Card had listened and offered to talk to the tree that was growing too close to where I wanted to build the shop. He thought he could convince it to sort of lean the other way until the branches were high enough to clear the roofline.
Before I’d even had a chance to agree, he’d started walking that way.
I thought maybe he needed the down time, alone time,greentime.
It was a lot to have been the target of Fate.
It was a lot to have almost lost his heart tree.
And it was a lot to find out his sister was still alive, but sleeping, in that deep hibernation into which dryads sometimes lapse.
I found a spot in the shade and sat on the sawhorse, placing the other glass of lemonade on the board that bridged across to the other sawhorse.
“So, Fate didn’t kill you,” Val said. He was sitting on the ground, leaning back on his arms, his wolf belly down and asleep next to him.
“Not sure that was ever on the table.”
“With a god?”
“Okay, yeah, it was probably on the table. But, as you can see: not dead.”
“What about his tree?”
“Safe, as far as we know. I mean, it’s more at risk from Stel knowing where it is, but he has ways to protect it from her magic.”
“Good. Good.”
Time slipped by on the buzz of wings, on the hush of wind, in the stir of leaves. I sipped lemonade and felt the tension that had been knotting my shoulders for the last couple days loosen.
“What about Card?” Val asked.
“What about him?”
“Is he staying? Going?” Val tipped his head, and his gaze was frank. “You don’t like him. Don’t want him around. But he’s got those tattoos...”
I hummed and swallowed lemonade to give myself a moment to think. Those things weren’t true anymore.
I did like Card. I did want him around.
The tattoos though, yes, we needed to talk about that.
I needed to make a decision: Let the tattoos stay, let the link between our magics, between him and me and the Crossroads remain, or cut those ties now, permanently.
“We’ll find out,” I said. “As soon as he gets done talking to the tree.”
“There’s going to be a meeting tonight.”
“Oh?”
“The pack. Danube wondered if I’d stop by.”
“Will you?”
He tipped his head up, staring at the sky. “I think so.”
“If you want me to go with you, I will.”
He smiled, his eyes still on the blue above. “I know. But I’m just going to see what’s up.”
