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Or maybe he knew my team would win because I was on it.
Probably the first one.
“Gwen,” Fitz said, sounding defeated.
“Chantal,” Sadie gave her final pick, surprising me yet again.
“Minny,” Fitz answered, but since she was the only one left, we all knew.
Gwen’s arm snaked around his waist, pulling close like they were a couple already. He cast a glance over his shoulder to find me. Shrugging, I understood his confusion. No one should have picked me, but Sadie did.
“Okay,” Sadie held our flag, a simple blue cloth, in her hands, “we need a warrior to hide the flag and guard it and three rams to work as defense.”
“Well,” Chantal smirked, “I’ve kissed him enough already. I’ll take one for the team.” Without another word, she pulled the flag from Sadie’s hands and started toward the forest, leaving Sadie, Esme, and me to stare in stunned silence.
“I know we’re supposed to play nice,” Esme cocked an eyebrow, “but for the record, I don’t like her.”
Strange, that made me like Esme more.
“Come on, we need to get into the forest to spy on their warrior if we can.”
“Be careful, ladies.” Fitz passed by us with Gwen under one arm and Minny under the other. “Don’t forget, the forest is haunted with spirits.”
“And Dagny,” Esme added.
“Brilliant.” Fitz winked.
Esme whimpered.
Sadie gasped.
I rolled my eyes because it’s really hard to take a guy seriously after you’ve seen him do karaoke to “Barbie Girl,” complete with dance moves.
Which I had.
Twice.
If only I had video to prove it.
“So,” I felt the need to get some clarification, “how haunted are we talking?”
“Not that bad.” Esme shrugged. “We only lose about fifty people a year.”
My feet stopped as a form of protest. But Sadie and Esme kept going.
I opened my mouth to ask again but gave up and jogged after them.
Weird, but I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.
Michaela
Iwas still unsure after an hour. The thick wood certainly played with my mind. Towering trees blocked out the sun almost entirely, casting a spooky shadow over everything. It didn’t help that, unbeknownst to us, Esme took the legends seriously. Her superstitions kept her close to us, literally hanging off my coat. Her intention was to use me as a human shield whenever feasible, rather than as a bodyguard.
To add to the fun, the dense forest created an echo chamber for Dagny’s wailing, making it sound far away and close all at once. I stopped beside a tree and rested on the rough bark as we tried to get our bearings. Another chilling wail sliced through the air. Dagny was fantastic at her role.
I stopped myself short as another thought occurred.
Geez, I hoped it was Dagny.
