21. Chapter 21
“Is everyone still in one piece?” Bella calls from over her shoulder.
Not that I’m really listening. Admittedly, my attention is more focused on my surroundings.
Like that bubbly stream cutting into that trickling creek, that wraps around clusters of life-giving trees, coaxing a choking sensation out of me.
I swear I’ve seen that lilac lantern before, the one dangling from that very branch overhead.
It’s the first lantern out of many, all of which ignite to form a narrow pathway that weaves deeper into the heart of the forest.
My cartography instructor used to call this section of the Shadowglade Forest Valenoria, a bright swatch of foliage that spans five miles across the forest’s northwestern edge, looking relatively inconspicuous on maps.
And yet, no one has ever trekked straight through it.
People tend to get gobbled up around here, their disappearances sprouting tales of make-believe venomous creatures and man-eating thistles that evoke nightmarish bedtime stories for children.
Solara and I used to theorize about a black hole lurking within, sucking everything into its depths.
And if not a black hole, then perhaps an eldritch-type horror creeping around in the shadows, impatiently waiting to strike unsuspecting passersby when they’re not looking.
A chill skitters down my spine, and I throw a quick glance over my shoulder to reassure myself that my imagination is just playing tricks.
“All fine and accounted for here,” Maxine chirps happily as she casually swats a bug out of her tangled hair and gives me a little wave. “Although there is the matter of Lily’s missing braincells. Not that we can blame the thorns for that.”
“Ugh! Why must you always be so…” Lily spews off, instigating an argument with Maxine that I’m quite sure is entertaining. Although I get a sneaking suspicion that the birds don’t appreciate it, considering how far Lily’s voice is carrying.
Speaking of birds, there are bluebirds and sparrows perched along endless rows of twisting vines, hummingbirds fluttering near batches of honeysuckle blooms, and pink peonies infused with starlight.
Red robins are making nests on spindly arms of wisteria climbers beside bulbous fruits swelling with juice.
But it’s the parrots that really appear irritated over the matter of the squalling voices, considering how they’re fluffing their sanguine-stained feathers and squawking along the knotted tree branches like prudes.
Not that I can hardly blame them. Lily sounds like a concubine trapped inside a teacup with how loud she’s shrieking.
“Are you alright, Shay?” Bella asks as Maxine and Lily take off running ahead.
“Never better.” I smile, pretending that I’m not suffering from a bout of déjà-vu.
This section of the forest looks so familiar, down to those mossy knuckles of tree roots and those candy-colored clusters of fern groves.
Even the saplings bend freely in my direction, like they recognize me from somewhere.
“I wasn’t asking about the thorn in your boot.” Bella smiles humorlessly. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” I pluck the thorn free as a nearby cricket chirps in disagreement.
Bella gives me a stern look to indicate that she doesn’t believe me.
I audibly sigh. I don’t know what I’m looking for, exactly.
A little city nestled in the crooks of the trees?
Small children peeking out through the windows to get a better glimpse of us, their eyes as bright and piercing as the undulating streaks of sunlight creeping in through the canopy?
Anything to alert me that there isn’t some big, fat, black hole lurking up ahead, waiting to suck us inside, just like it did in all those nursery rhymes?
Something that might jog my memory as to why this place feels so familiar?
But that’s not at all what I find. Instead, I find a single door carved into the side of a tree.
A door that spits out a man, of all things.
The man isn’t wearing a shirt. Not that he requires one.
His only piece of clothing are loose-fitting trousers hanging low on his waist, dyed a pastel shade of pink.
His ears protrude proudly beneath his hair, which is styled neatly in two braids that taper down his back in streaks of lavender and silver.
Oh, and then there’s the matter of his magnificent green eyes, which remind me of clovers in the springtime.
How he managed to obtain eyes of that caliber is beyond the pale of my comprehension.
“This is going to sound crazy,” I murmur, studying the man intently as he approaches. His bare feet crunch through the underbrush of leaves, and his pearly-white skin shimmers brilliantly off the forest’s backdrop like frosty rain. “But I think I’ve been here before. In my dreams.”
Bella cocks a brow in concern.
“Sji uhn,” the man says with a tilt of his head, his green eyes surveying me with a special softness that I could get lost in.
