Chapter 3
Sylvain
I stand stiffly by my car, waiting for this talkative human to put her sandals back on.
A long sheet of her hair has fallen across her face, silky strands undulating in the soft breeze.
An urge comes over me to reach out and press that hair into my hands, to feel each individual strand against my fingertips.
This alarms me, so I step away to the driver's side, hovering between getting in and wondering if I should have opened the passenger door for her first.
Just as I place on leg inside, she straightens up, a wide smile beaming across her face, which is quite round and smooth.
Somehow her cheekbones are high while also being round, with almond-shaped eyes the color of toffee.
Her lush lips are moving, but I don’t hear what she is saying, and register that now her eyebrows are stitched together in confusion as she points at the road.
“What?” My hearing comes back in a rush, like stepping out of a tunnel. “I didn’t hear you, my apologies.”
“Oh, no worries, um, I was saying, where is my car? I could have sworn that I left it here along the road, but I don’t see it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it is a piece of crap, but it’s my piece of crap, and I don’t want to leave it here and get a ticket, you know? And also all my stuff is in it.”
All of this comes out in one long stream of words, and now she is breathing deeply, her smile even wider now.
I cannot comprehend someone thinking this fast, let alone speaking at that speed.
I can’t tell her about the portal. I force myself to focus on the task at hand, which is getting this exquisite human into town and off my hands as quickly as possible.
“Coldwater Springs is small, the tow place will be able to find it easily. I am sure it’s just around that curve back there,” I say instead.
She is standing near the passenger door, her small hand placed on its handle. She seems to be making some sort of internal decision before opening it, and we get in together.
The doors close, enveloping me with her scent of cinnamon, and I immediately almost drop the keys and fumble for the ignition.
She is ignoring me completely, settling her backpack on the floor between her feet and getting her seatbelt latched into place.
As we pull out onto the road, the silence lasts for all of three seconds before she is talking again, her buttery voice filling my brain.
It’s incessant, but for some reason, pleasing, causing an odd sensation near my chest.
“I’m Amaya, by the way. I’m up here from Arizona.
You ever been there? God, it's so hot and dry, nothing like here. I’m so excited to be in the forest with actual green and trees and water, I can’t stand it.
I would have been happy to get lost in the forest and become a little nomadic healing woman or something.
” She is laughing at her own joke, staring out the window.
I can see her cheeks are flushed with excitement, and I can feel her connection to the land vibrating in my bones.
“This is a nice town,” I reply. “You are visiting Coldwater Springs?” It comes out like a question, because hardly anybody actually comes to visit this town; they usually stumble upon it or come here visiting friends or family.
“Oh no, I was heading up to Canada and then, you know…” She makes noises like a wounded cat. “My car took a crap. Canada was supposed to be my fresh start, find a job somewhere, make it stick this time.”
I glance at Amaya briefly. I have become much better at determining human ages, and I think she might be in her late 30s. Just as I am thinking about all the reasons a human her age would need to start over, she interrupts my thoughts with the answer.
“I am not even sure what I’m doing with my life anymore.
I miss my family like crazy. It was super hard to leave, but I was just disconnected somehow.
There are only so many bartending gigs, serving gigs, whatever else gigs you can do before it's all too much. We left the rez for the city for more opportunities, and I don’t know.
” She pauses to look at me, her eyes full of sadness but also that spark I saw earlier when she entered the portal. “I just need something else, you know?”
Her elbow is on the armrest, a mere millimeter of space between us, but it might as well be an ocean.
She is aimless, a drifter, locked down by nothing, whereas I’ve always been here.
Before Coldwater Springs was even a name whispered by some white man looking to settle this place, it was a vast wilderness filled with a people who worshipped and worked the land.
I was here. Why did the portal allow her to enter the last protected space?
She was not from here, had no ties to here, and yet here she is, in my car, talking about how she needs a fresh start, and the forest thought this was a good idea?
I realize then that my breath is uneven, coming out in short, ragged puffs. Perhaps I am getting sick. No, that makes no sense. I don’t get sick, ever.
Luckily, the turn off into town comes into view, and I change the subject instead of acknowledging what she just said. “This is the downtown area. I can take you to the hotel. Mrs. Ames, the owner, can call the tow place for you.”
I see Amaya’s eyes get wide with wonder as the town comes into view.
“This is like from a book or something, it’s so quaint and cute!” She is practically squealing with excitement as she rolls her window down for a better look. “‘Own & Lantern Bookstore,’ I am definitely stopping there. Oh, they have pie!” She smiles at me excitedly.
“It is very good, from what I hear,” I say blandly. In fact, people would not stop talking about Zerachiel’s pie and how good it was, and asking me every other day why I did not also sell his pie at the restaurant. Ugh, interloper demon.
“Well, I can’t wait. I love pie. It’s a weakness. Oh!” She interrupts herself. “‘The Hungry Stag,’ that place looks really cool too!”
I can’t help but grin at that, because yes, my restaurant is very cool indeed.
Unconsciously, I slow down so she can see all the shops, yearning to see the joy on her face, but before long, we are parking at The Hollow Pine Inn.
Through the window, I see Mrs. Ames get up to meet us at the door, no doubt wondering why my car is parked in her lot when she knows I live in town.
As I step out, Mrs. Ames throws me a look of curiosity that I ignore while Amaya is grabbing her backpack. Before I can introduce them, Amaya throws her hand out for a handshake.
“Hi! I’m Amaya! I heard you could help me with my car? It broke down and, uh…” She stops and looks at me weirdly. “I just realized I never got your name, and now I feel weird because I’ve been chatting your ear off nonstop for like 30 minutes.”
“Sylvain.”
“Right. Well, thanks for the ride, Sylvain, it was great getting to know you!” She flashes me her megawatt smile that seems to strike me dumb every single time because the moment I seem to recover from it, she is already inside the lobby talking to Mrs. Ames a mile a minute.
“You’re welcome, Amaya,” I whisper. I get back in my car and sit there for a few moments, trying to decide what the hell just happened. I glance out at the forest through the window, watching the branches sway in the evening breeze. “Just what do you think you’re up to?”
A flock of small birds flutters out from the tree line and dives back in as a response.
“That is not an answer,” I huff, before I turn the car back on and head home.