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“Why? Because of who she is? Or because of who she hangs out with? Not everyone is against humans, you know.”
I sighed. Rowan was right—it was because of who Philotes spent her time with. She liked befriending the humans, donning the form of a human woman in place of her glamorous goddess shape. She called herself Philippa to fit in more.
Why would anyone want to be that close to the humans?
Maybe it was because the gods couldn’t screw up the way I did. When they fell for mortals, they still retained their divinity. They couldn’t fall the way we could. They couldn’t become mortal.
Would they have if they needed to for love? I wasn’t sure.
All that happened when gods and goddesses mixed with humans was either a good friendship or… halflings were born. The gods and goddesses came away unscathed from a bond with them.
I shook my head again, standing firm. “I think I’ll take a nap.”
“Come on, man,” Rowan said. “You’re such a killjoy.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I doubt she’ll have time for me anyway.”
“Artemis has time for all of us,” Rowan said.
I shrugged.
“Suit yourself. Just wake up before Halloween, okay?”
“Okay.”
Trick-or-treat could be fun. I liked scaring the village kids when they walked around. I liked spreading terror among the superstitious humans who still thought vengeful ghosts were out to get them.
Life had become a repetition of itself—more of the same every day—but Halloween could be fun.
I turned my back on Artemis and disappeared into the trees.
Rowan was right when he’d said she’d have time for me. She always had time for us. I just didn’t want to see her. She’d given me another shot at this, giving back the immortality I’d so hastily given up for love. I didn’t need a reminder of what a fool I’d been. I didn’t need to see the disappointment at who I’d become in her eyes.
Rowan and Clea’s match would find favor in Artemis’s eyes because the druses and the dryads belonged together.
I walked to the vale, where my tree stood tall and proud. I leaned against the tree, looking around me through the forest. It was green and lush, the trees healthy, proud sentries that stood tall, reaching for the light.
There was merit in having a job to do and doing it well. It was all there was left for me now. I was a protector of the trees, and that was what I would do.
I turned to my tree and pressed my hand against the bark. I breathed in deeply and unfurled the magic in my core. It connected with the life force of the tree, and I slipped into the trunk, becoming one with the tree.
I took a deep breath, shook out my leaves, and settled down, reaching my roots deep into the ground. I sensed the magic of the earth, alive and grounded beneath me. I breathed in the air, relished the warmth of the sun’s rays. I looked beyond the forest to where the villages lay, and beyond the villages, to the cities that had changed so much.
The world expanded. The humans learned and grew. They invented, they created, they rose above who they’d been every day, reinventing themselves. Once upon a time, that had drawn me.
Now, the world had very little to offer me beyond the vale of the tree spirits. I should have held onto that fact when I’d met Ava. I should have seen the bigger picture, the way we had never belonged together.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting my slumber draw me in. I welcomed the sedated feeling that came with sleep and gave myself over to it.
The upside of eternity was that I’d had time to make my mistakes.
The downside of eternity was that I had to live with the consequences of my mistakes forever.
ChapterThree
Lorraine
Aweek earlier.
