Page 120 of When the Woods Go Silent

I hesitate, then shake my head. Ronan is perfectly capable of traveling home on his own. Brigance likely only sent onecualeto find both of us, and it found me first.

“Let’s cross,” I say, watching as the Qilin transforms from a human shape into the gleaming white horse that humans like to call unicorn. The Qilin are the only ones with the magic that allows them to cross the rainbow Path in the sky, connecting Earth and Haret. The strongest serve as conductors, transporting us between worlds in turn for being well-taken care of.

Once he’s fully transformed, I wrap my fingers in his mane and close my eyes against the nausea I’ve never gotten past. Themisty colors flood my mind anyway as we navigate time and space, moving across the colorful bow in the sky from one world to the next, by a magic I’ll never possess or understand.

If only humans realized how close magic is to them all the time, the Path to Haret visible, like a banner across the sky, every time rain meets the sun.

“Thank you,” I tell the Qilin when we’re safely in Haret, handing him a tip, in the form of a bar of chocolate I swiped from a store earlier.

“Bring some dewberry wine on your return, prince,” he says, grinning at me before taking a huge bite of the candy. “To make up for your brother. He never tips.”

“I will,” I promise, holding in a sigh. That sounds like Ronan. Everybody knows that Qilin magic thrives on anything sweet and full of sugar, but leave it to my brother to be the sour apple in the bunch.

Leaving the Qilin to his work, I race across the fields toward the heart of Aralia, following my senses and my training to the burning place in the trees where the gobbelins have gathered. They’re hacking their way closer and closer to the palace, and I’m afraid I’m out of time.

I still hope to convince Rose to come here and use her magic to help us. But if she refuses, my brothers won’t be as gentle.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

RUBY

How is it that I’ve gotten everything I said I was looking for, but none of it feels right?

I will always love books, but there’s something uncomfortably tedious about working in the store today and preparing for our grand opening party, set for tomorrow night.

It’s as though I was starving and ordered food, but the wrong dish was delivered, and I have to pick between sending it back and going hungry again, or eating something that isn’t what I wanted.

The bookshop was everything to me a month ago. I’m ashamed to admit to myself that this is no longer true.

Shuffling footsteps draw my attention, and I see Rose standing in the hallway between the office and the front of the shop. She’s been piddling around on her laptop, and it feels like she’s avoiding me more than anything else.

“What is it?” I ask when she doesn’t say anything.

“Just... I don’t know. Nothing, I guess.” Rose slumps against the wall, toying with the end of her messy braid.

“I’m not mad at you, Rosie,” I say again, although that isn’t one hundred percent true, and it’s probably why she keeps seeking the words. In truth, the hurt is there, but it’s pointless to direct it at my best friend. She was trying to process her own mindfuck from Kier. She was completely unprepared for theentry of magic into our lives, even though I thought she’d truly believed me.

Turns out she believedin me, which ends up not being quite the same thing.

“It looks good in here,” she offers after a few minutes of silence. “Ready. It looks ready.”

I nod, scanning the room as well. Our official store opening is tomorrow night’s party, and the flush of promised tourists is still only a trickle. I have confidence that our business plans are solid, but in the shadow of everything else happening, I can’t help but feel like the bookshop that drew us both here has become the background to our story.

“Tell me more about him. Torrence,” Rose requests, flipping through a book with pretend nonchalance. Nerves squeeze in my stomach.

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