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“The little human lives.”
I flinch, recoiling into myself and wrapping my arms around my stomach as a large male steps into my line of sight. I recognize his boisterous voice from before I fainted.
He’s a burly fellow, thick with muscles, and a mess of brown hair curled into a bun at the nape of his neck, with a beard to match. He tosses a small, purple berry up into the air, catching it in his mouth with a dramatic flourish.
My head snaps to the side, wary, as I scan the rows and rows of moss-covered trees. Wisps of fog roll across the ground, caressing the trees’ roots and trunks.
I search for the lord. The lady.
Char…
No.
I must’ve hallucinated.
That was—
“Want one?” he offers, stepping closer with an outstretched hand.
“Stay away from me,” I command hoarsely.
Climbing off the boulder, I duck down on the opposite side, keeping the large rock between us. Thankfully, it isn’t the lord’s table after all.
“Whoa.” He shakes his head. “You were dead there a moment ago. I figured you might be hungry. That’s all.”
“Dead?” I blink a few times, wondering if I heard him correctly.
He plops another berry into his mouth, eyeing me curiously. “What’d it feel like?”
“What do you mean I was dead?”
“The toxin.” He points at a pile of severed, snake-like vines with long, needle-like thorns adorning them. “Slowed your heart rate allllll the way down. Couldn’t hear a rhythm at all for a minute or two. Thought for sure you weren’t going to make it.”
I exhale a long breath, not knowing what to make of that.
“Fate must be on your side because slowly your pulse picked back up and bam”—I flinch when he yells the word—“here you are! Right as roses.” He snickers to himself then mutters something that sounds like, “he’s gonna love that irony.”
My eyes scan the woods around us as I squat behind the boulder, desperate to make out an escape. My body is much too weak to outrun this muscular brute, but I’ll be damned if I don’t try.
I open my mouth to speak, but he cuts me off.
“I don’t know what to do with ya now. He said to throw ya back over the Gleam when you died. But technically, you’re back alive. Or still alive. Or...whatever. Humans are weird.“
“Please,” I whisper. His eyes widen as he goes still. “Don’t hurt me.”
This causes him to chuckle, his shoulders shaking vigorously.
“I’ve no such intentions, little human.” He glances toward the sky, and shifts his weight. “I knew you were gonna make it.” He punches the air with a wide smile. “But we gotta get going. You’ve been out a while and I need to get back. We’ve spent far too long in the woods. Guess you’re coming with.”
I glance around the trees, looking for signs of the other male who was here. The one who tried to rip my dress off. Or worse—for the lord or lady.
“There’s no one here,” the male says, presumably reading my body language.
“Where’d they go?”
“There’s no one else here. It’s the trees. They play tricks.”
He gives the lanky elm tree next to him a knock, and the sound echoes around me. Something slithers through the grassy area beside me, and I shudder.
