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What if I just dragged him out here to this wild, enchanted forest for nothing? What was he going to do to me now?
Chapter10
Mirielle
The cold of the stream water seeped through my body, making me more miserable by the second, but that was nothing compared to the tension rising in Zen as the moon sank lower and the night grew blacker.
“Tell me honestly,” Zen grumbled. “Was this for nothing?”
I didn’t want to say, one way or another. I had truly believed the plant was here, and I still did, but without the light to see and my stress levels through the roof—
“Oh, my gods!” I gasped, my jaw slacking.
“What?” Zen joined my side to peer over my shoulder.
I couldn’t breathe for a second. I didn’t dare as I shone the light closer.
“What? What is it?” Zen asked.
I pointed with the light, my pulse quickening.
“Is that it?” he demanded, leaning forward to look. “Is that the washi?”
I inched closer, sloshing through the stream, and startled a sleeping frog that grunted at me, splashing me as it retreated into the pool.
But my eyes were fixated on the multicolored leaves before me.
“Oh, gods…” I whispered, excitement seizing my heart again. “Yes. I think it is!”
“You think it is?” he repeated. “Or it is?”
Crouching down, I fingered the long, wispy tendrils of purple and blue, hope welling inside me. There was no other plant in the world that looked like this one. It was the washi. I had found the plant we were looking for.
“It is,” I rasped. “Be careful, Zen. It’s very delicate. Don’t touch it.”
He eyed me, his dubiousness tangible, but I was too busy trying to figure out how to take it out of the ground without killing it.
“Now what?” Zen pressed.
I held up a hand. “Just give me a minute, okay?”
“I’ve given you all kinds of minutes, Mirielle.”
I raised my head and looked at him defiantly. “Look around, Zen. Do you see any other plants like this one? Look hard.”
He gazed about, his eyes narrowing as he moved around cautiously, turning over bedrocks and peering near the water.
He stopped and shook his head. “No.”
I cursed silently, but I didn’t let him see my concern.
“Why? Do you need more than one?” he asked suspiciously.
I shook my head and exhaled. “That just means we get one shot with this one. I don’t want to screw it up. Just let me figure out how to handle it, okay?”
He backed away but hovered nearby, shining the beam of light over me as I closed my eyes and summoned all the knowledge I could in my head.
I couldn’t screw this up. I needed to make this work, or Zen would never get his ability to shift back. And if there’s any chance of making things right, it will definitely go out the window with the death of this plant.
