Page 100 of Gift from the Nexus

“The what?” Lyker asks with a chuckle before he begins to laugh hysterically. We stare, shocked, and poor Willow, in her mind, believes he’s finally cracked. “Oh, fuck, that was funny. I forgot for a second I couldn’t pronounce them right,” he says as his laughs taper off to quiet chuckles.

“What are you talking about?” Willow asks him.

It seems to take him a beat to realize none of us have any idea of what the hell he’s talking about. “When I was a kid, I couldn’t pronounce this flower’s name right, so Willy stuck, and it became a joke once I was about six or seven and could actually say it.”

Still, his answer leaves us confused.

“We were getting ready to search the realm for this flower because it’s an ingredient in the Bane of Essence. There’s only one mention of it in all the records San’s read, and it’s called the Willy Flower,” I tell him.

Finally, his face falls more serious as he looks at the expressions we’re wearing. Glancing at the flower, then at all of us, settling on Willow, he says, “I’m sorry. I thought you knew. This is a Willowrrie flower. Mom always said she’d name you after this.”

“Do…do you know why?” Will stutters.

“Yeah.” Lyker nods, smiling down at her. “Because it’s strong, adaptable. It can survive any climate it’s put in. The purpose of this flower is everything. Literally. There’s nothing it can’t do. You need it to heal, it’ll heal. You need it to poison someone, it will. It’s the freest of all flowers. That’s what Willowrrie means. Freedom.”

“You’ll keep me updated on the plans for the forest, right? We’re going with you,” Lyker says as he grips my outstretched hand, pulling me in for a hug.

“If you insist. You know you don’t have to subject yourself or your Nexus to the unnecessary risk of this mission or any mission anymore,” I tell him truthfully.

After he dropped the bomb on what the flower is, he and Willow both seemed to just let go of any more worry or hesitation they each had. They’re embracing this new discovery fully. Already acting as though they grew up together all their lives.

The weight that’s lifted off her is visible. It seems another piece inside of her has clicked into place. So if keeping her this happy means letting Lyker volunteer for possibly deadly situations, I won’t stop him.

“I do insist. Like it or not, you’re not getting rid of me that easily. We’re family now,” he says with a smirk as Caspian grumbles beside us.

“I’ll keep you updated then. Same goes for you. If there’s something you need help with, you’ll let us know. We are family now, after all,” I say, crossing my arms and lifting a brow. It’s an invitation for him to come out and say there’s something going on in the pack.

“I’ve got it handled.” He grunts quietly, shooting a look over at where Willow and Oakly are telling Aria bye.

“Let’s hope so. She may be your sister, but she’s already staked a claim on Aria as well. If something happens to her, she’s going to rain hell fire down on this pack.” Me and Caspian both laugh at his eye roll because he knows it’s true. That’s why he isn’t saying anything about the situation.

“Yeah, yeah. Even being warned about her arrival, no one could’ve prepared me for the reality I’d have a sister, a little sister at that, who could potentially eat me if she wanted to.”

Caspian and I start laughing at his expense, and I swear to fuck Draken has a sixth sense for when people are talking about death by consumption ’cause he bebops on over with a bloodthirsty smirk on his face.

“Who are we eating? My little wanderer hasn’t gone full dragon on someone yet, and I can’t wait to see it.”

“What the fuck?” Lyker mumbles, shaking his head. “I’ll see you all in a week or so. If you need me before then, call.”

Walking off, still shaking his head disgustedly at Draken, he wraps Willow up in a hug, then tells everyone else bye. Gaster is going to accompany Ry and his Nexus back to the lab to create a safe space for the Willowrrie flower, and we’re heading home. We have something planned for Will.

“Come on, Primary. Time to go,” Caspian commands as Willow tries to go in for one more hug from Aria.

“Okay, okay. I’ll see you soon,” she says, perching herself in the middle of us while blowing kisses and waving bye.

“Ready?” I ask.

“Ready.”

“As one, on me,” I say.

“What are we doing here?” Will asks as we appear in the clearing where our treehouse is rather than the mansion.

Nodding over my shoulder at Caspian, he steps forward and from within his shadows, he pulls out one of the pots of Willowrrie flowers and hands it over to me. Willow watches my every move as I kneel at the base of our tree.

“Figured I’d teach you how to grow a plant. If you’re up for it,” I tell her with a challenging smirk.

I knew she wanted one of the four flowers when she saw them, but she didn’t want to ask Lyker if that was okay, so I did it forher. He asked why she didn’t say anything, and I told him the truth. She didn’t feel like she had any right to ask for anything because she looks at this place as it’s only his since it was his childhood home. He quickly corrected me and said it’s theirs, and that he’d have a conversation about that with her the next time we’re there.

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