Chapter 62
I start to understand what Harry meant when he said the cabin would be a difficult place to reach. It feels like the woods simply don’t want us there—but Rorie’s charms seem to work even with the invisible spiderwebs of magic. From time to time, she changes the route a little, guiding us around a clearing or pausing in her step until the rustle of wind calms down. Both Rorie and Harry look focused, so everyone stays quiet as well—that is, until Asya and I end up a little behind the party.
She adjusts to my pace, staring thoughtfully at her feet, and I don’t have to wait long before she says quietly, “So what’s this all about?” What? I hum and look at her with a confused frown.
“You and Gray. Not gonna lie, I wouldn’t have expected you to be so worried about him.” Asya glances at me, checking my reaction, but I don’t mind. I’m not his friend or anything, so it’s a natural reaction, I guess. “Since when are you so close?”
“Ah, we aren’t close.” I smile awkwardly and wave her off, swallowing down all of my thoughts about our actual closeness. “It’s just a common courtesy.”
“To save his life? Yeah, I guess it is.” Asya chuckles, but it doesn’t sound amused, the look in her eyes still thoughtful as she hums a moment later. “But there has been something between you lately. Everyone noticed how he was looking at you.”
“Yeah, like I’m his blood enemy.”
“Maybe at first, but now…” She finishes the sentence with a shrug.
“I think he likes you even if he doesn’t want to admit it. I mean, you know Gray, right? It’s not like he would ever talk about his feelings.”
Does he like me? I huff even though my heart flutters at the thought. Ah, if he really liked me…But I can’t allow myself to believe it, not until Gray says it, not until he means it. It would be too painful to be rejected again, so I chew on my lips and shrug, not looking at Asya.
“I don’t know, I don’t think so.”
Asya says nothing for a long moment and then slows down her steps, pulling my attention to her. Her eyes are calm and curious as she meets my gaze. “Do you want him to like you?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I pause too, to catch my breath and make sense of my thoughts, holding Asya’s gaze with what hopefully looks like confidence. “All I want is to make sure he’s safe.”
“That’s—”
But I don’t hear the rest of the sentence behind the shrill cry of a night bird. My vision blurs, and I hold my breath, hoping to see Gray—but almost nothing changes around me. The same woods, the same path in front of us, and a big owl flies out of the darkness and suddenly barrels into Rorie, her scared scream ringing through the forest. The owl digs its talons into Rorie’s face, shrieking loud enough to deafen us, and tears the charm out of Rorie’s hands. Blood, tears, panicked—
I inhale sharply and blink out of it, meeting Asya’s worried eyes, before turning forward with a loud yell. “Rorie, wait!”
Everyone turns to me in confusion as I run forward and yank Rorie to the side. The charm almost falls out of her hands as she gasps, “What—”
There it is, the shrill cry of an owl followed by a loud rustle of wings and furious shrieks as the owl misses Rorie’s shoulder by an inch. It flies past us, toward Asya running right behind me, I gasp—and a bright flash of light bursts in the darkness of the forest. The owl disappears like a ghost, and I turn to Asya with wide eyes, scared to see scratches and torn skin. But she stands exactly where she was, calm and unharmed, sparkles of magic running over her skin before disappearing under her clothes.
“What—How did you—” I stutter, trying to grasp what just happened, and Asya looks almost amused, smiling at me.
“Every witch has a power,” she explains, while Owen walks over to sniff her arm and nuzzle her waist in what looks like a soothing gesture, especially as Asya lays a hand on his head.
“It looked like a protective spell,” Rorie says and glances at Harry, grasping her charm tighter. “We must be close.”
We continue our walk, looking from side to side with more caution. Who knows what other spells witches have put on the woods around here? I don’t get any more visions, but it’s probably because Asya joins Rorie at the front as a source of protection. So a few minutes later when a marten jumps out of the darkness, Asya doesn’t even flinch and destroys it with the same bolt of magic energy. Damn, what kind of power is that? It looks cool.
Similar things happen a couple more times, but none of them scare us or force us to turn back—on the contrary, they make my desire to reach the cabin even stronger. Who are these witches to put up so many spells just to protect them from intruders? I grow anxious again, thinking about Gray and his curse, when finally Harry stops in his tracks and his tail wags a little.
His eyes are focused on the clearing between the trees, and Harry hurries forward without hesitation. Even from a distance, I can see the flicker of candles and the outlines of a small wooden cabin. Magical energy is the strongest here, almost quivering under my feet—but none of it bothers me as a realization fills me to the brink. We’ve made it, we’re here.
We found Gray.
Something thrums in my veins, relief washing over me with a deep inhale, and ignoring Asya’s warning calls, I run to the cabin. I have to see him. Now.