That’s it. His pupils must be working in tandem with the forest to create the infamous black hole that pulls people under and to their deaths.
He’s going to somehow murder us with how handsome he is, isn’t he?
“Eskuti ascari mar tasunni,” he says as he plucks a nearby rose from a thorny bush and holds it out to me in a peace offering.
I take the rose, my breath catching in my throat.
Suddenly the world melts away, and I’m staring up at him.
“Augustine,” I whisper as he tucks the rose behind my ear. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
Augustine glances around the unfamiliar courtyard, where flowers in bright pinks and swirling magentas are blooming beneath the morning sunrise.
Some of them glisten with dew from last night’s rain, almost as beautiful as the Starlings tweeting from the trees.
I get a sense that we’re all alone, aside from the guard standing near the castle doorway, whose gaze is transfixed on the horizon.
He hasn’t noticed Augustine is here. Not yet, anyway.
But the moment he does, all hell will break loose. I can feel it.
“Why not?” Augustine asks, sliding his hand around my waist and pulling me in tight.
“You know perfectly well why not.” I exhale deeply as his hand slowly slides underneath my shirt and settles comfortably on my lower back. All the tension in my body melts away as I gaze up at him and blink, nearly forgetting what I was saying.
“It’s against the rules." I force out another breath, wishing he’d stay forever.
“Ah. I’ve never been good with rules,” he whispers.
“The war.” My stomach tingles at the warmth radiating from his fingers. He sets his head against my forehead as I continue, “We’re on opposing sides. That alone should be enough of a deterrent. What if someone catches us here?”
“The only side I see, is the one where you and I are free,” he replies, pulling me in for a kiss filled with passion and desire.
“Shadow?” Bella says, snapping her fingers in my face.
I shake my head and allow my eyes a moment to adjust back to the present.
“Sorry,” I say, my lips tingling from how real that kiss had felt.
What the fuck is happening to me?
The man smiles slightly, then points to the big tree behind him. “Tanesia vien.”
“I think he wants us to follow him into the big tree,” Bella explains, her gaze darting between me and the tiny rose in my hands. A rose that I swear flickers in shades of pale blues and soft whites, until I blink and it becomes red again.
“Follow him into the tree? Over my dead body,” Lily scoffs, pausing underneath a giant toothy flower that’s curling lazily out of a bush.
The flower twitches, grows taller, and then leans over her head.
Maxine shoves her away moments before it strikes, resulting in the two of them tumbling to the forest floor and shrieking in horror as it snaps around aimlessly at the spot where they’d both been standing.
“So the stories are true!” Lily cries out, shoving Maxine off her and then scrambling to a stand. “This part of the forest does eat people alive!”
Maxine remains flat on her back, winded and gasping for breath. “A ‘thank you’ would’ve sufficed. But sure, that.”
Lily offers a hand to help Maxine stand, grumbling something along the lines of, “Thank you for not pushing me into the flower, Maxine. How very kind of you. Although considering how much you hate me, I’m a bit shocked by this turn of events.”
Maxine takes her hand and heaves herself to a stand, dusting herself off as she says, “Hate is the last thing I feel for you, Lily. Unless you consider how much Shay claims to hate the God of Dreams, then I suppose I hate you immensely.”
“Me?” I point a finger at my chest.
“Don’t you dare bring Shay into this,” Lily says as she balls up her holey dress and tucks it underneath her armpit. “This is between me and you, Maxi. Tell me how you really feel about me and get it over with. Come on. You know you want to.”
“You first,” Maxine remarks, her nostrils flaring.
Bella clears her throat and takes a tentative step forward.
The rest of us turn to stare. “As yiri tu nia ascarai mar ta?” she asks the stranger, her voice rising above the cacophony of the forest in a perfect, practiced accent.
The whole thing is so unexpected, I fumble the rose out of my hands. It flutters to the ground.
The newcomer’s eyes fly wide open, his curious expression slowly melting into a grin. “Larki yiski,” he replies to Bella. “Ascari mar ta sielle un allitery estella desimions.”
“Wait,” Maxine says with an upheld hand, her gaze oscillating back and forth between the two of them. “You can speak his language, Bella?”