Page 33 of The Wicker King

“Can … we leave?” Jack asked, sounding suddenly cagey.

“Why? We just got here.”

Jack didn’t respond. He just fidgeted a bit.

August didn’t even sigh. He walked over to the window, climbed the wall, and pulled out the glass. “Woods, river, or field?”

“Field. I want to run.”

GONE

They ran until it hurt to pull the cold air through their teeth. The snow had melted, and the grass was frozen and crunchy. They tumbled to the ground, panting hard. Jack coughed, then winced, grasping the side of his head.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. It just hurt for a minute … but I’m fine.”

August curled toward him, and Jack grabbed August’s jacket, pulling him closer. He rested his forehead against August’s.

“Do you want to know how I see you?” Jack’s voice was roughened from the run. August nodded. “I see you the same. I don’t think it will ever change.… It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing my colors or dressed like this. You’re always just you.”

“What does it mean?”

“I don’t know. But I don’t want that to go away.” Jack swallowed. “If it does, I don’t think it would be good.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” August insisted, curling his fingers into the grass.

“That’s not what I meant.”

INDIGO

Jack lay on the floor of Rina’s apartment. He threaded his fingers through the dingy carpet. August sat next to him and quietly watched as Rina pulled her stockings up her legs and clipped them to her garter belt. She shimmied into her uniform and zipped it up the back.

His favorite thing was watching her put on her makeup. He liked the dark liquid she spread around her eyes to make them deeper. He didn’t really know what everything else she used was, but the way she slathered it on was like an art. She was stunning in the dim yellow light.

Rina waited until the very last to put on her lipstick. It was like war paint, red and vivid, smeared across her mouth.

She smiled at August for effect.

He shivered.

SCARLET

Rina puttered around the apartment as she worked, washing dishes, picking up clothes, quickly eating a bowl of Shredded Wheat. It was startlingly domestic.

“We have to go on a trip,” Jack said suddenly.

“Why?” August looked up at him from where he was lying on the carpet.

“To find the Rapturous Blue,” Jack said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Where?” Rina asked.

“Not that far. We don’t have to do it right now, if that’s what you were wondering. I just need to go and dig it up.”

“In our world or in yours? And how do you even know where it is?”

“Mine. And I just know. I can feel it,” Jack replied flippantly. “It’s kind of like when someone is staring at you and you’re not looking back at them, but you just know that they’re looking at you. I know what direction to head in to get close to it because I can feel it. It sounds dumb, but just go with it, okay?”