Page 18 of Corvus and the Broken God

“Yeah. She claimed not to recognize you. I also heard from Emily that she tried to take your laptop.”

I nodded. I had lived it, but it still hurt to hear the recap. “I’m going to ask him to fix me, to change me back.”

“You’re going back to Tennessee?” she asked, clearly shocked. “Isn’t that risky?”

“Maybe? I’m not sure. He didn’t seem unhappy with me, just unhappy in general. You know?”

“But I thought you liked your new shape?”

“I do. But I figured I’d have you to help me pick a few pictures and just ask him to make my face the same as it was, get my freckles back. I’d rather keep my new body.” I crossed my arms and squeezed until I could breathe again.

She didn’t smile. “This is not a good plan.”

“Sure it is. Besides, I’m desperate. If he turns me back into a crow, that might be okay.”

“No, I’m going with you.”

“What? Go with me to Tennessee? Why would you do that?”

“I’m not letting you deal with this alone. Plus, I could use a break from this place.” The determined look on her face told me that I would have a tough time convincing her otherwise.

“No way. That would be twice as risky. What if he changes us both into crows? Think through everything before you agree to this.”

“Then you’d have company. We would be able to communicate, right? Like you did with him and the Wolf?”

“That hardly makes this a good plan, Mindy.”

“Forget it, Freya. If you’re going back there, then so am I. I already put in to take the rest of the week off. I figured you’d need me.”

Instead of wasting time arguing, I hugged my friend. “I guess we need two tickets then.”

“I guess so.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Ancient Souls

We didn’t talk much during our flight the next morning, and as the road began to slowly wind its way up the mountain, we fell silent. Mindy could’ve been thinking anything, but I had something specific on my mind since the flight. As we had neared the Knoxville airport for landing earlier, I noticed something new and unusual happening inside me. A sort of internal tracking sensor buried deep in my center was tugging me in my Monster’s direction. It was as if my body wanted to close the distance between us. Almost as if he had installed a hook behind my breastbone, painlessly urging me to find him, growing stronger as we landed, and stronger still with the rental car pointed in his direction. So, while I paid attention to the road signs, I wasn’t worried about finding his lair. My body told me I was going the right way, and some small part of me was excited to see my Monster again.

Mindy gave me a couple of strange looks as I navigated the mountain roads without guidance, but I remembered the path so clearly, I didn’t check my phone for directions or explain what I was doing. If she thought this was weird, then she wasn’t adequately prepared for this trip.

I even knew exactly where to turn up his long gravel driveway, despite it being completely hidden from the road. Driving it in daylight, I wondered how I had ever thought this was the right way to go. It looked so isolated, the road rutted and in disrepair. Branches grew over the path, making it difficult to walk, much less drive.

Using the front of the car to push through the vines, I maneuvered us up the steep path, parking about twenty feet up the driveway, just far enough that the car couldn’t be seen from the main road, if it could even be called that. The rental would never make it up the incline, never mind being able to back it down the path if we did get stuck somewhere.

I turned the engine off, and Mindy looked at me, strangely calm, her dark eyes bright with excitement.

“You ready?” I asked, willing to turn around if she was having second thoughts.

“Yes. Let’s do this.”

“You, my friend, are scary brave.”

She let out a nervous chuckle, and we got out of the car, each grabbing a light carry-on. I locked it out of habit, not because anyone would be wandering by anytime soon, and we began our trek up the side of the mountain. The higher we climbed, the more I could sense Mindy’s fear. Strangely, mine was fading. The tug in my chest, the need to be near him, grew intense, and I stopped to catch my breath. Instead of being frightened, my blood hummed with excitement. Why had I involved my one friend in this craziness?

I stopped, waited for her to catch up, and turned to her.

“Why don’t you take the car and come back for me tomorrow? The GPS will get you back to the airport once you’re down the road a little bit. Just follow the switchbacks down the mountain. You should have service by the time you need to make any critical turns.” I had checked it was fully functioning before we left the airport lot and periodically during the trip. Too little too late, but I had learned my lesson.