“Yes. I still don’t know what I want to eat, but I figured out last night that it’snotthese rations. And I’m not a monster. I wouldn’t have done that to you.”
Except Lucian’s guts rumbled and he was was running out of the tent puking his guts out. I was a sympathy puker, so I avoided that like I did priests, but I could still hear it. That sounded like a man who was having regrets because he ate all our fucking food.
Gross.
Lucian came stumbling back inside. He collapsed with his face in his hands.
“I don’t know what’s happening to me.Iwouldn’t have eaten everyone’s food, even if Sage wasn’t a diabetic. I clearly did and I don’t remember doing it. That’s also an insane amount of food and even before it came back up and I realized I ate it, I was still ravenously hungry. My stomach is upset, but it still feels like I need to eat,” Lucian moaned.
I mean, this could probably be some magical thing that he couldn’t help, but at the same time, he’d just ruined things for Sage, so I still wanted to stab him.
“I’ve camped in England before,” Khalid said. “I know a little about living off the land here, but I’ve never camped inthisarea before, so I’d have to research a little. Foraging will slow us down, so maybe if we split up and two of us forage while the other two go after the crystals, we can still keep Sage in the trials.”
“Wait,” I said.
I couldfeelsomething. I couldn’t explain it, so it was probably magic. I needed to go outside, but I needed to do it alone. I stepped out of the tent and I wasn’t alone. I could also tell I wasn’t in any danger, even though I was pretty sure every wild animal in the area had currently come out to our tent.
They were everywhere. There were birds of prey and squirrels, but there were also deer and bears. They weren’t afraid of me and I justknewI wasn’t in danger of them. They were here to help.
Badass. They didn’t speak in words, but they communicated in images. I gave them a nod and proper reverence.
Message received. And I didn’t know who I was, but it definitely wasn’t a trickster.
Icould tell Lucian was upset by what he did and I believed him that he didn’t remember doing it. It was probably some magical thing he couldn’t help. But at the same time,Iwas still devastated. This was supposed to be my second chance.
Even if the IRS sorted my father and I was able to get student loans, I’d be graduating with a ton of debt and diabetes was expensive. This wasn’t just the education I wanted that they were offering me a chance to work off during my tenure there. It was a chance to figure out who I was and once I got that trust, I could afford to be alive wherever I went.
And it was about to be taken away from me because of my blood sugar. It wasn’t fair. Khalid said he could try to fix it, butwhat if he couldn’t? I didn’t even know where Liam went until he came back inside.
“Okay, so I’m definitelynota trickster, but I came to an arrangement with the wildlife. We don’t eat any of them and protect them if anyone else tries to, and they’ll leave everything we need to feed ourselves outside our tent. Mate, they seemed particularly concerned about you,” Liam said to Lucian.
“I’m a pacifist who has never been hunting a day in his life.”
“You also never ate fifty thousand calories in one sitting before, but here you are,” Liam snapped.
“Sage, I can do this and keep you in the trials,” Khalid said. “They gave us utensils to cook if we run out of food and we’re able. Liam might be an original shifter or some god who can communicate with animals, but if they are willing to help us because of him, you can do the trials and go to university.”
“The bees said they would let the bears bring you some of their honey since it’s mostly going to be nettles and mushrooms,” Liam said. “They aremuchsmarter than we think they are.”
I looked at Liam. He was still rubbing his forehead like it was bothering him. The wildlife was helping mebecauseof him and I liked Liam. I should help him, too. We were a team.
“Let me see,” I said.
Liam took his hands away from his forehead. It was red because he kept rubbing it, but I could see something else.
“You’ve got two bumps growing. They are small, but they are there.”
“Shite. I went through puberty once. If these are magical zits because I have to go through it again, I might have to beat up Lucian.”
“You kicked me in thekidneys.”
“You ate all our fucking food.”
I pressed on the bumps. They were perfectly spaced. A little too spaced to be pimples. They also felt hard.
“Maybe you’re growing horns?”
“I’d better not be! I can’t do Only Fans with horns. Headmaster Mykene said I can’t make edibles when I’m working in the kitchen, but I can still bake naked for my channel.”
