“Yes.” Delta fiddles with the corner of her laptop. “He is.”
One thing that definitely doesn’t help my bad mood is knowing I’ve made this woman uncomfortable. I just stomped up to her and started interrogating her about her dead dad. Before I can think of another thing to say, a small whimper distracts me. That’s when I notice for the first time that beside Delta’s chair is a carrier, and inside of it is a small dog.
The little creature is not particularly attractive. It could be called cute in an odd way. Eyes too big, snout too small, fur a strange exploding tangle.
The dog’s tiny body quivers in fear.
It’s scared of me.
I’m frightening a helpless animal because I’m having a temper tantrum. Because I’m grumbling at a woman who did nothing to me. Delta merely shares blood with a man that I originally wronged.
This is all my fault.
And my old friend shame comes back and takes over.
“I’m sorry,” I tell the daughter of the dragon, my voice gone low. “I shouldn’t have said anything. None of what happened isyour fault.” My eyes rest on the dog, wishing I could soothe the creature.
As if sensing my want, Delta reaches into her pocket and comes out with a tiny dog biscuit.
“I’ll forgive you if you give Gigabyte a treat.”
“Oh.” My thick fingers fumble to accept. “Okay.” Taking a knee, I slowly extend my hand. The quivering creature freezes.
Then its nose twitches.
Then it lunges forward and gobbles up the peace offering.
“There.” Delta hums. “We’re good.” Her purple eyes capture mine. “And if there’s any way I can help you get settled here, let me know.”
I nod silently, then stand, turn on my heel, and stride away from the living Novac. I pass by the bookstore with all its intimidating stories that I can’t read. And I keep walking until I reach the end of Main Street, where I parked Mor’s truck. As I drive out of town, trees rise on the sides of the road, and I let myself pretend that I am lost in the wilderness. Try to forget that I’m returning to the scene of my crime. To the house that punished me.
I’m going back to the woman who saved me. The witch who has offered me something that I can use to leave this place.
I will work in the library.
And then, when I have enough money in my pocket, I’ll leave Folk Haven forever.
20
Bo
A few daysafter my confrontation with Delta, I climb out of Mor’s car, which she lent me once again, and wonder why Jack directed me to a barn near the edge of town for this get-together. This support group.
I don’t know what this meeting is supposed to be exactly. Only that, apparently, I am not the only one who has missed out on years of my life.
Jack and Ophelia, mates of two of Mor’s siblings, were both cursed by the same sorcerer to live as animals as they acted as his magic battery. In a way, despite their captivity times being much shorter than mine, I would hazard their experiences were more traumatic. I wasn’t exactly aware of the world when I was trapped in a statue. The passage of time didn’t compute for me. It was just a suspended state of discomfort and anger.
They were awake, if slightly disoriented, as far as Mor explained it.
And then there’s the dragon.
Lee Blaythorn. I remember him actually, though he used to go by Sulien. He was a few years older than me and popular. That’s what happens when your parents are rich and you’re a handsome, pure-blooded mythic. But he disappeared a few years before I had my run in with Dimitri. I didn’t know why. No one in Folk Haven knew. But it turns out, when his parents discovered he had fallen in love with a harpy, they kidnapped him and took him to a dragon colony in Antarctica and forced him to shift.
It’s well known that, when dragons take their beast form, they are unable to revert back to their human form for roughly forty years. Yet, somehow, twenty years later, Lee is back and looking very humanlike.
There’s definitely more to that story, but I figure there’s probably more to all of ours.
Is that what we’re here to do today? Share our stories?
