.”
I groaned. “No, Wilde, I don’t want to—”
“We should talk in person.”
Part of me wondered if he wanted an excuse to kiss—not that I was in the mood to humor him. The rest understood from his serious expression that it was important. Maybe he needed to say something he didn’t want the old man to overhear? “Fine, I’ll meet you there.”
He nodded, satisfied, and disappeared from the reflection. A few seconds later, a red heart appeared at the top of the mirror.
“Very funny.”
He didn’t return to comment.
I pushed myself to my feet and a black arrow appeared at the bottom of the mirror, pointing in the opposite direction of the heart. I turned in a circle, watching the arrow turn with me, until we both pointed toward the heart.
I couldn’t watch the mirror-compass and walk at the same time without tripping over a dozen roots, so I closed the compact and stuffed it into my pack. If I got lost, I could consult it again, but for now I would walk straight.
As I walked, I considered what secrets Wilde might be hiding from his master.
After a couple of wrong turns, I finally reached the edge of the city.
The first building I came across looked like a giant hill of ivy.
The straight walls and sloped roof helped it maintain a rough house shape even as foliage swallowed the rest of it.
There were no visible doors or windows, and the inside was probably as green as the outside.
It wouldn’t provide a good shelter for anyone.
Wilde mentioned an inn. What state is that in now?
I pulled the mirror out to check the markings.
Originally, the arrow had remained at the bottom edge, only twisting and turning as I changed directions.
It had moved toward the center of the mirror as I neared my destination.
The inn was probably on the edge of the city, somewhere that would see a lot of traffic.
Up ahead, trees encircled another house, twisting around it and themselves. The faded blue paint of the front door peeked through the gaps in the trunks. A shiver went down my spine as I thought of the homeowners being trapped inside while the curse spread through the city.
No, they had time to leave, even if they couldn’t take their possessions with them. The trees didn’t appear fully grown out of thin air. They just grew extra fast.
It must have been hard to leave their home behind. How many years had they owned it? Had it been in the family for generations, or was it a newlywed couple who’d claimed a space for themselves?
I wish I was really here to break the curse. What would the old man do if he heard my thoughts? What would Wilde do? How committed was he to this plot, and how much of it was him just following the old man’s orders?
As I walked, the buildings grew taller and closer together. Some had trees sprouting from the inside, branches punched through broken windows. Others were smothered in vegetation. One looked like a giant bird’s nest, with large branches intricately woven around it.
In the heart of the curse, the trees stretched endlessly into the sky.
Some of their trunks were as wide as the houses, as if they were centuries old.
They grew close together, making it difficult to see around them.
City hall should have been a bright, white beacon drawing everyone’s eye to the city center. I couldn’t even see it from here.
After a while, I noticed a pattern. A few buildings were clustered together, then there would be a large gap filled with trees, and then more buildings. The gaps must be the other streets, which meant I’d probably found one of the main roads.
“This forest is fucking creepy.” The low, growled words warned me of the next patrol before I saw them.
Ducking down one of the old side streets, I pressed my back against the building and listened carefully to their approach.
Thwack—the dull thump of flesh against flesh. “Shut up,” another voice hissed, their words only distinguishable because they were too fucking close. “They’ll hear you.”
I held my breath, hoping they didn’t notice me.
Two orcs came into view, at least seven feet tall with bulky muscles and long limbs.
Both could have easily wrapped their arms around a normal tree and ripped it straight from the ground.
The ancient trees might give them some trouble, but not much if they worked together.
One of them carried a club carved from a single huge branch.
“Who?” the first orc asked, furtively looking around. “The monsters?”
I shrank back against the house, hiding myself in the ivy covering the walls.
“Mon—the champions, you idiot!” Followed by a second slap to the head.
The first orc rubbed his abused head, thick lips pouting around his tusks. “Oh, right.” He raised his fingers to his lips and twisted them at the corner to signify locking them up before tossing the imaginary key over his shoulder.
His companion snorted, then dragged the other orc forward to continue their patrol.
I listened to their heavy steps fading into the distance. When I couldn’t hear them anymore, I slipped around the back of the house and wove through the trees until I reached an old crossroads.
Rickety metal signs jutted out from a sapling. It was one of the youngest trees I’d seen, the metal putting up a stronger fight than the rest of the city. The signs were bent and twisted at odd angles, so I had to tilt my head to the side and peer upwards to read them.
Behind me: Residential District.
To the left: Marketplace.
To the right: City Hall.
And straight ahead: Library.
There was a blank space before the word ‘library’, like the library’s full name had been erased. What could erase words etched into metal?
I pulled out the compact to check the direction of the inn. The heart was placed somewhere between the library and city hall.
I looked back up at the signs. I’d promised the others I’d meet them at the library before I promised to meet Wilde at the inn … I should at least see if anyone made it there.
“I’m taking a detour,” I said out loud, hoping Wilde would receive the message. “Don’t follow me. I’ll meet you at the inn when I’m done.” Then I closed the compact and shoved it deep into my pack. Hopefully, he would take the hint and let me meet up with the other champions on my own.
Then I followed the signs to the library.