Preparing for her disgust, I turned to face Leena. A single tear slipped down her flushed cheek. A mixture of sadness and…relief? She dug her palms into her eyes. “This is all my fault.”
I tried not to gape. Her fault? We were the ones plotting her murder. And she was worried about puttingusin harm’s way? Pinching my nose, I steadied my breath. “What just happened?”
“Not sure. Once I get back from the beast realm, I’ll know more.” She stared at me for a moment, the sadness in her gaze replaced with something I couldn’t follow, before she dropped her attention to the ground.
I don’t know why, but part of me died. I needed that look. I needed it back. Her worry for us, for my brethren’s well-being… It was too much. Between the bounty and the curse, I knew damn well that her company wasn’t something I’d ever truly get to enjoy, but I couldn’t help the gnawing ache in my gut.
I gripped the back of my neck. “Hurry back.”
She peered up at me through her lashes. “You could come with me.” She dropped those words as if they were nothing. Like it was a simple possibility rather than the opportunity to see something that was entirely hers. And while I should’ve brushed her off and put much-needed distance between us, I couldn’t.
“Go with you?”
“You can enter the realm with the assistance of a Charmer.” Without any further explanation, she splayed her right hand out to the side. The inked insignia on her hand grew, roots wrapping around her fingertips. The branches of the tree climbed upward, snaking across her shoulder and reaching up her neck. She’d hidden her face from us when she’d taken Felicks, but this time I watched as the magnificent tree grew over the right side of her cheek. Leaves and flowers bloomed to life, framing her temple and eye in an intricate garden meant only for her.
It was the most striking thing I’d ever seen.
She held out her hand. “Come on. I know it must pain you, but you have to touch me.” Her voice broke. It was so subtle I barely caught it, but the slight dip in her tone shoved a blade deep in my heart. She was so unbelievably wrong. I would’ve kept my fingers interlocked with hers forever if our circumstances were different.
Once she wrapped her fingers around mine, light exploded, washing away our surroundings into a blinding-white stretch of pure warmth. A different kind of nothingness. My heart squirmed, and I tightened my grip. When it receded, the world before me was unlike anything I’d seen before.
Thick with the scent of vanilla and lilac, so like the faint aroma that clung to Leena’s skin, a gentle breeze worked its way over rolling hills covered in lush grass. Leena released me and stretched her hands wide. Behind her, a dense forest clambered up against the foot of a snowcapped mountain. A brook trickled somewhere in the distance, the gurgling water competing with the whooshing tree leaves dancing in the wind.
Bright eyes pried open my soul, and she smiled. “Welcome to the beast realm.”
Thirteen
Noc
Two moons hung heavy in the sky, one slightly larger than her sister. An aurora of aqua blue stretched against the cobalt night. Millions of stars clustered together, creating a brilliance that showered every inch of the realm in fine light. Leena strolled parallel to the woods, her boots leaving soft imprints in the earth. She walked with the certainty of a ruler, moving through the endlessness of this world without an ounce of hesitation. This was her domain, and I was just a spectator.
I didn’t have words, and her small grin told me she knew.
We didn’t have to go far to find the Scorpex. Curled in on itself in a tight ball, it unfurled its head as we approached. Beady eyes darted from Leena to me. With a gentle hand, Leena ran her fingers across its mandibles.
“Why are you here?” she murmured more to herself than the creature, but it responded with a series of clicks. She shook her head, offering it one last stroke. “The dunes are over there. You’re safe now.” Standing, she pointed to someplace beyond the forest. The Scorpex followed her gesture. It folded its legs flush to its body and slithered away at breakneck speed.
“What happened back there?” Being in this space with her, in her world, I wanted to know everything. It was a dangerous feeling.
She tilted her head to the sky. “I honestly don’t know. I know the beast wasn’t happy. I could sense his anguish from being forced to fulfill his master’s call. But when I told him to leave… I dunno. It just sorta snapped.”
“What snapped?”
“The bond. But instead of disappearing, it reattached to me. I don’t know why. I don’t even know if this has ever happened before. If I were back in Hireath, I might be able to find answers…” Her words died off, and she started to walk again. It was so hard not to ask. Not to pry. But she wasn’t forthcoming about anything to do with her home. If I wanted answers, I’d have to coax them out of her.
She stopped to tangle her hands in the dripping pink strands of what appeared to be a weeping willow. Among the leaves, flashes of bronze caught in the moonlight. She smiled, fingering one before plucking it.
“The key tree. Charmers can gift beasts as they see fit, and so the realm provides.”
Taking the key from her outstretched hand, I rolled it between my fingers. “Why is it such a crime to sell beasts, then?”
Her chest deflated, and she rotated the ring around her finger. “Gifting implies the Charmer has done their due diligence. That we’ve decided, after careful consideration, someone is worthy of owning a beast. It harkens back to the days when Celeste, goddess of beasts, first shared her creatures with us. Selling negates all that. It puts a price on the things we cherish most in our lives. They should be priceless.”
The bounty mark on my wrist throbbed. “Everything has a price.”
She shook her head, taking a few more steps along the edge of the forest. “Not to Charmers. Not to our beasts. They may heed our call, but our connections to them are unlike anything else in this world. It’s a sacred bond.”
She wrapped her arms around her chest and came to a standstill. She had ventured through life on her own for so long, dealing in creatures she loved, that admitting it seemed to exhume a type of pain I couldn’t begin to comprehend.
