Yet another day concluded in Yetidom, and still nowhere near adjusted to this life that’s now mine.
My thoughts strayed to Elm and Cy and all the rest of the Trees. Any amount of time could have passed, the portal was so weird. They could all have lived long lives and passed on by now, the memory of me simply that.
Dace’s suggestion of seeking out another male made me so sick to my stomach for even thinking about it I had to hop up, rush outside, and lost my dinner.
Queasy, completely unsettled, shaky, I rinsed my mouth, assured Dace I was fine, and slipped back into my bed.
The awful thoughts plaguing me decided they wouldn’t give up.
The dawn greeted me, not a wink of sleep to be had after tossing and turning all night. The rest of my days followed the same pattern, keep myself busy all day long until I drop, running around with Dace, assisting her in her insane quest to make people like her, running myself ragged and dragging my feet by the time we got back to our hut.
Some nights I slept, most I did not.
If Kehl was trying to seek me out, he wasn’t doing a very good job of it. Regardless, I still held onto a sliver of hope, and his note remained in my pocket, always, right there alongside my treasured polaroid and Cy’s ring.
He just needs time, I kept telling myself. Just a little more time.
Chapter 16
There was no hope. Hope was for idiots. I had zero hope.
Feeling grumpier than ever, I had to wonder at this point how Dace tolerated me. I was a right dick on a good day anymore and I knew it.
That’s probably why she’d recruited beings to help surprise me by getting a hut remodeled for me.
No. That was unkind. What she’d done for me was amazing. I had my own place now, my very own private space, even if I did wallow in it alone most days. Unless Dace could drag my depressed ass out of it.
It didn’t help that something weird was going on with me. My fingernails were darkening along my nail beds, my gums had started aching constantly. Had I eaten the wrong thing? Was it, I don’t know, a plant, a parasite? I don’t know. Despite reassurances from Noyel, who couldn’t explain what was going on with me and urged me to ask another healer but didn’t think it was anything serious, I had my doubts. He’d never seen anything like this before, he’d admitted. Considering my hybrid nature, who knew what the hell was causing this!
The weirdest symptom of all to me were the small patches of hair that had sprouted up on my head out of nowhere,some white, some brown, and it was spreading, all over my whole head, beyond what would have been my hairline! I’d almost rather have remained without any hair at all. That same patchiness had overtaken my newly grown in eyebrows. I looked polka dotted! My beanie tugged low enough to cover the mess above my eyes, thicker in some places, wirier in others, but I was still self-conscious about it.
Dace swore it didn’t look bad but I’ve found her staring at the caterpillars sprouting on my face far too many times for that statement to hold any weight.
I felt like a freak!
Kehl finally tried to come around again but I didn’t want him to see me like this, not until I knew what was causing this. What if he thought I was turning into a Krampus too and just ditched me? I’d rather he thought I was playing hard to get than want nothing to do with me at all.
Despite my reticence to answer my door to him, gifts began showing up again.
He once sat out in front of my hut for an entire day before giving up.
Notes found their way under my door.
His English was improving. Some of his notes were downright R rated. He had to be getting help from someone on some of those… I was afraid to ask.
If I didn’t feel reassured Kehl wasn’t going to try and strip me naked and have me right then and there in the middle of the market, exposing my patchy haired body to the village, I wouldn’t be leaving my hut at all.
“I’m not really fit for public consumption,” I grumblingly mumbled as Dace dragged me down the path leading to the market place.
“The fresh air will do you good. You’ll see,” she enthused, though I noted she kept more distance between us than usual.
I did not blame her in the least.
My booted foot kicked at the ground, sending mud flying in front of me as I huffed and puffed my way down the way.
Dace put a little bit more space between us and it clicked then.The mud.
Stopping in my tracks, I looked over at her and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”
