Page 74 of Down from the Tower

“They need us!” she argues, shoving me. Her hands are hot to the touch, and that power within threatens to bubble over. “They need you! We have to go back.”

“That is more dangerous for everyone.”

“Screw the danger!” she seethes, glaring at me. “Those things scream like the dead. They are going to seize the tavern-”

“That won’t happen-”

“Kill the occupants-”

“Ray will never allow that-”

“And ruin the place!” she finishes, fisting her hands. “And you just left them there!”

I sigh, rocking back on my heels. How to explain to her that Dahlia needed us to go?

She spins away, crossing her arms as she paces. “They deserve our help. Not your cowerdance.”

“You know that isn’t it,” I snap.

“Then take us back!”

I shake my head, and it looks like I might be in danger of getting burned. “The best thing we can do is not put a target on their backs. Right now it’s just a tavern with civilians. With a missing princess and a wayward Reaper on the premises, the tavern would quickly become a place of tyranny.”

“But I ran away from Midas!”

I blow out a breath. “I don’t think that matters to the Flowerborne, Rapunzel.”

She opens her mouth to say more but I see the moment the fire in her eyes diminishes; there’s nothing else she can say. As much as it pains me, we would be more of a burden staying at the tavern than we are leaving. We’ve already had a run in with the Flowerborne before, and we don’t need to make a habit of it. We should be lying low.

I glare up at the sky, the sun still high and mocking us. I can keep shadow hopping, but so long as the gold in my chest aches I can only go so far. I’m about ready to start carving the gold out of my chest to speed the process along.

“They need you,” she grumbles, sinking down to the ground. Leaves crunch beneath her knees as she sits. “You’re powerful. You could help.”

“Don’t discredit the others. You’ve never seen Dahlia with a frying pan. Magic or not, she’s almost as dangerous as Raymundo when it comes to her children. She’ll shoot an arrow or stab with a sword if it means protecting her babies.”

Rapunzel glances up at me. “But you could help.”

“Or I could make it worse. Admit it. This is where we need to be, no matter how much we hate it.”

She throws her head back, the long strands of hair spilling around her like golden streams. She hasn’t wrapped the hair around my neck except that one time, and I almost ask her to do it now. Anything to distract from the moment.

A sudden growl echoes around us, and I reach for my scythe. When I look at Rapunzel, ready to protect her from whatever has us in its sights, I still. She has her arms wrapped around her middle, her cheeks turning red. I grin, lowering my weapon. “Are you hungry?”

She scowls. “It seems like an inappropriate time to bring that up since we’re running.”

I sigh, looking around. Berries aren’t the only thing that grows in this forest, and after pulling on her arm for a moment, she stands and follows me.

A few minutes later, I reach out and pluck down a plum. Her eyes widen, looking from the tree to the fruit and back again. “You just knew where this was?”

“I know what to look for,” I correct, handing it off before sitting beneath the tree. I dig out the seeing stone, waving a hand over the flat surface as Rapunzel slides in beside me.

“This again?” I’ve shown her the stone here and there over the last few weeks, but everytime I try to use it, no one’s ever available. I really only use mine to communicate with the other Reapers, and with Legs once upon a time. She hasn’t answered on a stone in a long time, and I’m beginning to think hers is missing. She’d sooner throw it in the river than risk someone finding it.

“We can see if Ray will show us what’s happening,” I explain. “I briefly did that for him when I was walking through Tressa, but since I didn’t find anything of interest out in the town, he didn’t ever have anything fun to watch. It was harder in the castle. So much gold… it reflected weirdly in the stone. It’s hard to see that way.”

Her eyes dance over the stone, tracing it with her finger. “Will it distract him?”

“If Ray can’t answer, he won’t. It’s possible there won’t be much fighting; half of the Flowerborne don’t know how to do much more than move.”

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