If I can reach Graylen in my dreams…maybe I could find him.
I twist to my left to see who else is awake, my heart pounding against my ribs as the thought runs through my mind on a loop.
“Can you quiet down?” Calix says from my right. “You’re thinking extra loud this morning.”
Despite the weight on my chest, a smile twitches at the corner of my mouth. I want to tell him—tell all of them—but first I need to figure out if thatwasmore than a dream.
“You’re already awake,” I remind him.
He huffs and walks along a thick branch, his lithe legs moving with ease as he reaches my hammock and hands me a bowl of lukewarm grains. “I’m pretty sure I could’ve slept two more days. But you justhadto toss and turn in your hammock and wake everyone up.”
I roll my eyes, feeling a little lighter than when I first woke up. From the looks of it, my friends are already all awake. Not a sound stirs from the seemingly empty houses scattered throughout the trees around us. I’m starting to think wearethe only ones here other than Aster and Willow.
“Well, you try sleeping next to your snoring all night,” I mutter.
“Cranky, are we?” Calix jokes as I scoop a wooden spoon into the grains. “Aster brought us food shortly after we all woke up, and promised that Adrian and the Lyle boys were getting fed too.”
My shoulders relax instantly knowing someone else is seeing to them. I don’t think I’m ready to face them just yet.
“You feeling okay, Lu?” Calix crouches down, hovering on the branch my hammock is secured to. His eyes soften as he looks at me, as if he already knows the answer. “I know there’s much to discuss today. We’ll figure it out.”
He gives me a warm smile, but it’s hard to muster one in return.
“There’s just…a lot of people depending on us,” I whisper.
Calix nods, a comfortable silence following.
I take another bite of my food, something slightly sweet making the grains go down easily. With the day we likely have ahead of us, we all need to make sure we keep our strength up.
My eyes search the trees around us, every inch of the forest shaded by the thick coverage of leaves from above. It’s covered enough that the lanterns still glow, providing light in the areas that make it feel like the sun isn’t out at all.
Withouthim, everything feels…empty. Wrong.
Tears line my eyes, and I drop my gaze to the light brown grains, stirring them repeatedly as my vision grows blurry.
“Come on, Lu.” Calix’s voice lowers gently. “I’m worried about what’s going to happen, too.”
He doesn’t try to tell me everything will be fine, doesn’t try to convince me that we will figure this out and get the answers to all of our problems. I know he’s worried—that everyone here has something to lose if we don’t find a way to stop Moros—and me moping around isn’t going to solve anything.
I clear my throat and blink a few times, finishing my food in a couple of quick bites.
When I look back up at Calix, my head feels clearer.
Leda hops onto the branch beside me from above, her sculpted arms swinging her down with ease. “Ready to go see Brielle?”
Not as gracefully as her, I peel myself out of my makeshift bed and nod.
“Aster showed me where to go,” she calls out over her shoulder, already walking away. “Brielle has been asking for you.”
Leda is watching every muscle the healer moves, her gaze tracking each item the Woodland grabs off the shelf. There are several open chairs, but Leda opts for standing near the door, leaning her back against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest.
If it bothers the healer, she doesn’t let it show. The fae just continues about the cottage, jars clinking together as she grabs the supplies she needs.
There are a few other cots in here, but all are empty. In the center of the room, a light oak table is scattered with an array ofitems: a scale, dozens of parchment pieces, empty jars, and wooden spoons.
Earlier, Brielle was lucid enough to hold short bursts of conversation with me, but she’s been out since then. Her skin is a dulled gray, her eyes alternating through bouts of focus and bleariness when she’s awake.
Maddox is sitting in a wooden chair beside her cot, deep circles beneath his eyes.
