Mirthroot, maybe?Linc really didn’t seem like the recreational drug type, but folk could be surprising.
Luckily, the door to his small, tidy cabin was unlocked. I pushed it open and led the human inside. He allowed me to place him onto his bed, where he clumsily crawled under the covers. He was still fully dressed with his boots on, but there was no way in Hell’s Realm I was going to undress him while he was acting so strange.
“Are you good here, Linc?”
He didn’t answer—he just stared at the ceiling above him.
“Okay then… I’m going to leave. Just go to sleep. Don’t go anywhere else. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”Hopefully.
Silence.
Feeling confused and vaguely concerned, I left Linc in his bed, marched out of his cottage, and pulled the door closed behind me.
The walk to my own cottage was less eventful. Chirping insects, scurrying critters, and my own thoughts were all that kept me company.
My cottage was uncomfortably quiet. Stiflingly so. I tossed my windows open wide, welcoming the sounds of the lively forest a few paces away.
It helped. A little.
My mind couldn’t decide where to settle, flitting back and forth between Kizzi, her soft hands and kind treatment of my wounds, and Linc, and his baffling behavior. Both were enough to scramble my brains.
Was Linc really interested in Kizzi, or was it just a drug making him act that way? It didn’t seem like she returned his affections but… she didn’t return mine either. I wasn’t in a position to care, but I couldn’t help myself.
Maybe tomorrow will be more normal…
CHAPTER 10
Kizzi
The knocking on my front door started before the suns had even risen in the sky. Incessant. Constant. Never-ending. I ignored it for as long as I could, but eventually, I forced myself out of bed. If I was going to be awake against my will, I could at least be productive.
I glanced at the giant cauldron in the corner as I sleepily made my morning shop rounds, checking for any damage the sprites might have inflicted overnight. It was full, uncovered, and perfectly still.
Everything else was exactly as I had left it the night before. The sprites still hadn’t returned. Assholes. Whether they were assholes for bothering me or assholes for making me worry, I couldn’t decide. I plopped down on my stool and rested my head in my hands.
I was exhausted—tired all the way down to my bones. Between the late night, the racing thoughts, and the ridiculously early morning, I hardly caught a wink of sleep, and I was feeling the consequences.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Go. Away!” I shouted for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. “I’m not open yet. Don’t you have something better to do?”
“Gods, who crapped in your cauldron this morning?” a bright, familiar voice called out. Fiella.
I sighed.I guess I prefer her over the others.
Hoisting myself from my stool, I dragged my feet to the front door and pulled it open. “Quick. Don’t let anyone else in.”
“You look like shit,” Fiella declared, looking me up and down. I would have slammed the door in her face, but she was carrying a pouch from the bakery and two steaming mugs of tea. And I was not above delicious bribes, even on my grumpiest of days.
“Come on! Hurry!” I tucked my arm around her back and yanked her inside before I ducked back in and threw the door shut.
I let out a heavy sigh of relief.
“What the fuck was that?” Fiella asked, heading to a table and making herself at home as she always did.
“I honestly don’t know,” I responded. I massaged my throbbing temples, trying to ease the ache that was slowly settling beneath my skull.
“Are you running a crazy sale that you didn’t tell me about? Why are so many folk waiting outside?”
