Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Briar
Knox didn’t speak to me the entire time we walked through the castle, outside to the door in the wall, and through the woods. The hostility between us made things awkward and our gaits stiff as we stayed at least five feet away from each other.
I was a little afraid that if we got too close, I might jump on him, lock my legs around his waist, and tell my brain to screw off. I’d spent the night tossing and turning while I swung between regretting my decision to stop him and barring my door so I never had to see him again.
Irritated with my endless flopping, Gizzi muttered his displeasure before retreating to sleep on the chair.
I wished I could abandon myself that easily, but unfortunately, I was trapped in my skin. And my skin felt far too taut for my body.
Around midnight, I got up and took a shower in the hopes it would make me feel better. It didn’t.
I finally fell asleep around dawn, only to wake a few hours later. Now, I was tired and in a really bad mood, considering I was outside the walls again.
Knox’s mood wasn’t any better than mine as he stomped through the woods with little care that the breaking branches might attract a predator… one who could snap trees in half. But then, that predator could be the one stalking along beside me.
My eyes felt gritty as I glared at the offending oaf. His stomping, crashing, and cracking were not helping my headache, and I’d had about enough of it.
I was about to tell him to be quieter, but he stopped walking and waved his arm forward. “Here we are,” he said gruffly.
I blinked at him before rubbing my eyes. We’d already arrived at the mushrooms. I wasn’t entirely sure how we’d gotten here and decided a nap was in my future.
Holding the basket closer to my chest, I walked out to the mushrooms as I strained to hear the voice that spoke to me the last time I was here. Gizzi ran down my shoulder and up a nearby tree, where he perched on a branch to survey the forest.
When Zephyr tried to come with us, Knox ordered him to remain in the castle. The sprite wasn’t pleased with the command, but he didn’t argue it either.
While I harvested the mushrooms, I placed them in my basket as I slowly moved around the clearing. Gizzi kept his attention on the woods while Knox crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against a tree, and stared at me.
I couldn’t tell if the ravenous gleam in his eyes was because he wanted to fuck me… or kill me. Either way, he watched me like a hawk.
After I’d placed a few more mushrooms in my basket, an excited voice shrieked into my mind. “You came back! You came back!”
I lifted my head and looked around but didn’t see anything in the trees or slinking through the forest.
“Can you still hear me?”
I couldn’t talk directly to the voice without alerting Knox to my newfound ability, and I wasn’t about to spill my secret to him. But I had to say something to let it know I could hear it.
“Did you hear that?” I asked.
“Hear what?” Knox and Gizzi asked at the same time.
“You can still hear me! You really can!” the voice chattered excitedly.
I glanced around the woods before bending to pick another mushroom. “I thought I heard something, but maybe not.”
“Is it that voice again?” Gizzi asked.
“Do you see another animal somewhere?” I asked him.
“No.”
I placed more mushrooms in my basket as I tried to focus on the other voice. “Can you hear me?” I inquired through my mind.
No response, but Gizzi didn’t answer either, which meant I’d successfully shut him out and focused on something else. I was gaining control over my newfound, unheard-of powers… amongst casters.
When something cool brushed my arm, I placed my hand over the spot and turned toward it. The voice squealed. “You felt me again!”
The voice came from someone who was either young or incredibly excited. Is it some kind of insect? An animal so tiny I can’t see it? And why is it so cold?
“Where are you?” I tried to mentally ask again, but I didn’t receive a response.
“I don’t hear anything,” Knox said. “Do you still hear it?”
I’d been so absorbed in trying to figure out the voice I’d forgotten he was standing there. I must look suspicious, standing there with my hand on my arm, staring into nothing.
“No, it must have been my imagination.” I looked pointedly at him as I said my next words. “It can’t be the thing that came after us last time. The trees would be falling if it were.”
My words elicited no reaction from him as he stared unwaveringly back at me. “Must not be.”
We stared at each other for a moment longer, neither of us believing the other was as innocent as we were trying to be. He could keep his secrets because I was definitely going to keep mine.
Bending, I plucked more mushrooms and laid them carefully in the basket. When something cool brushed my arm again, I lifted my basket and turned toward it.
“What’s your name?” the voice asked.
“Briar.”
I still didn’t get a response, which meant I still couldn’t communicate telepathically with the voice like I could with Gizzi. Does that mean it’s not an animal?
Or maybe I had to see it to make an initial connection, as I did with Gizzi and Toric. Taking a deep breath, I lifted my basket and made my way over to the next cluster of mushrooms.
“Why won’t you talk to me?” the voice asked. “I like your voice.”
I glanced at Knox as I gathered more mushrooms. I wanted to reply to the creature; it sounded desperate for a friend, but I didn’t know how to do so without making Knox more suspicious.
“Thank you,” I tried again to connect with the voice.
Cool air brushed against my shoulder, and I turned toward it as the smallest breeze tickled my cheek. “You’re very pretty. My mom was pretty too.”
Those words made my heart constrict. I had to give it some response. “You’re so sweet.”
“What’s sweet?” Knox demanded.
“The mushrooms,” I lied. “They’re sweet for giving themselves to me.”
“You meant me, didn’t you?” the voice asked excitedly. “You don’t want him to know I’m here.”
When I nodded, cold air caressed my other cheek.
“But you can still hear me?”
I nodded again.
“Do you want to talk to me?”
Another nod.
I looked up at where Gizzi sat in the branches, watching me instead of the woods now. “You okay?” I asked to make sure I could still connect with him.
“I’m fine; are you?” he inquired.
“Yes.”
I placed some more mushrooms in my basket and rose to move on to the next grouping. I looked over at where Knox stood, watching me. I tried to act as casual as possible, but though we’d spent a decade apart, he still knew me better than anyone else.
I wasn’t fooling him.