Page 44 of Within These County Lines

“Myself.” His grin widens as he steps onto a low branch and starts climbing the damp trunk.

I follow.

“Here,” he says, stopping about ten feet up. He points to a heart carved into the bark surrounding the words Xander + _______.

“Xander plus who?” I ask, catching my breath.

“Whoever I was meant to be with.” His fingers trace his name in the bark, his voice barely above the sound of the rain. “It was kind of a message to the future. That I’d find love one day. I didn’t think it was fair that everyone else in town got to be on the tree, when I wasn’t even allowed to be myself.”

My pulse moves to my throat. “That’s really sweet, Xander.”

He huffs, then pushes past me and slides down the tree. His feet land with a splash in the mud below.

“Maybe so,” he mutters. “But it backfired.” He flicks a wet curl from his forehead. “I left here, went to the pool, and got killed. I guess I wasn’t meant to be with anyone.”

I drop to the ground beside him. “That’s not true.” I meet his gaze. “Remember, if I’m not dead, then you’re not dead. We’re going to fix this.” A slow breath leaves his lips. “You’re going to end up with a full heart.”

“How?”

I roll my neck. “We get the tree to fight back. Maybe if it smacks me across the head again, I’ll wake up from this nightmare.”

“And me?”

“When it swings, jump in front of me so it hits you too.”

His face lights up. “Yes! I’ve always wanted to do a rage room. I have a decade’s worth of pent-up anger.”

“A what?”

“Never mind.” He shakes his head. “You have so much to learn, Stetson. How do we piss it off?”

I grab a rock and hurl it at the trunk. Thud. “Like that.”

Xander grins and scoops up a handful of pebbles, pelting them against the bark like Pop Rocks candy.

I take a fallen branch from the ground and wind up like a batter at home plate. The first swing rattles my arms. The second splinters the wood. On the third, the branch snaps clean in half.

We continue our barrage of rocks, sticks, and glass bottles unearthed by Xander for several minutes. Xander even lands a few well-placed kicks against the trunk. Our breathing grows ragged. Still, the Ardor Tree stands unmoved. No shaking limbs or groaning roots. Just stiff, impenetrable silence.

Defeated, we collapse onto the soaked earth. Cool water seeps through my shirt, chilling my skin and sending the fine black hairs on my arms rising into the air. I press my arm against Xander’s for warmth. His bare chest rises and falls in sync with my breath.

“I guess we’re not as tough as we thought,” Xander says.

“I’m just out of practice,” I say. “I was a runner. Never got into the contact sports.”

He sighs. “If only we could run away from this.”

My ears perk up. “Have you tried? Like, if you leave Penango, are you still invisible?”

“I’ve been everywhere. The invisibility never changes.”

“Everywhere?” I turn my head toward him.

He nods. “Name a place.”

“Europe.”

He chuckles. “A little more specific, please.”