“It’s been a whirlwind of a few days.”
“Will you come with me?”
“I don’t know, Silas,” I said. “The last time you asked me to do that, I ended up sucked into a magical world of curses and coffee where I’ve almost been killed by a siren, have healed dastardly curses, and suddenly believe in elves.”
“I’m always a good time,” he said dryly.
I couldn’t help but laugh. I rolled my eyes.
“Sure,” I said finally. “Why the hell not?”
I reached out and took Silas’s hand. He pulled something out of his pocket, a little vial, and shook the dust inside into a circle formation around us, sort of like he was salting a main course. With a lot of vigor.
“Hold on tight,” Silas warned. “Preferably to me.”
Those were the only instructions before suddenly, my legs trembled, my teeth clattered, and it felt like a train was rushing its way through my body—down my arms, around my legs, loop-de-looping in my belly.
Then the rumbling stopped, and I let out a woof of air I hadn’t known I’d been holding inside. It gushed out of me, hard and fast, as I crashed into something hard, like a rock.
Except it was definitelynota rock. It was Silas’s chest, and he was holding me to him with a vice-like grip, my figure clutched to his as he took the brunt of the force as we landed on an actual rocky surface.
“Well,” I said, wheezing with unladylike zest for air, “I think I prefer the horses.”
Silas smiled up at me. We were intimately close. He was laying on the ground with me on top of him. We’d landed like a pile of bricks. But despite the firmness of his chest, he was holding me with decided softness.
“It gets easier.” Silas tucked a wayward strand of hair out of my face.
“Somehow, I don’t believe you.” I shifted my gown, clambering off him like his touch burned me. I pulled myself to my feet as he dusted himself off and rose to his full height. “Whatwasthat?”
“Pixie dust,” he said. “It’s a very unstable way of traveling and should only be used by someone with a lot of experience.”
“Right,right,” I muttered. “Obviously.”
“Sit down, Alessia.”
I looked at him, a retort on my tongue. I really, really didn’t like being told what to do. Then I saw something that made me stop in my tracks.
“Where are we?” I asked, scanning the horizon and seeingallof it.
The pixie dust had vaulted us miles and miles in elevation. A shotput to the top of the earth. No wonder the ride had been a little rough.
Silas had propelled us to a little cave on the side of a mountain. A little peek over the ledge had the coffee I’d sipped all day threatening to come right back up. I wasn’t a huge fan of heights. Was it hot up here, or was that just my anxiety?
“I’ve got you, Alessia.” Silas’s arm wrapped around my waist as he guided me gently back from the ledge. “Sit down.”
I hadn’t even realized I’d frozen solid in fear. I couldn’t move. I was a complete gargoyle, afraid to even breathe at this altitude.
“Of course you do,” I managed, my chest tight with the effort. “At least until I break the stupid curse. What happens after that, Silas?”
“Sit down,” Silas repeated firmly. “Now.”
“I really hate being told what to do.” I whirled to face him. “Look, I don’t think you’re a jerk, but sometimes it feels like you work pretty hard trying to act like one.”
Silas just smiled. “It worked, didn’t it?”
Sure enough, I’d marched myself away from the ledge and the fear was gone. Displaced by anger and frustration. Silas had purposely redirected my fear and paralysis into something I could work with: annoyance.
“You were riling me up on purpose,” I said. “Pushing my buttons.”
