Page 38 of The Nowhere Witch

That was a valid point, not that I’d tell him.

I took a few more steps, following the feeling of dread and ignoring the hitch in my heartbeat that seemed to come whenever I saw Hawk. Why had I imagined that it would be gone after not seeing him for a few months? Or after he’d booted me out like last night’s trash? Clearly, I wasn’t sane enough to feel what I should. Luckily, I was sane enough to do what was right: stay away from him as much as possible.

“I’ll show you the spot,” he said, walking with me.

“I can find it on my own. You should just go about your business.”

This wasn’t going to be a little outing, where we pretended things were like old times. There would be no working together in any capacity. He’d shut the door on that months ago.

“I didn’t come here for you. I came here to check the wall, the way I do every day,” he said, still walking the same way I was heading.

I stopped. He continued in the direction I wanted to go. “Then go check out the rest of the wall. You don’t need to come this way right now. There’s plenty more to do.”

“You go to the other side of the wall if you want to be alone.” He kept walking.

“I’m not changing my direction.” I kept walking.

“Why do you seem madder than you were last night, after I got you evicted? Is there something new you’re angry about?”

He might as well have asked if I wanted a second piece of toast, as concerned as he sounded. Although how he’d noticed was beyond me. Maybe he had some rage-meter spell on me.

“I don’t need anything new. You’ve done plenty already.” I wasn’t that much angrier after seeing Bibbi and finding he’d hired her the same day he tossed me out. I’d been nearly this angry all along. That was just the latest insult.

I trudged along in the snow, trying to walk fast enough to put some distance between us but still get a good look at the wall as I went.

The first crack appeared and stole my breath away. It was small, but the way it feathered out was alarming. It reminded me of one of those dings you got on a windshield that slowly kept growing until it took up the entire thing. I ran a finger along it, wondering if my spell hadn’t been strong enough for the evil it was trying to contain or if something else was trying to help it out.

I put my entire palm on it, trying to fuse it back but not really having any idea how I’d made it in the first place. I put my other palm on it, trying to imagine the crack healing, trying to force the magic inside of me outward to the wall.

“Do you remember anything from when you made the first one?” Hawk asked.

“Pain, misery, and then instinct. An instinct that seems to be selective,” I said, the wall suddenly washing away my concern over whether or not I talked to Hawk right now.

I backed up, looking at the spot for some sort of change. Had I accomplished anything? Maybe it was a hair shorter, or was that in my head?

“Does it look any different?” I asked him.

“Same,” he said.

“Are you sure? Maybe it’s a tiny bit smaller?” I backed up a little more.

He pointed to a nearby tree. “See that? I mark the trunk every day. It’s grown at the same pace it did yesterday, and the day before.”

I walked farther, looking for more. He kept walking in the direction of the next one. It was almost idiotic not to follow him, not that I didn’t consider it anyway. The cracks were more worrisome than his presence right now, though.

“Show me the others,” I said, dropping any pretense of not caring about the wall or keeping my distance. That ship had sailed as soon as he’d seen me here, and at least he wanted this wall fixed as much as I did. If I could use him for help here and there, I’d be stupid not to.

He headed uphill, following along the line of the wall, the snow getting deeper as we went. It was nearly knee-high in a couple of hundred feet.

I swayed to my left, nearly falling with the height.

Hawk reached back, grabbing my arm and righting me. I pulled back the second I got my balance back. I wanted to yell at him that I didn’t need help but held my tongue. If I’d fallen and he’d let me land on my ass, I would’ve been burning up over that too. The truth was that, at this point, Hawk could do no right. He’d done too many wrongs.

I couldn’t focus on him, though. I couldn’t add anger to the already bad mix of emotions I got around this place. The feeling of dread that had begun to fade was on the rise again. The next fracture was near.

He stopped in front of the next crack, the sun hitting it clearly and showing that this one was definitely worse. If you ran a hand across the spot, there was a distinct unevenness.

“How many more?” The dread in my voice had nothing to do with the feeling it gave off. Until this was fixed, this worry was going to cling to me no matter how far I got fromit.

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