So I said goodbye instead, and told her I’d see her on Tuesday for the pub quiz. But when she moved to leave, I couldn’t resist the chance to pull her in and press a kiss to her forehead.
She looked slightly startled when I pulled back, but not unhappy, and I took that as a win. Then she stepped away, and I watched her go, craning my neck to make sure she got to Jack’s car okay. Then I turned back towards the door, my eye catching on the hawthorn blossoms to my right, catching the moonlight as if they wanted to make sure I knew they were there. That they’d seen everything.
“I know, Mum,” I said with a sigh, pushing the door open at last. “I don’t want to hear it.”
Chapter12
Yorick Proudhollow
Yorick wove between Ser Liam and Morgana, who were fighting back to back against four wolves surrounding them, and Calamity, who had let her magic loose, trees be damned. One wolf snapped its jaws in his direction as he passed, but it narrowly missed him. He took out his lute, and as he began to play, he dodged around Gorlag, who was cleaving straight through two of the wolves with their great axe. There was a row of shrubs in his way, and he thought about taking shelter behind them, but he needed to be able to see to help.
“Need me to toss you?” Gorlag asked between swings.
“Seriously?” Yorick asked. Gorlag managed to shrug as they struck again at the wolf in front of them. “No, I’m fine on the ground, thank you very much.”
He always felt a bit silly plucking out a tune in situations like this, but there was something to be said about the way Yorick’s friends seemed to hit harder and aim better when he did. So he turned towards Eden, hoping to inspire the arrow she had nocked to strike true, ideally into the heart of the largest wolf in the pack, which was headed straight for her.
Eden closed her eyes for a moment, and Yorick watched in amazement, his fingers nearly faltering on the strings, as her skin began to glow. Pinpricks of light appeared on her, creating the perfect picture of the archer constellation on her skin as she pulled back on the string and then released.That’s new, Yorick thought as he tried to keep up the tempo.
The shot didn’t just strike true, it felled the beast in one. The arrow pierced the wolf’s chest so sharply that it stuck out the creature’s back as it collapsed mid-pounce, landing just inches from Eden, who stood illuminated before it, already aiming her next arrow.
“This way!” a small voice cried, and Yorick looked over to see a child standing at the edge of the camp. It was hard to see through the trees in the fading twilight, but it seemed that a crowd of people was gathered around just beyond the child, watching the party fight. Yorick first wondered why they were just standing there. He then wondered why they were able to. Why hadn’t the wolves attacked them?
“The camp is protected!” he called to his friends as he began running towards the child, who waved one arm in huge circles, beckoning to them.
Yorick wasn’t particularly fast, but he and Calamity were the closest to the camp, and they made it in just a few seconds. Eden had been behind them, but she suddenly appeared before them, still studded with starlight. She was just barely still in the forest, her bow raised in front of her as if to cover them.
Yorick could feel the moment he passed into whatever circle of protection there was, though it wasn’t immediately clear if this was the result of magic or of mutual agreement between the wolves and these people. Perhaps it was a bit of both.
Morgana and Liam, hot on Yorick’s heels, stumbled into the clearing next, sinking to their knees as soon as they were safe. Yorick sat up and focused his eyes into the darkness of the forest, where he saw Gorlag running towards them with three wolves hot on their heels. When they were just a few feet away from the barrier, one of the wolves took its chance, lunging forward and closing its jaws around Gorlag’s calf. They let out a hideous scream, a roar so ferocious Yorick might have thought it another predator, and they landed half inside the clearing, reaching out for help as the wolf dragged them backwards.
Liam grabbed onto one of Gorlag’s hands just before it slipped away, and together with Morgana he managed to pull Gorlag a few feet closer in. A few of the people who had been standing around finally rushed over to help, too. But the wolf was strong, and clearly up for a game of tug. Until Eden’s arrow pierced its head right between the eyes, and its jaws released.
The party pulled Gorlag the rest of the way into the camp, even as they cried out and clutched at their bleeding leg. Their weight knocked over those carrying them, and even Eden finally fell to her knees. They all took a long moment catching their breath, and Yorick’s eyes actually started to flutter closed as the heaviness of the protection settled over him.
* * *
When his eyesopened an undetermined amount of time later, the sky was fully dark, the stars bright and clear. But he could only see the very centre of it, because ringed around his vision were people standing over him, looking down. He bolted upright, and the circle of people scattered. He looked around, trying to figure out what had happened, but a sinking feeling washed over him at what he saw– or rather, didn’t see.
He was still in the camp. The fire was still burning, and the smell of something delicious still wafted over to him. But his friends were all gone.
Chapter13
Amy
Despite how much shit I’d given Phil for his cinematic preferences, I’d seen enough cheesy rom-coms myself to know that I was on a slippery slope. Fake dating was harder than I’d expected, and I still couldn’t help but get caught up in the excitement.
I chalked up the butterflies I felt all through our first date to the copious amounts of dodgy cocktails, so I resolved not to drink as much moving forward. I didn’t need to get carried away with myself; I’d learned five years ago what that could do. Relative sobriety proved quite easy after that, as Anil’s break from his course was up, so our Saturday nights would be spent at Phil’s with Ethel. And as much as I loved her, she definitely helped quash any romantic energy I felt.
Those evenings in ended up looking exactly as I would have hoped. Phil had always been a great cook– he’d learned from Mum, after all– so when he made me homemade sweet potato gnocchi the first week and pulled pork mac and cheese the second, I decided maybe the whole arrangement had been a great idea after all. At least he was keeping me well fed.
And whilst Ethel changed the energy between us, she was always hilarious to be around. Every Saturday we did something fun: board games, crafts, and even doing her physio workouts together, which showed me just how poor my core strength was.
Then Ethel would go to bed.
I’d expected, after that first date, for that to be the awkward portion of the evening, but I was surprised at how routine it felt. We would wash up from dinner together, and then I’d sit with Phil whilst he crocheted chain mail or stitched together sequin fabric for a costume, and we’d end the night with a film or a show, taking turns choosing. Each week we’d sit closer and closer together on the sofa, and by July it felt perfectly natural to drape my legs over his and feel the weight of his hand on my knee. But we must have both been on edge after that first date, because we didn’t have any more sustained glances or lingering-at-the-door moments.
Until one night, when Phil helped me up from the couch and told me to spread my legs.
