I shrugged, but the movement almost dislodged me again, and I tightened my grip on Enid. She wheezed, but I didn’t let go. Icouldn’t. ‘Sorry!’ I shouted, hoping she could hear me and the sincerity in my voice.
‘’S fine!’ she shouted back breathlessly, momentarily releasing a hand to pat mine before slapping it back into place.
After that, none of us tried to speak, and we sat in silence as the Shifters carried us away from the danger.
* * * * *
Night had long since fallen by the time we caught up to the trees. They were stationary again, which I took as a good sign that we were no longer in imminent danger.
Ahead of us, Thorne, Tinky-Winky, and Barney slid off their own Shifter’s back with an ease that made me scowl, but was expected. Another Shifter had run ahead to carry them, and theirs was an oversized stag, so they’d had an easier ride. They made their way over to us as Enid, Qarinah, and I slid off the snake’s neck, landing with a soft thunk on a patch of dry moss. It glowed bright pink as soon as our feet made contact, and I just hoped it would wash out. I didnotwant to walk around with glowing pink shoes.
Once everyone was back on their own two feet, the Shifters began the quick but grotesque process of transforming back into their humanoid forms. Sans clothes, becauseof coursethey were naked. And hung. The snake had one hell of asnake… sorry, make thattwo,and even as a straight man, I struggled to look away.
‘See something you like?’ he snarked, but I merely grinned.
‘Hey, we can talk!’
He scoffed a laugh, then moved over to congregate with his people. He was clearly the alpha among them, though I sensed multiple powerful individuals who bristled at his instructions. In the end, they followed his rule.
‘We need to find Juniper,’ Thorne insisted even before he reached us.
‘We’ll find her,’ Enid piped up, eager to comfort him. There was something different about it this time, though. Almost… pitying?
What the fuck was going on there?
Qarinah caught my eyes with her own, like a siren luring her prey, and I didn’t even bother to fight it. I snapped out of it quickly, however, when her face scrunched in pain and blood dribbled from her nose. A telltale sign I would know anywhere.
She was trying to talk to me about Junie, but couldn’t. The curse had latched onto her, too.
‘Don’t try,’ Tinky-Winky warned her, and that was all the confirmation I needed that he was also now under its influence.
‘What…?’ she managed to grind out, but ended up hunching over as she coughed up blood.
‘What the hell is going on?’ Thorne asked, alarmed.
‘Nothing,’ all three of us said simultaneously, which only made us look guiltier. It was obvious to anyone who was paying attention that something was going on, and we were keeping secrets.
Qarinah straightened once the curse released its hold on her and wiped away the blood with the back of her hand, flinging it away. It landed with a burst of bright pink on the moss.
When her eyes met mine once again, there was a depth of meaning behind them that wasn’t difficult to decipher. Our conversation on the snake Shifter pushed forward to the forefront of my mind, and I gave her a single, curt nod to let her know I was on it.
‘Junie?’I called out, hoping she hadn’t wandered off before we could reach her.
‘Oz! You made it! Thank the gods.’
‘Where are you?’I asked.‘Are you okay?’
‘Um… sort of.’
My hackles immediately rose, ready to jump into danger again to protect my twin.‘What’s happening? Tell me where you are. I’m coming.’
‘I found it, Ozzie. The portal.’
The world stilled as her words settled around me, excitement and relief mixing with dread. This wasn’t over yet. Not by a long shot.
‘Where?’
‘The eastern edge of the trees. There’s a valley. But Oz, be careful. There’s something here, and the trees woke it up.’
