“Why did you do that?” I demanded.
He sighed. “Bloody earth. You’re slurring. You must’ve drank more than I realized.”
I stood on shaky legs and pointed a finger into his chest. “You distracted me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m the reason you didn’t make it up the vine.”
“I was almost to the top!” I shouted.
Birds burst from the branches of a nearby tree, my words echoing around us.
“You were barely halfway up, Lilypad.”
“Do not call me that,” I said, shoving him, anger rushing through my words.
I wanted a bed. I wanted my friends. I wanted Jasper. I wanted my magic. I wanted so many things that I couldn’t have, and this man was standing in my way of getting it all back.
He barely moved, so I shoved him again.
“You don’t want to do this,” he said, reaching up faster than I could register and grabbing my arm.
Tears sprang to my eyes. I wouldn’t let him see me cry. He’d probably laugh at me, and then I would most definitely murder him, and then I’d get sent to the dungeons, or whatever their twisted version of dungeons was here. Probably some cage hanging from a tree.
“We do not have cages hanging from trees,” Penn said.
I wrenched my hand from his. Had I just said all of that out loud? I hated this. I hated everything. I just shook my head and backed away, then turned and ran, stumbling through the dark forest. Clouds covered the moon tonight, but I didn’t care. Maybe this forest would swallow me up and spit me out somewhere far from here, and then I’d find my way to Jasper on my own. Branches scratched at my face, and leaves crunched under my boots, and still I ran. Tears blurred my vision, and I swiped at them. I was sick of crying. I’d cried more here than I had in my entire life, mourning everything I’d lost. I didn’t want to mourn anymore. I just wanted to live.
Yellow eyes peeked from the stretches of darkness between the trees, and I thought I heard the distant hoot of an owl, and possibly the growl of something more sinister. But still, I ran.
I ran until my legs wouldn’t carry me any longer, and I could just make out the faint outline of a cave, right as lightningflashed in the sky above and rain began pattering down. No, it wasn’t a cave. I walked closer. It was an enormous tree, bigger than any I’d seen before, hollowed out with a cozy shelter that looked to be the size of a small house. Rain splattered the ground. It was gentle at first, then pounded down harder. I ran into the shelter and sank down against the cold, hard ground, shivering.
My head pounded, and my stomach lurched. I leaned out of the shelter and vomited. My throat burned, and I wiped my mouth, the rain coming down even harder now.
I took a shuddering breath, then lay down and curled into myself, my eyes closing as I drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Fifteen
Warmth enveloped me. A glorious, all-consuming heat that made me want to snuggle in and never wake up. I guess technically I was awake, but my eyes were still closed, and I was going to keep it that way for as long as possible because this might as well have been paradise.
The lulling sound of a crackling fire drifted to my ears, and I tried to remember the last time I’d woken up feeling so good. What had happened last night? Flashes of the tavern, the ale, me running away swept through my mind. Wait a minute. I remembered stumbling into the shelter of a tree, a dark one with a cold, hard ground...
My eyes popped open, and my gaze traveled down to the large hand resting on my stomach, that red sparkling ring catching bits of light that filtered into the cave. Strong arms wrapped around me, thick with muscle and safety, and a hard wall of a chest pressed against my back, legs draped over my own. I scrambled to my feet, my head pounding and my stomach curdling. Penn lay there, eyes closed, blond hair tied back in abun at the nape of his neck, wisps of hair falling over his face. Most days I wanted to grip those little hairs and rip them right out of his head. Actually, every day I wanted to. Especially in this moment.
How in the fuck had this happened? I fell asleepalone. So he must’ve chased me, built this fire to keep me warm? My eyes widened at the thought of him cuddling up beside me and falling asleep with me in his arms.
What a nightmare. I would never drink ale again. Now I understood why I stuck to wine, and very little of it. Obviously, I would never have slept next to Penn if my brain hadn’t been addled by alcohol. And I certainly wouldn’t have woken up enjoying being wrapped up in his arms. Those big arms that had no right to feel so good. It was the lasting effects of the alcohol. That was all.
I blew out a breath, still studying him, unable to tear my eyes away. When awake, his face was always so severe, as if the burdens of the world sat on his shoulders. But when he was asleep, those hard edges faded to soft lines, his shoulders relaxed, his hands splayed open instead of curled into tight fists. And those lips. I had a sudden urge to trace them, to know what they might feel like under my fingers after I’d already felt them with my mouth.
I quickly looked away, peering out of the tree where I’d fallen asleep.
I had absolutely no idea how to get back to Mosswood Village, so I either would have to wake Penn or wait for him to wake up. I weighed my options. He’d probably be in a better mood if I let him sleep. It had been late when I’d come upon this place last night, and I didn’t know how long it had taken him to find me.
I blew out a breath, propping my hands on my hips. Something caught my eye on the tree wall behind Penn.Drawings of some sort, or etchings. I stepped over Penn’s body and moved closer to the wall, studying the pictures. Once I stood in front of the drawings, I realized they stretched across the entire length of the wall, going deeper back into the little room. A torch lay by Penn, and I picked it up and held it to the fire, waiting for it to light. Then I moved back toward the drawings, studying them.
The first image portrayed a familiar scene: I’d seen these pictures in scrolls, in books from our libraries. It told of our history, how the original seven courts came to be. Seven people sat in a boat, rowing from the human lands to find a new home, a place where they could escape from the chaos, the depravity, the lawlessness of the human lands. They found Arathia, an undiscovered continent.
I continued moving, looking at the pictures that detailed how the seven people separated to explore the land, how they each decided to split up Arathia between them. The torch light flickered bright, illuminating a picture of the seven manifesting powers. One of them with a fireball in their hand, one with a flower, one with the sun floating over their palm, one holding an icicle, one with wings, one with swirls of water around their fingers, and the final one holding hands with a shadow. The seven elemental powers.
