Page 26 of Gift from the Tree

I hold his eyes, needing to weigh how he’s going to react if I tell him no. When a minute passes and he doesn’t push or say anything, just looks back at me, I pull my necklace out of its hiding spot and let it fall down my chest where it can be seen. I make sure to keep my eyes on him to watch his reaction while he looks at my necklace, and for a brief second, his eyes flash with pure surprise.

“Gaster, why didn’t you tell us about this?” Anger courses through his tone. And that pisses me off even more.

“Because it isn’t Gaster’s business to share,” I reply with just as much anger in my words as he had.

“You have no idea what it is you’re wearing. If you had even the slightest clue of anything at all about what’s going on, you’d know why that information would’ve been important to know. You’d realize the stone around your neck could get you killed if the wrong person saw it,” he lectures, his voice rising the more he speaks, but his words do nothing but freeze my bones. I’m in danger in this realm as well.

“It’s just an amethyst,” I mumble, doubling down and refusing to accept what he just said.

Corentin huffs, slamming his hands on the table before standing so fast I flinch and put my hand up to cover my face. The room falls completely still. I know my face is flaming red, I’m breathing heavily, and I can hear my heartbeat thundering in my ears. Not for a second do I truly believe he was going to hit me—something in my body completely rebels against the notion—but the reaction is so ingrained in me, it’s more of a natural reflex.

Slowly, I lower my shaky hand, taking long, deep breaths. On the final release of air, I open my eyes and stare into the burning amber kneeling in front of me.

“I don’t expect you to trust me right now, nor will I assume to know what you’ve been through, but I swear it on my life, now and forever, that I’ll never raise a hand to harm you, Willow. Ever.” Although his eyes are intense, his words are spoken in the softest and most gentle tone I’ve ever heard. From the small picture he’s painted of himself for me already, I know no one in this realm has ever heard him speak this way.

“Thank you,” I reply evenly and quietly, a whisper in the wind, but he hears it. Standing, slowly this time, he begins pacing back and forth behind his chair. I can’t tell if it’s a nervous tick or how he processes things. Maybe both.

Taking another deep breath, I glance over at Gaster, and the look on his face nearly breaks me. He looks like someone has reached into his chest and pulled his heart out. It takes me a moment to realize it’s because he not only just watched my reaction, but he could probably feel it too. He probably just felt the full extent of my fear.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, feeling the need to apologize for making him feel this way.

“You have nothing to apologize to me for. I’m sorry. I should’ve found you sooner, child,” he says firmly.

“You found me when I needed you the most.”

“It’s not an amethyst,” he says somberly like he’s afraid he’s about to break me with this news.

“What?”

“It’s not an amethyst. It’d probably be considered an amethyst if it had remained in the nonmagical realm, but in this realm, think of it as an amethyst on steroids. The powers held in that stone are unbelievable and so rare, people are killed over it.”

“What is it?” I ask, foreboding thick in the air.

“A Memoria stone. It can do any number of things. It can alter one’s memories, hold memories, bind abilities, and so much more. It’s one of the strongest and rarest stones in Elementra, Willow.”

I can’t say anything. It feels like my world is crashing down on me from all sides. So many things make sense now, but nothing makes sense at the same time. This is one piece of the thousand-piece puzzle that’s my life.

Who would mess with my memories?

Why did whoever this was, do this, instead of helping me?

What am I going to do with a stone that’s going to get me killed?

“Willow, you have to calm down.”

“Willow, breathe.”

I can hear them, but their voices are muffled, far away, the whistling in my ears, making it hard to hear my own thoughts, and my hair’s blowing all over my face.

A firm hand grips my chin, pulling me out of my head and forcing me to focus. “Willow, look at me. I have nowhere to dispel the air you’re pushing out right now. I need you to breathe in. Think about bringing the air into you. Deep breath with me, now. It’s air you created, so it won’t hurt you when it comes back,” Corentin says calmly, completely pulling me into his orbit. I can only focus on him, even though I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I follow his instructions.

Deep breath.

“Very good, keep going, deeper.”

Deep breath.

“Good. One more deep breath for me and I can handle the rest.”

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