Page 37 of Queen of Wrath

Who will come? A different plane of existence? What is he on about? Where the hell did he just bring me?

Zane guided me on down the street, indicating for me to keep an eye out for what I was looking for. We walked side by side in total silence for what felt like forever.

It was so quiet I was afraid he would be able to hear how loud my mind was.

I cradled my hands to my chest, looking around nervously for whoever “they” were. That was when I spotted it. A tall, lanky glass bottle sitting in the corner of one of the shops.

The flower inside was a bright purple with yellow pollen.

I remember that flower. Mama warned me not to pick it because, despite its sweet smell, it is highly poisonous and would destroy any magical reaction a potion had.

“That’s what I’m looking for.” I leaned over, my eyes meeting Zane again. Despite speaking in a low tone, my voice seemed to have attracted some unwanted attention.

My sights focused on the pale blue wisps of mist forming behind Zane. “What is that?”

A cold shiver ran down my spine, and I had a sudden urge to fight.

My claws descended out of my fingers instinctively.

Zane turned around, and his face went pale. He moved me closer to the ingredient I needed and further away from the strange mist. “Looks like we've overstayed our welcome.”

As Zane wrapped his arm around me and blew on the small gold mechanism again, I couldn't help but keep my focus on the indiscernible pale figure approaching us.

Long, gnarly claws protruded from the mist and reached out to us with desperation. Before it could reach us, the wind wrapped around us once more and we found ourselves in the crowded marketplace as if nothing had happened.

It was suddenly too loud to think. To go from complete silence to endless noise was torture.

I snapped my head around looking for the ghastly creature that had been reaching out for us. “Where did it go?”

“Relax, it can't reach us from where it is.” Zane tried to brush off the matter by focusing on the merchant and exchanging money for the purple flower.

“What do you mean it can't reach us? What was that mechanism you were holding? You have some explaining to do.” My panic had turned into irritation.

How dare he do that to me without even as much as a warning?!

He gave a heavy sigh as he turned to me, handing me the lanky bottle with the flower inside. “This is the thanks I get for helping you?”

He tried to play it off as a joke, but I could see the hurt behind his eyes.

Nevertheless, I stood silently staring at him, letting him know that I wouldn't move until I was given an explanation.

His eyes dropped to my empty hand. “A while back I lost someone very dear to me. I discovered a way to travel to the spirit plane in the hopes of finding her. It was infinitely more difficult and dangerous than I thought… Needless to say, I now have a powerful magical artifact I have no real use for.”

My heart was cracking at the seams. How many times has he gone into the spirit realm looking for me since finding out about my “death” I wonder? By the look of absolute hopelessness in his kind eyes, the count had to be quite high…

“I'm sure whoever you were looking for greatly appreciates the effort you put in, but you really should just let her go. Sometimes, the dead are better off left forgotten.” I hoped to console him.

“She isn't. She was the best of us and could have become something great if given the chance. It wasn't fair—what happened to her.” His brows furrowed deeply.

His eyes were like daggers, plunging into mine, but thankfully, he quickly relaxed.

“She may be gone from this plane, but I carry her with me wherever I go. And I will continue to do that until the day I die. That's what I get for never telling her how I truly felt.”

I was dumbstruck. I could hardly make a sound, much less offer any words that could help relieve some of the guilt weighing on him.

He cupped my hand in his and placed the glass bottle in it before turning and disappearing into the crowd.

The moment he walked away, I crumbled.

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