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“You can run away from your duties and your magic, and you can run away from everyone who’s been there for you, Ash, but you can’t run away from yourself.”
I narrowed my eyes, ready to give Rowan a piece of my mind. Who the fuck did he think he was, telling me shit that was so… true. Dammit, he wasn’t wrong. That didn’t mean I wasn’t pissed off about it.
Before I could say something, my skin tingled and the magic around us shifted. Rowan and I both looked up.
“What is?—”
“There you are,” Lorraine said, bursting through the trees. Her blond hair streamed behind her, and her green eyes spewed fire. “We need to talk.”
“Okay,” I said. She was furious about something. Her anger was hot on my skin and crackled in the air around us.
And gods, she was fucking hot when she was this angry.
“That’s all you’re going to say?” she demanded.
“You were the one who said you wanted to talk. So, talk. I’ll listen.”
She clenched her jaw and glared at Rowan.
“Will you excuse us?” I asked Rowan.
“No, he can stay,” Lorraine said, to my surprise. “I’m pretty sure he’s in on the whole thing.”
“I was going to stay,” Rowan said. “This is my tree. If someone has to leave, it’s not going to be me.”
Lorraine shook her head at his words, turning her attention back to me. “Why didn’t you tell me about the magic?” she demanded.
My blood ran cold. I studied her face, trying to decide how to react. “The what?”
Cool and collected it was—nonchalant. Nice.
“Don’t you dare play dumb with me,” Lorraine snapped. “There’s magic everywhere, and we’re stuck in some alternate reality, and you kept it from me.” She leaned forward as she talked, challenging me.
“You’re right,” I said in a low voice. “About all of it.” I could very well tell her it wasn’t real, but that would be cruel, especially when she was so convinced. Who had she been talking to?
My mind spun. When my thoughts landed on Dolus, my stomach twisted. I wanted him to help me, but I didn’t want him to come close to Lorraine. She was mine.
Besides, I didn’t trust Dolus. Something about him was… well, there was a reason Rowan had warned me against him. I wasn’t listening, but that wasn’t the point.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lorraine demanded when I didn’t say anything else.
Rowan cleared his throat. “You know what? I changed my mind—I’ll go. You guys can stay. I’ll be back later.” He turned around and walked away, leaving me alone with her.
Dammit, I was hoping he could help me out here. Lorraine was pissed off at me, and she had a good reason to be.
I studied her face, trying to decide how to respond. “You’re human,” I finally said.
“And you’re not.”
“Who have you been talking to?”
“Does it matter?” she countered. “It should have been you.”
I sighed. “Look, humans don’t know about stuff like this, and you were in a state when I found you. I couldn’t throw all this shit on you on top of everything you’ve been through. I didn’t want to make things worse than they already were.”
I could tell what she was thinking. Her expression was tough to read, but her anger was starting to fade. That was something.
“I’ve been asking about my sister. You could have told me then,” she said. She looked more hurt than angry now.
