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Nix scratched his head, then his nose, then tilted his head looking perplexed. “Let me think about it. It’s…”
“Forgot, huh?”
“I don’t forget things, you ass. How many times to do I have to tell you?”
Luc started his reply with a hum, then said, “Let me know when you do remember, then.”
Movement caught his eye, and he turned to see Lachlan stripping off his armor. “What are you doing?”
“Whoa. Are we getting naked?” Nix looked concerned. “Have you seen the size of those thorns?” He cupped his balls. “I don’t want those anywhere near my nether-regions.”
“I don’t know… it feels right to go in just as myself.” He looked at Nix. “Not naked.”
“Oh thank the fucking stars. I was going to have to bow out of this little party if it was going to be naked.”
Luc looked at the hedge and nodded. “Okay.” He took off his jacket, sliding off any extra garments that might snag on the thorns, until all that were left was his trousers and shirt, rolled to the elbow.
Nix followed, grumbling as he did.
“Anything else?” Lachlan asked.
“I’ll go first,” Luc said.
“It’s because you’re four minutes older, isn’t it?” Nix quipped.
“Exactly,” Luc said and started for the hedge.
“If it squeezes you to death–” Lachlan started.
“Don’t follow me in.” Luc grinned.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and thought of Brinna. Then he reached out and touched the closest branch. Unlike with the others, the hedge didn’t try to squeeze him to death. With another deep breath, he climbed over the branch, and slid between thick vines before moving onto the next one, ducking between crisscrossed branches. He glanced over his shoulder to see Nix and Lachlan just behind him, Lachlan ducking under a vine as Nix hopped over another. All of them, alive.
The deeper they traveled into the hedge, the darker it became, the monstrosity blocking out most of the light. It was like a maze, the intertwined vines, the thorns, the darkness. It would be easy to get turned around without something to guide them. Everything looked the same no matter which way he turned. But he didn’t ponder it, hopeful that they were moving in the right direction rather than the alternative. Hesitation wouldn’t get him to Brinna, so he climbed, shimmied, jumped, and ducked moving deeper into the hedge.
None of them spoke—not even Nix—though Luc was certain he could feel his brother biting back the witty quips. An unspoken agreement to maintain silence seemed to have passed between.
After what felt like hours, Luc stopped. He couldn’t hear his brother or Lachlan, which worried him. Though he wasn’t sure if he should, he called forth his light. Opening his hand, he released a sliver of power, and a muted glow pierced the hedge’s gloom. He waited; his breath caught at the stark realization he might have lost them somewhere.
But before he could panic, movement caught his eye. He squinted, and Nix appeared from one area, Lachlan from another, as if his light had guided them back. When they all stood in Luc’s light, they nodded at one another—no words—and started through once more. Using his feelings like a compass, he continued through the hedge. He thought of Brinna, of her smile and her laugh. He thought of talking with her, of touching her. He imagined her under him, her kiss, and the way it felt when she’d been torn out of his arms, how he needed her in them.
Again and again, just as Luc believed he’d reached the other side—mirages of a meadow appearing through the awkwardly bent boughs enticing him—he’d burst through to find only a sea of shoots and thorns. He bit his tongue to keep from yelling in frustration and stopped, hanging his head. The pain in his chest intensified with longing, and hope waned inside of him as he stood in the pervasive, never-ending gloom.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his right shoulder. Then on his left. Nix and Lachlan. He wasn’t alone in this. Neither were they. Infused with hope once more, Lachlan took the lead, and Luc followed, Nix behind.
They took turns leading. The journey stretching on as though endless. But at least they were together. They continued—minutes, hours, days, Luc couldn’t tell—until suddenly they burst through, clothes and skin torn, bodies aching from the exertion, minds exhausted as they collapsed into a heap in the meadow.
Luc rolled to his back, propped himself up on his elbows and looked up at the green monster they’d conquered. He yelled in triumph, as he fell onto his back, laughing. He’d accomplished one of the most important things he’d ever done in his life, and he glanced at Lachlan and Nix to find them smiling and laughing with him.
But the feeling of triumph soon passed, and they got to their feet, eyeing the dark cottage.
Luc saw Nix freeze, his head tilting as he stared. “I feel like I’ve been here before.” He looked at Luc. “But that’s ridiculous.”
Luc put his hand on his brother’s back. “Maybe you have. You just–”
“I don’t forget things.”
“Right. You’re impervious to slips of memory.”
