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"Honestly? Not a chance. This will have to be all-natural."
Jackson nodded but bit his tongue before saying something stupid.
"Why don't you let us plant those?" Lark queried as she opened her door.
"Yeah, you two have been at it since dawn. Go get some sleep." Thorne added when he jumped out of the truck. "Just pass that seed here."
For a split second, Jackson worried the duo might steal the seeds, but they'd been through too much in just a few weeks to not trust each other.
Reluctantly, he handed over the brown suede patch, slammed his truck door shut, and headed toward the front door.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
"I'll be right back," Jackson fought against the urge to squeeze Barrett's hand or something equally foolish and jogged off toward the hotel's entrance.
A small older woman glanced up as he tugged the door open. Her smile reached her dark brown eyes. "Welcome to the Inn on the Mountain! How can I help you? A handsome young man like yourself must be here to do some climbing."
Jackson bit back a cackle. If she only knew.
"Good day, Ma'am," he said, grinning warmly. "I was wondering if you could help me out. I'm in need of four rooms for the night. I swear I'm not alone." Jackson gestured toward the red truck out front.
The innkeeper tsked and looked between Jackson and her computer. "I'm sorry, son," she replied softly, "but we only have two vacant rooms left tonight. We're booked solid due to the festival happening in town."
Barrett chuckled as he came up behind Jackson and rested his hand on Jackson's shoulder in comfort. "It's alright, Jackson. We've shared quarters before. It won't be the end of the world."
Barrett's low, soothing voice seemed to ease some of Jackson's concerns. Though the idea of sharing a bed anywhere near him seemed much harder now than it would have been last week.
"We'll take those two then, please." Jackson handed over his credit card, praying he didn't wince because there was hardly a balance available on it.
"That'll be two hundred and twenty-nine." She took his card and swiped it, passing it and two room keys to him a moment later. "You'll have one room on the second floor, room two ten. The other is just down this hallway, room one-oh-three."
"Thank you, Ma'am." Jackson took the three cards and tried to ignore the way sleep and worry collided in his stomach. "I'm beat. Let's go get Lark and Thorne and turn in for the night."
Barrett merely nodded, and plucked a key from Jackson's hands and strolled out the door, forcing Jackson to ignore his worries and jog after him.
Thorne, his muscled frame hunched over as if trying to seem smaller, approached alongside Lark. She adjusted her falcon's hood, her sharp eyes darting warily about the bustling town square. They exchanged weary greetings, the events of their harrowing journey still fresh in their minds. A glance up showed Mardoc gracefully circling the skies.
"We've planted the enchanted beanstalk," Thorne rumbled, his gravelly voice a comforting presence in the sea of unfamiliar faces. "It should be grown to the sky by morning, but I doubt all these people will just not see it."
"Good." Barrett replied, relief etching fine lines around his piercing eyes. "We'll be long gone by the time it's an issue with an early wake up." He handed Thorne a card key. "The innkeeper was able to find us two rooms. We'll have to make do. How do I know which is which?"
Jackson chuckled. "This one," he waved the one between his fingers, " is the second-floor room. Lark, you're in two-ten. We'll meet outside no later than three a.m."
Lark quirked an eyebrow, her gaze lingering momentarily on the pair before her. "I suppose we've faced worse." She said, her voice tinged with dry humor. "Besides, it's not like we haven't seen it all before."
"Aye," Thorne grunted, "We've been through the crucible and back, lass. A little forced proximity won't kill us." His words were gruff, but his eyes softened as he clapped Jackson's shoulder in a fatherly manner.
With no luggage, they must have looked a strange sight, but they split into groups, with Jackson and Barrett walking back toward the hotel entrance, and Lark and Thorne toward the outside staircase.
Once inside the cramped room, the tension between Jackson and Barrett was palpable. Jackson glanced at the queen-sized bed in the center of the room. It was large enough, but even in the prison cell, they'd had two small cots.
"Well, I s'pose we should get some rest," Jackson said, his voice gruff with emotion he couldn't afford to let loose. "It’s going be a long day tomorrow."
"Yes, tomorrow," Barrett agreed.
Jackson walked over to the window, parting the curtains slightly to look out onto the bustling city in the distance. The lights sparkled like diamonds in the night sky, contrasting sharply with the velvety blackness of the clouds that stretched upward into infinity. He took a deep breath of the crisp, cool air, feeling a familiar pull towards this place that wasn't entirely welcome.
