Chapter 23
Nevan
Enid shoved through the crowd, running between two buildings and diving straight into the water. Fuck.
The music had stopped, the parade over as townspeople began to pick up the chunks of stone that now littered the street.
The earth godwitch’s hand had landed at my feet, and I thought back to Enid’s reaction to seeing the statue, the horror in her eyes. Something about it had upset her.
I’d sensed the change as the statue had appeared.
Her body had tensed, her skin turning a pale green, and her hand shook in mine.
But I couldn’t figure out why she’d have that kind of reaction to a statue.
Why she’d have that kind of reaction to the earth godwitch, who was generally one of the most popular godwitches.
In the distance, townspeople were gripping Vine’s long body as it fought against them. Its tail whipped the cobbler in the chest, and he flew backward, making people erupt in screams.
This was getting out of hand. I ran toward them, waving my hands. “Stop! Stop it!”
Everyone continued yelling and pulling Vine, and in turn, the plant was growing more frantic.
“Everybody fucking shut up!” I screamed.
They all froze, eyes turning to me.
I reached out a hand. “Don’t hurt it.”
One of the men spit on the ground. “That thing just destroyed our earth godwitch statue.”
“It doomed us,” a woman wailed from the side of the street, holding her crying baby.
I understood the fear. Everyone was so damn superstitious when it came to the godwitches, convinced that somehow they’d curse us from the Otherworld if we didn’t worship and celebrate them.
I wasn’t sure I believed any of that. The godwitches had left for a reason.
As far as I was concerned, they didn’t care about mortals or what we did, but I suspected people clung to their belief that the godwitches watched over us because it gave them a sense of security, of hope.
“Just put it down,” I commanded.
The townspeople shot each other unsure looks.
“Put it down,” I said again, surprised by the authority in my voice. Authority was usually Wolfe’s realm. Sometimes Cillian’s. But never mine.
The people crouched, letting Vine loose from their grips, and it slithered toward me, coiling around my legs.
“It’s all right,” I said to it as it trembled. It had the strength to crush all these people, but it hadn’t. I wished they realized it wasn’t the monster they painted it to be.
“That thing deserves to be punished,” the woman with the crying baby said.
Others nodded and murmured their agreements.
“No it doesn’t,” I said, voice sharp enough to make the woman wince.
I crouched and petted Vine, and it purred. “What happened?” I asked. “With the statue? Was it dangerous somehow?”
Vine nodded.
“Oh, please.” The woman rocked her baby. “It’s lying.”
I cut her a glare, then focused on Vine, on what it was trying to tell me.
“So the statue was dangerous?” I asked again. “Dangerous for who?”
Vine lifted its tail and pointed in the direction that Enid had run. I swore. Of course. Vine was protecting Enid. It knew that statue would upset her, so it had destroyed it. I still didn’t understand why the statue had elicited that reaction from her, but I was going to find out.
My gaze softened. “You’re a good friend, Vine.”
It pointed its tail in that same direction again, and I looked out into the bog, not seeing Enid anywhere. She’d swum away, and I had absolutely no idea which direction she’d gone.
“I’ll find her,” I said. “I’ll bring her back. It’s going to be okay. Why don’t you just get to the cottage, all right?”
“What’s going on here?” Cillian rounded the bend with Ceri by his side, his gaze murderous.
“Is it true she destroyed our earth godwitch statue?” Ceri put a hand on Cillian’s arm, but he brushed her off.
Usually his best friend was able to calm him better than anyone.
But not in this instance. “Do you know how long that’s been in Fairwitch?
It’s older than the oldest member of our society, and now it’s gone. A precious relic. Just gone.”
Cillian cared about Fairwitch, about his people, and I couldn’t blame him.
This looked bad. I knew it looked bad. It looked like Enid commanded this sentient vine to destroy something that was important to the people of Fairwitch.
I couldn’t even make an explanation on her behalf because I didn’t have one.
All I knew was that it had upset Enid and that Vine was simply trying to protect her.
“I’ll fix this,” I said to my brother.
He rubbed his temples, looking so haggard and tired. Ceri stared at him in concern. His normal smile was gone, and there were bags under his eyes. Something was going on with him, but I didn’t have time to ask about it. I had another more pressing problem to solve.
“She’s not giving me any reason to let her stay,” Cillian said.
“It’s her home,” I snapped, and Cillian took a step back.
“You’ve been very disagreeable lately,” he said. “Not like yourself at all. I’m not even sure I recognize you.”
“I could say the same to you.”
He looked away, jaw locked, and Ceri widened her eyes at me as if to say back off.
I wanted to yell at my brother, to tell him to fuck off. I wanted to tell him that maybe I was disagreeable because no one ever listened to me. But he knelt to the ground and picked up a piece the earth godwitch’s hair, looking so defeated and beaten down that I couldn’t say any of that.
I didn’t want to add to his pain, so I reined in my anger and straightened my shoulders. “I will fix this. I just have to find her. Something happened.” I shoved a hand through my hair. “Something bigger than us. I can’t explain it.”
Cillian’s ice blue eyes crinkled as he straightened.
“You better figure out a way to. Because everyone is going to want an explanation. Fairwitch is already on edge as it is. The brotherhood is out there. They know of our existence. They’re searching for us, and eventually, they’ll find us again.
Moving the castle was a bandage, nothing more.
Now we have to worry about angering a godwitch, earning their wrath. ”
I swallowed. “I know. I know, okay? Just let me speak with her.” I squeezed my eyes shut, hating the words that were about to come out of my mouth. “And I’ll start the house calls. Tomorrow.”
Cillian’s eyes brightened at that, his entire demeanor changing in an instant. “Good man. That’ll cheer up the townspeople.” He clapped me on the shoulder, then walked toward a group of townspeople, speaking to them in a low, calm tone.
I started toward the bog, slipping between two of the businesses and stopping right where the edge of the city met the murky green water. A lily pad floated in front of me, and I swallowed thickly, remembering the last time I’d ridden one of these damn things. I’d fallen off and almost drowned.
Enid’s crumpled, pale face flashed in my mind. Sadness had filled her eyes. I’d never seen her like that, and it broke my heart.
I balled my hands into fists and stepped onto the lily pad.