Page 27 of The Great and Terrible

Trepidation overtook me, an inner storm I couldn’t halt. Funny thing: it, too, came with destructive monsters. Namely doubt—was I a fool for doing this? And worry—what if I failed my father?

“Oomph!” I slammed into Jasher when he stopped abruptly yet again. To steady myself, I flattened my hands against his back. Yikes! The heat of his skin. The hardness of his muscles.

“Focus,” he snapped.

Right. “Apologies,” I mumbled.

He started forward, silent. I tracked him, switching my concentration between his form and the landscape. Around a cluster of trees, large flowers dazzled in a wild assortment of colors and shapes. In fact, each resembled a musical instrument of some sort. From horns, to guitars, drums, and even saxophones. Hmm. My ears twitched. They might even emit a soft melody.

I listened more intently. They did emit a melody! And what a lovely song. Slow and sweet, with a steady heartbeat hidden within the chorus. I stopped and closed my eyes, savoring the serenade. I’m not sure how much time passed before I decided Ineededto get closer. Needed to sift the petals between my fingers and feel the heartbeat against my skin.

Yes, yes. My feet carried me over. The base of my ring finger burned again, much hotter than before, and I frowned. Perhaps I shouldn’t do this. But mmm. That song. I bent down and reached out…

A strong grip on my wrist halted me just before contact.Gasping, I looked over my shoulder. Jasher. He towered behind me, scowling.

“These are sirenes,” he snapped. “They will inject you with toxin that liquifies your organs and drowns you in your own blood.”

Realization dawned slowly, horror nipping at its heels. The flowers had lured me using a siren’s song. And I’d let them.

Jasher released me, and I backed away from the cluster. The burn in my hand faded with every step I took. Interesting.

“Assume everything in this forest hopes to kill you. Because it does.” Jasher swept his narrowing gaze over me. With a tinge of accusation in his tone, he added, “The lovelier it is, the deadlier.”

CHAPTER 7

COMPLICATIONS ARISE

Imight have been better off trekking the forest on my own.

Huffing and puffing behind Jasher, I worried I was a farmgirl pushed past her limit. He kept a punishing pace: swift, unrelenting, and as merciless as he was. For all I knew, he planned to kill me through extreme exercise. Bathroom breaks were infrequent and hurried. Lunch consisted of jerky, a repeat of last night’s dinner, but eaten on the go.

We came upon twisted trees with blade-like limbs, snake infested scrub bushes, and a mushroom field guarded by red-eyed mice. Thankfully, nothing else attempted to murder me. But anything living watched me, sharpening a mental fork and knife. I wasn’t disappointed we weren’t approached by people I sensed in the shadows. More than a few times I wondered if the inhabitants of the forest fearedJasher.

“Oomph!” I slammed into him and ricocheted backward. Argh! This wasn’t the second, third or even fourth time he’d stopped abruptly like this. I’d already lost count.

“I told you to pay attention,” he stated, calmer than ever. Then he motored on, as if nothing untoward had occurred.

“Have you been doing that on purpose?” I demanded with gritted teeth. Technically, he hadn’t issued a question,but as frustration scraped at my fraying nerves, I didn’t care if I broke his rules.

“Yes.”

The simple response nearly wrenched a screech from me. “Why?”

“You are being foolish, getting lost in your head.”

Well. At least he hadn’t lost his propensity for blunt honesty. “You aren’t wrong, but how do you know that?” Since we’d kicked off, he hadn’t glanced my way once. And I would have noticed, having stared at his broad shoulders plenty, watching like a weirdo as beads of sweat trickled under metal and over muscles and tattoos. “Unlike the birds, you don’t have a third eye.” Wait. “Do you?”

“They don’t have three eyes. They have four.”

What!

“One is in the back of their heads. But alas, I’m without such a prized defense. I only know what you’re doing because I’mnotlost in my head. I remain aware of my surroundings. Notice minute details.”

Okay, so that stung a little. “Well, la de da, aren’t you special?” I mocked. Forget my nerves. Both feet and each of my lumbar throbbed.

Jasher stopped abruptly, but I was ready for once and hopped to the side, avoiding a collision. A triumphant smile curved my lips as he pivoted, ensnaring my gaze.

“Ha! Joke’s on you.” I smirked up at him. “I never make the same mistake more than a dozen times.”

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