Isaac gave me a toothy grin. “Your mother was clearly a druid from the old world. In Faery, we had access to the queen’s finest elves. They crafted objects of great power for the earth druids to anchor our magic with Mother Earth. Your mother probably got hers from an amulet-making elf. Yalash and Griddish do not specialize inamulets.”
Oh.Damn.
“What did you do with the amulet?” Isaac asked, no doubt curious what it lookedlike.
I sighed. “I buried her with it. She never took it off, not in the pool, not for chemo. Never. It only felt right that it stay withher.”
Logan reached out and grasped my hand, and Isaac nodded in understanding. “Doesn’t matter now. You’ll have your staff, made especially for you, connected to the very heart of MotherGaia.”
I gave him a weak smile and my belly growled again. “Hungry?” Nadine popped her head into my bunk, shoving Sophie out of the way. In her hands was a plate with an egg burrito and side of bacon. She set it before me and my mouth salivated at thesmell.
“Starved,” I told her, and she grinned. Like a weird maniacalgrin.
“What?”
She was bouncing on her toes a little. “I taught Hemlock some tricks. Wannasee?”
This time it was my turn to smile. I slowly went to sit up, ignoring the throbbing in my head, and then frowned when I felt something … wet and sandy at myfeet.
“What the hell is that?” I asked, just then noticing that my feet were buried in two flowerpots.
“I wanted to strip you naked and have you sleep on the grass until you healed,” Isaac interjected, “but the pack insisted we head to get your staff, so this was the next bestthing.”
Yeah, sleeping naked for a day and a half out in the open was not cool withme.
Danny’s head peeked down from the top bunk. He’d been there the whole time. “I told him I think it’s going to be the latest fashion trend. I want a pair of potted lavendershoes.”
I chuckled and looked at Isaac. “Can I take themout?”
He scrutinized me. “How do youfeel?”
My head was still throbbing but I didn’t want to bring it up. It was probably just from that noxious paint smell. “I’m fine. What is thatsmell?”
Nadine grinned. “We were worried the yellow bus was attracting the druids, so Gear and I gave it amakeover.”
I felt my eyes widen. No doubt it was now covered in skulls or something equally sinister. Without waiting for Isaac to confirm I could in fact unplant my feet, I slowly pulled them from the potted plants. The second my left foot left the soil, my headache increased and Iwinced.
Logan noticed. “Sloane?”
I sighed, keeping my right foot firmly in the pot. “Alright, I have a monsterheadache.”
At that admission, Isaac was kneeling in front of me, looking me over. “You exerted too much from your physical body, Sloane. You must learn to take from MotherEarth.”
I sighed. “It’s not like I mean to. It just … explodes out ofme.”
Isaac nodded. “Yes. Next time, less impulsive explosion and more focused direction with support of MotherNature.”
He might as well be speaking Chinese, but I decided not replying was best. He gingerly took my unpotted foot and lifted it up, sticking it back in the planter. The moment my foot hit the cool dirt, the headacheeased.
“Better?” heasked.
It was better. Which was freaky as all hell. I had become a plant … Inodded.
He sighed. “When we get to the Seven Sisters tree, you will need to take some time to heal in herenergy.”
Of course I would. I was aplant.
Hemlock squeezed through Nadine and Logan and set his head on my knee, looking up at me with doeeyes.
