“If you seek passage, my price is not cheap.” My jaw stings but I ignore it, looking into her eyes, searching for some piece of her left.
She must remember who she is.
“I don’t seek passage,” I say. “I’ve come for you, Elora.”
She flinches, scurrying backward. “I do not know that name.” She raises her chin, moss and vines curl at her feet. Slithering like serpents up and around her legs and arms.
I step forward, and as I do Ruse growls, low and deep. Elora’s gaze snaps to the wolf. Her eyes widen before they narrow.
She recognizes her.
“Again, Ruse.” I take another step and Ruse growls.
The forest revolts with every step I take. Roots erupt from the earth, blocking my path to her. More thorny vines sprout,catching on my pants and arms. Ruse begins to howl, long and slow and Elora bares her teeth.
“Elora, your name is Elora.”
“Stop it!” Her teeth are still barred and it only makes Ruse howl louder. “Stop it!”
With her distracted by the howling, I’ve managed to weave around the forest floor and am inches from her. Her arms hang at her sides, her fists clenched, but there on her left hand, my father’s ring.
I reach for her hand, but as I do, vines and roots crawl up my arms again, tightening around my muscles, making my hand stiffen.
“I require payment for passage through.” Her gray eyes are narrow under her dark brows but I swear I see a glimmer of gold in them. Ruse continues to howl, and Elora shakes her head. “Payment or I end your life, now!”
She releases my hand, an ache already forming from the pressure around my wrists. When I make no other movement, she throws her hands together in a thunderous clap. Sharp branches burst from her shoulders, across her chest and down her arms. Vines and roots and thorns crawl over her legs, and when she holds her hand out to me, the threat is clear.
Payment or death.
Payment…payment. I pat my pockets and the weight of the amulet presses against my leg. Quickly I pull it out and dangle it between us. Her eyes flare as she watches it spin lightly from the gold chain it's attached to. Ruse stops howling and the creaking and moaning of the trees takes its place.
“Where did you get…” She steps forward. The spikes and thorns melt away, the moss and vines at her feet retreat back into the ground and soon she is bare before me save for the bark around her chest. She doesn’t break her gaze from the amulet, its purple light pulsing in the darkness.
“Enchantress magick, Soleil.” She hisses at the name, recoiling back from me. I shiver against the dropping temperatures as I inch closer but I focus on her eyes. On the faint flicker of gold I see in them. She reaches for the amulet, completely transfixed by it, and when she presses it to her fingers, I use her distraction to test my theory.
I press my mouth to hers, hard. She leaps backward, but I wrap my arms around her to hold her in place. She wiggles and growls before biting down on my lip so hard blood pools in my mouth. Her nails slice against my skin as I break away, leaving enough distance between us for the roots to erupt from the ground and encase her, protecting her.
I want to reach for her again. Want to brave the claws and the thorns and vines just to have one more taste of her lips.
But I don’t.
Instead, I close my eyes and focus on every memory I have of her. Not just of this life, but our life before.
Please remember me.
Remember, you.
Forty-Five
Elora
The manbefore me closes his eyes, whispering things under his breath. There’s a flutter in my otherwise vacant chest, faint and delicate, and yet it holds more power than that of all the Wood.
I don’t know why, but I take a step forward, allowing the thorns and vines to drop around me, and press my lips against his again. His body jumps before it relaxes against mine.
Images flash through my mind as quick and bright as lightning. Strobing in and out, in and out leaving me little time to linger on any of them for very long.
We’re there, this man and I, standing on a balcony, overlooking a sea of people.
