“The Fates have chosen well for you, Ward. Take your gift and save our people, but be warned—if you turn away from your true nature, you will fail in this task. Cherish my vessel, and your reward will be great.”
Was that me? Was I a vessel now? My breath grew short and my chest tightened. Curling up in a ball sounded like my new life plan. I wasn’t ready to be a snake, let alone a vessel.
“Get out of my body, you crazy old bat!” I didn’t know what else to do but flail around or swim back to the floor. I didn’t care that I looked demented. This was outside of too much. The Goddess waited until I tired myself out before she calmly started up her routine again.
“Take your quest to—” I shoved her hard, trying to get her out. We both froze as she picked up my psyche and plopped it onto a tiny toddler’s chair. “Take your quest to the west and recover?—”
No way this lady was keeping my body if she was going to act like that. This was my house. I reached out and grabbed her hair—my hair—and pulled her back.
Don’t drag me deeper into this.I yelled at her, pulling for all I was worth.Just make me human again.
Get him to Vinguard, ungrateful daughter. I will show you the way.
She dropped me to the cold floor in a tangle of limbs and soon-to-be bruises. I groaned on the floor as Ward stepped forward.
“Give us a minute.”
Ward cleared everyone out of the room, even the most curious, as I sank into a puddle of mess. The looks of awe were too much. Ten times worse than the temple. I got it. Seeing a long dead Goddess manifest was snazzy, but it couldn't have happened to a more reluctant vessel.
Ward sat on the floor with me, magic still sparkling around us. I climbed into his lap for comfort. It didn’t matter that it made little sense to have a stranger comfort me. I wanted his arms around me. I wouldn’t cry, though.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“You mean you all don’t channel a Goddess every day before breakfast?” I said.
“I mean, I have a friend who is a nightmare walker, so I’ve seen a lot, but I’ve never seen that. What did she say?”
“It was the name of a winery or something—Vinguard—and that she would give us a map or something. I don’t feel any less snakey.”
“I don’t think you are,” he admitted. “And I don’t think you will be. The Goddess doesn’t favor humans.”
“How did I get tangled deeper into this?” I swallowed hard on those tears. I would not cry.
“You don’t want to hear it, but you have received a great blessing.”
If I was supposed to receive a map, did that mean I could go with him? Did I want to? “Does the map just fall from the sky or do you get a cool invisible tattoo of it or someth?—”
A boom resounded in my head and the nightmare hangover seemed a little petty from a Goddess, because a queasy feeling urged me to get up. “Is Vinguard in the West?” I asked.
“Yes,” Ward confirmed. “About a week’s ride.”
I shuffled across the floor in the direction I thought was west. The queasy feeling increased.
“Ward?” I don’t know how I kept from screaming. Damn, tears were dripping onto Ward’s hands as he cupped my face. “I’m the map.”
A resigned sigh escaped his lips and ruffled my hair. There might have been a hint of relief in there, too. “I will keep you safe by my side, even on the road.”
One night out of our village and I was about to go on a quest for real. Fear said I couldn’t trust him, even as big as he was. I didn’t know if his promises made me feel any better. The tears came faster. I braced for the pop into my snake form.
“Mate—Evie—no. It will be okay. No one would dare cross us. Giant snake, giant bear, a mage and a Goddess’ instrument?”
His gigantic hands squished my cheeks as he wiped the tears away. Was I allowed to live inside him? Ward stared at my mouth, but didn’t move toward me. I suddenly needed the comfort of his warm embrace.
“So we have to…”
“Go on a bigger quest to save our people,” he said.
He said our people. My brain slipped and slid for some reality to hold on to. I didn’t trust any of this. I would fail everyone for sure.
